YOELI: Hey Yos, still eating fruit huh?
YOSSI: You bet Yoeli. I heard something unbelievable. There is a zecher to the Mabul right here in Teveria!
YOELI: To the Mabul?
YOSSI: Yup. Rashi in Parshas Noach says that Hashem opened all the hot springs beneath the ground to flood the Earth with boiling water. When the Mabul was over, Hashem left some of them open, like the famous Chamei Teveria!
YOELI: Wow! And Yos, have you ever heard of the most famous Tzadik to bathe in the Chamei Teveria?
YOSSI: Who?
YOELI: The heiligeh Rashbi! Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai! After he learned in the cave in the sand for 12 years, his skin was in very bad shape, and so he visited the hot springs of Teveria!
YOSSI: Wow!
YOELI: But that’s not all! Teveria was built on a beis hakevaros, by the non-Jewish king, Herod. Because of his tremendous hakaras hatov for the springs, Reb Shimon took special beans, and scattered them around the city. Where there was a meis buried underground, the bean would sink and bring up the body! Reb Shimon was tiher ir Teveria – he purified the city! Now Kohanim could enter the city as the path was cleared!
YOSSI: Is the whole city okay now?
YOELI: No, but there is a way around for Kohanim. There are also many tzadikim buried here! And we’ll explore them soon!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 26.