26 Sivan · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel - Tanna
Tanna Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel
Yahrzeit - 26 Sivan
Burial place - Amuka
It is not good for man to be alone - on visiting the grave of Yonatan Ben Uziel
Once a wealthy Roman woman asked Rabbi Yosi Bar Chalafta how many days it took the Creator to make our world. He answered her that it took six days, as it is written (Shemot 20), "for in six days the L-rd made the heavens and the earth." She said to him, "And what has He been doing from then until now?" He answered her, "The Creator sits and makes matches: the daughter of so-and-so to so-and-so, the wife of so-and-so to so-and-so." "And that's what He does?" the Roman woman wondered, "I can do the very same thing. I have many male and female slaves whom I could marry off within an hour." Rabbi Yosi ben Chalafta said to her, "You think it's so easy? But for the Creator, matching couples is as difficult as splitting the Red Sea for the Jews to cross as if on dry land."
After Rabbi Yosi Bar Chalafta left, the Roman woman took 1,000 male slaves and 1,000 female slaves, lined them up in rows, and said, "This one will marry that one, and that one will marry this one," and so she married them all off by evening. In the morning they came to her - one with a wound on his head, another with a black eye, a third with a broken leg. She asked them, "What happened to you?" Some said, "I don't want to be with him," and others said, "I don't want to be with her." She immediately called Rabbi Yosi Bar Chalafta and said to him, "There is none like your G-d, and everything written in the Torah is true." He said to her, "Didn't I tell you? You think it's so easy? But for the Creator, matching couples is as difficult as splitting the Red Sea for the Jews to cross as if on dry land." (Midrash Bereishit Rabbah 68).
Throughout our history many segulot have arisen to help people find their match. One of the most well-known is connected with visiting the grave of Yonatan ben Uziel, located in a place called Amuka, not far from Tzfat. His hillula, on 26 Sivan, is considered one of the most auspicious times to pray at his grave.
Who was Yonatan ben Uziel, and why is it specifically at his grave that we ask for help in building a family?
Yonatan ben Uziel belonged to the first generation of Tannaim and lived several decades before the destruction of the Second Temple. He was a student of Hillel and one of the founders of his school. Like Hillel, he is referred to in our sources by name alone, without the title "Rabbi," because his level surpassed what was customarily called "Rav" or "Rabbi."
By tradition, he received his knowledge of Torah from the last three prophets - Chagai, Zechariah, and Malachi (though more likely indirectly, through tradition, rather than directly).
Yonatan ben Uziel is known above all for his work "Targum Yonatan" - a translation of the Books of the Prophets into Aramaic (the Galilean dialect of Aramaic). His translation of the Early Prophets is literal, while his translation of the Later Prophets is based on various midrashim.
Not many mentions of him have survived in our sources, but from what has survived, one can conclude that he was an extraordinary person. One explanation for why we know relatively little about him is that his spiritual legacy became absorbed into the framework of Hillel's school.
In Tractate Sukkah (28a) of the Babylonian Talmud, it is written that when Yonatan Ben Uziel sat and studied Torah, any bird flying overhead would be burned up. Rashi explains that this was because angels would gather around him to listen to his exposition of the Torah. According to the Tosafot, he studied Torah with such intense joy - similar to the joy of the Revelation at Sinai, when the Torah was given amid fire - that this fire consumed the birds.
Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel also began translating the Writings (Ketuvim) into Aramaic, which met with strong opposition from several sages of that generation, apparently out of concern that Aramaic-speaking Jews would forget the Hebrew source, just as the Greek translation had displaced Hebrew in Alexandria.
This is reflected in Tractate Megillah 3a of the Babylonian Talmud: "Yonatan Ben Uziel made the translation of the Prophets, having received it from Chagai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and all the Land of Israel, 400 parasangs by 400 parasangs, trembled. And a Heavenly Voice went forth, saying: 'Who is it that has revealed My secrets to mankind?'"
Yonatan Ben Uziel stood up and said, "It is I who revealed Your secrets to mankind. You know that I did not do this for my own honor or for the honor of my family, but for Your honor, so that disputes and disagreements would not increase in Israel."
He also asked to be allowed to reveal a translation of the Writings, but again a Heavenly Voice went forth and said to him, "Enough." Why? So that the coming of Mashiach would not be revealed.
The first written mention of the tradition of visiting the grave of Rabbi Yonatan Ben Uziel in Amuka appears in the book "Megillat Evyatar," dating from the end of the 11th century. This custom became widespread from the 17th century onward. In addition to his day of passing, it is customary to visit his grave on Rosh Chodesh, but pilgrims can be found there on any day of the year. It is one of the most visited graves of tzadikim. Every year, about 1,000 people seeking to build a family visit this grave, asking the Creator that, in the merit of this tzadik, He send them a life partner.
There is another tradition that explains the pilgrimage to this grave for requests to build a family. According to it, Rabbi Yonatan Ben Uziel himself never married, and it is precisely for this reason that his merits are able to help in building a family.
In addition to requests to build a family, it is customary to ask for all other human needs as well.
It is said that there is a custom of visiting this grave twice.
First, with prayers and requests to build a family, and then, sometime within the year, to leave a wedding invitation there.
Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri's segulot at the grave of Rabbi Yonatan Ben Uziel
For those who wish to build a family more quickly, it is recommended to read the following chapters of Tehillim daily: 31, 32, 70, 72, 124 (no connection to visiting the grave).
Rav Kaduri also recommended, if possible, reading the above chapters at the Kotel and lighting a candle in memory of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes, so that in his merit the Creator would send the person a worthy match.
The grave of Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel is a segula for a "shidduch" and "shalom bayit." Psalm 29 and "Ana BeKoach" are recited 7 times while circling the blue dome clockwise.
