Back inside the cave

"Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai lived during the time of the Romans. When one of his colleagues praised the Romans for building up the Land of Israel, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai slandered them by stating that they did it for themselves and not for the Jews. When word reached the Roman governor, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was forced to flee for his life. He and his son, Rabbi Eleazer, took refuge in a cave. In the cave, he and his son began studying the Torah, a miracle occurred for them, that a Carob tree sprouted and a water spring opened up providing them with sustenance. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son lived in the cave for twelve years, studying by themselves with out interruption and with out going outside.
After twelve years of seclusion, the Roman governor died and the decree of death was rescinded. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son emerged from the cave. They saw a man plowing and planting his field. They, who had lived for twelve years eating carobs and water and studying the Holy teachings, were surprised that man would resort to such folly as work! What ever they would look upon with displeasure, burnt from their stare. A voice from heaven commanded them to go back into the cave and not to bring destruction upon the world. "
Read full article: http://www.jewishmag.com/9mag/rashbi/rashbi.htm (Hint - they did emerge a year later.)

The world watched with bated breath as the 33 miners in Chile were rescued one by one. Thankfully, all emerged in relatively good health and weeks ahead of the expected schedule. I would like to express my admiration to the technicians, the miners and the rescuers who were lowered into the mine to provide assistance to the miners.
Many people were inspired by the words of Mario Sepulveda, the second miner to emerge.
"I buried 40 years of my life down there, and I'm going to live a lot longer to be a new person."
"I think I have learned a lot of wonderful lessons about taking the good path in life. For those of you able to call your wives or your husbands, do so."
"I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought, and God won."
Noting the Chilean President's soaring approval ratings, the American President consulted with his staff about the feasibility of manufacturing a crisis that would end happily a few days before the November election. (only kidding)
The TV networks did the same, noting their soaring viewing audience numbers.
Clergy from all faiths were busy writing sermons for the weekend reflecting life lessons that can be learned from the story of the miners.
Rabbis were able to tie in the story to the parsha of the week, noting how Avram received a new name, Avraham, to reflect his new direction in life. Similarly, the miners had been reborn with a new purpose in life.
Websites were busy posting article after article about the same topic.
One miner, fed up with the bickering between the women in his life decided, "Enough already. I'm going back into the mine."
Noting the dark glasses the miners wore to protect their eyesight when they emerged from the mine, my morning prayers took on an added intensity as I uttered the words "....for giving the rooster understanding to distinguish between day and night," and "...Who gives sight to the blind," with extra appreciation.
May the miners have a speedy recovery and be able to successfully integrate into everyday life.