Editing Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (section)

==== The Praises He Spoke of Himself ====
Several times Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi) praised and elevated himself in a unique way. In the Gemara, it appears that he expressed: "I have seen the sons of elevation and they are few. If they are a thousand - I and my son are among them, if they are a hundred - I and my son are among them, if they are two - they are I and my son."

In the Zohar, his expression about himself appears: "Ana simana b'alma" [= I am a sign in the world; meaning, a sign of the Creator's existence].

Although generally the way of the righteous is not with such pride, with Rashbi it was different, because he was a soul from the world of Atzilut. Souls from the BIY"A worlds (Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah) whose existence is separate from Hashem, their service needs to be the nullification of their existence, but the world of Atzilut is actual Divinity and is not separate, and therefore there is no need to nullify its existence. For this reason, Rashbi, who was a soul of Atzilut, could elevate himself, since he had no existence of his own but rather a Divine existence, and therefore his elevation is Divine elevation.

This explanation is also the reason for the Zohar's statement: "Who is 'the face of the Master, Havayah'? ... This is Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai." Since Rashbi had no existence of his own at all, he can be called "the face of the Master, Havayah."
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