Yochanan HaSandlar

Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar (approximately 100 CE - 150 CE) - a Tanna of the 4th generation Yahrzeit – 29 Tammuz Burial place – Meron, 200 meters from the Kever of Rashbi. Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar (Yochanan the Shoemaker, or Yochanan of Alexandria) was a Tanna of the 4th generation and one of the main students of Rabbi Akiva and a colleague of Rashbi. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and was a descendant of King David and a great-grandson of Rabbi Gamliel the Elder. Rashi was a descendant of Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar (they share the same yahrzeit – 29 Tammuz) in the 33rd generation. Because of the harsh Roman decrees, Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua decided to leave Eretz Yisrael and travel to study under Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira in Netzivin, Bavel. When they reached Sidon, they were overcome with longing for Eretz Yisrael, and they began to weep and tear their garments. They then turned back and went home, saying that living in Eretz Yisrael is equivalent to all the mitzvot of the Torah. A well-known statement of Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar in Pirkei Avot: "Every gathering that is for the sake of Heaven will endure, but a gathering that is not for the sake of Heaven will not endure." Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar is buried in Meron, above the resting place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. A tziyun is built above the entrance to a sealed cave that contains the actual grave. Near the grave is a cave in which Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar used to process the hides used to make leather for his shoes. May the merit of the tzadik protect our people!   (https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/449-Johanan-HaSandlar)