Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

Mark (behind blue fence) over cave in which Rabbi Eleazar bar Shimon is buried. This main hall is divided in half in order to separate between men and women.

Jacob ben Netanel haKohen's 13th-century travelogue is the first document to place Shimon bar Yochai and his son's tombs in Meron.[6] Abraham ben Mordecai Galante (16th century) is said to have built a mausoleum over the tomb.[7] According to historian Elhanan Reiner, the tomb was managed by Musta'arabi Jews even before the expulsion from Spain and establishment of the Spanish Jewish community in Israel in the 16th century.[8]

At the beginning of the 19th century, the area was purchased by Shmuel Abu, the French consular agent in Safed who had immigrated from Algeria in 1817. Shmuel Abu built the tomb building which now stands on the site.[5][9] The tomb building was described in the late-19th-century PEF Survey of Palestine as "apparently a modern building."[10] In 1956, Yosef Shenberger won a competition to renovate the building.[11][12]

The large tomb structure has recognizable light blue domes[13] and includes several rooms. In the large room in the southern corner is a tombstone marking the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. In the center of the room is another tombstone marking the tomb of Rabbi Eleazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

Ownership of the site is contested between rival Sephardic and Ashkenazic trusts, both of whom claim full ownership of the entire area citing hundreds of years’ precedent. Appeals to the courts have failed to settle the issue and the feud has allowed very little development to take place resulting in substandard facilities and safety concerns, the structure surrounding the tomb having become old and neglected. Millions of dollars in funding for redevelopment and refurbishment of the location were bequeathed by philanthropist Edmond Safra, but the quarreling between the parties is holding up release of the funds.[14] An attempt by the state to take control over the site in 2011 to address health and safety concerns[15] was met with anger by the private endowments operating the site and a court approved settlement in 2020 ruled that control would remain with the owners.[16]

According to a modern Kabbalistic tradition, a pilgrimage is made to the tomb on Lag baOmer to mark either Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's "Yom Hillula" or the anniversary of his death.[17] The highlight of the event is the lighting of a bonfire at night on the roof of the tomb, after which joyous dancing begins. Various government bodies invest considerable sums of money and manpower resources to maintaining order and ensure the flow of traffic to the site.

In 1949, Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria organized a mass pilgrimage to the tomb following the Israeli victory in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. This became the basis for an annual pilgrimage on 7 Adar, in addition to Lag BaOmer.[18]

First haircut for boys

A rabbi performs the traditional first haircut on a three-year-old boy in Meron on Lag Baomer 1970.

A custom dating from the time of Rabbi Isaac Luria holds that boys be given their first haircuts on Lag baOmer, and today this generally means the Lag baOmer after their third birthday. Today a large event for this purpose is held at Meron, and similar celebrations are simultaneously held in Jerusalem at the grave of Shimon Hatzaddik for Jerusalemites.[21]

• 
  Lag BaOmer, 1939
• 
  Dome above tomb
• 
  Crowds at the tomb
• 
  Aerial view of the complex
• 
  Tomb marker at the burial site of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai

• Lag BaOmer
• 2021 Meron crowd crush