*Bar Yochai, you were anointed; you are fortunate.
With oil of joy from your fellows.
Torah was the air that you breathed.
It was your life, and to it you cleaved.
In its depths, you toiled assiduously.
Studying day and night, continuously.
With sanctity, you have been crowned.
Glory, upon your head was bound.
In a rocky cavern is where you stayed.
When Roman capture, you did evade.
In a good dwelling, hidden and concealed.
To you, Torah secrets have been revealed.
You uncovered mysteries of the universe.
When in the Fiery Law you did immerse.
You were a great, luminous sage.
Esoteric teachings in Zohar’s every page.
You were girded with strength and might.
Spreading rays of Hashem’s hidden light.
You entered the blossoming apple field.
Sharing the sweetness of its yield.
Fortunate are those who have raised you.
For the deepest Torah secrets you knew.
For a rainbow was not seen in your day.
For in your sake, “נעשה אדם”, G-d did say.
For you arrived at the place of marble stone.
For your radiant face, like sunlight, has shone.
Bar Yochai, you were anointed; you are fortunate.
With oil of joy from your fellows.
*Adapted from R’ Shimon Ibn Lavi’s “Bar Yochai”
