Editing Shimon Bar Yochai (section)

==== Connecting the Revealed and Inner Dimensions ====
Rabbi Shimon's main focus in Torah study was in the revealed part of Torah, especially since in his generation there was an enormous amount of Mishnayot - six hundred orders of Mishnah - which he studied with deep analytical discussions of questions and answers, as the Gemara states regarding his great power of analysis that he acquired through his stay in the cave.

However, the field in which he distinguished himself from other Tannaim was his involvement in the inner dimensions of Torah. Rabbi Shimon and his group, who studied the mystical teachings and wrote the Zohar and the Tikunim, played a central role in transmitting the mystical teachings to future generations, which is why Rabbi Shimon is considered the central source for the inner dimensions of Torah. In Chassidus, Rabbi Shimon is compared to Moses - just as the revealed Torah was given through Moses, so too the inner dimensions of Torah were revealed through Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He is called "unique in his generation in the mystical realm."

A special quality of Rabbi Shimon - which was not present even among the Tannaim who were deeply involved in the inner dimensions of Torah (like Rabbi Nechunia ben Hakanah) - was the connection between these two domains. For Rabbi Shimon, the light of the inner dimensions of Torah illuminated even the revealed aspects, and he felt the same connection with the Holy One, blessed be He, in both. In both areas, his study was about drawing down divinity from above rather than the usual approach of "sifting refinements" that is the normal way in studying the revealed Torah.