Meir Ba'Al Ha-Nes

("Meir the Miracle Worker"). Name applied to a R. Meir who had the reputation in aggadic literature of performing miracles. Traditionally his tomb is in Tiberias but there are various views as to which R. Meir lies buried there. Some say it is the tanna R. Meir (2nd cent. CE); some a R. Meir ben Jacob, who went to the Land of Israel in the 13th century; and there are other views as well. The tomb is the site of an annual pilgrimage on Pesaḥ Sheni (14 Iyyar) each year (see Passover, Second). From the 18th century on, emissaries from the Land of Israel would distribute charity boxes in the name of R. Meir Ba'al ha-Nes, and almost all Jewish homes would have such a box, where coins were deposited before the Sabbath candles were lit. A folk belief maintained that contributions would protect one from various types of calamities. Many rabbis were opposed to the annual pilgrimage and the use of these charity boxes, as they regarded these practices as groundless superstition, but this opposition, however, has still not put an end to the practice in many homes. To this day numerous charity boxes display the words "R. Meir Ba'al ha-Nes" and various religious organizations invoke the name in their fundraising efforts.

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