Was Rashbi a member of Beth Shammai or Beth Hillel?

Question

Do you know if Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was a follower of Hillel or Shammai?

There are partial lists of followers of each of them here, but he's not on either of them. Was he a follower of one of them, neither of them, or do we just not know?

Answer 1

Rashbi is a student of Rabbi Akiva. See Gemara Yebamot 62b:

אמרו שנים עשר אלף זוגים תלמידים היו לו לרבי עקיבא מגבת עד אנטיפרס וכולן מתו בפרק אחד מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה והיה העולם שמם עד שבא ר''ע אצל רבותינו שבדרום ושנאה להם

It was said that Rabbi Akiba had twelve thousand pairs of disciples, from Gabbatha to Antipatris; and all of them died at the same time because they did not treat each other with respect. The world remained desolate until Rabbi Akiba came to our Masters in the South and taught the Torah to them. These were

1. ר''מ ,‏

Rabbi Meir,

2. ור' יהודה ,‏

Rabbi Yehuda,

3. ור' יוסי ,‏

Rabbi Yose,

4. ורבי שמעון , ‏

Rabbi Shim'on,

5. ורבי אלעזר בן שמוע , ‏

Rabbi El'azar Ben Shamua,

והם הם העמידו תורה . ‏

and it was they who revived the Torah at that time.

And Rabbi Akiva is called in Mishna Sota 5, 2 Student of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai:

אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, מִי יְגַלֶּה עָפָר מֵעֵינֶיךָ, רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, שֶׁהָיִיתָ אוֹמֵר, עָתִיד דּוֹר אַחֵר לְטַהֵר כִּכָּר שְׁלִישִׁי, שֶׁאֵין לוֹ מִקְרָא מִן הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁהוּא טָמֵא. וַהֲלֹא עֲקִיבָא תַּלְמִידְךָ מֵבִיא לוֹ מִקְרָא מִן הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁהוּא טָמֵא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, כֹּל אֲשֶׁר בְּתוֹכוֹ יִטְמָא:

Rabbi Joshua said: who will remove the dust from thine eyes, Rabbi Johanan Ben Zakkai, since thou sayest that another generation is destined to pronounce clean a loaf which is unclean in the third degree on the ground that there is no text in the torah according to which it is unclean! is not Rabbi Akiba thy pupil? He adduces a text in the Torah according to which it is unclean, viz. , "whatsoever is in it shall be unclean".

And Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zaccai is called student of Hillel and Shamai, see Mishna Avot 2, 8:

רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי קִבֵּל מֵהִלֵּל וּמִשַּׁמָּאי

RYBZ received from Hillel and Shamai.

One of his students, Rabbi Eliezer is often considered as student of B.Sh. "Shamuti" (but Shamuti may be interpreted as who was in Cherem, after the dispute of Tanur shel Achnay), and Rabbi Akiba is counted as one of his students in Gemara Sanhedrin 68a, when he was Goses, he said to Rabbi Akiva "שלך קשה מכולם". But he regularly countered him. Rabbi Yehoshua said that they do not need to follow the "Bat Kol" which indicates that Halacha Kedivre Beth Hillel, but was not Shamuti.

But Rabbi Akiva was mainly a student of Rabbi Tarfon (Doresh Miut Verubui and not Klale Uprate) which is involved with the Halacha to follow Beth Hillel, but was not see Mishna Berachot 1, 3:

אָמַר רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן, אֲנִי הָיִיתִי בָא בַדֶּרֶךְ, וְהִטֵּתִי לִקְרוֹת, כְּדִבְרֵי בֵית שַׁמַּאי, וְסִכַּנְתִּי בְעַצְמִי מִפְּנֵי הַלִּסְטִים. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, כְּדַי הָיִיתָ לָחוּב בְּעַצְמְךָ, שֶׁעָבַרְתָּ עַל דִּבְרֵי בֵית הִלֵּל: ‏

Rabbi Tarfon said: I was once walking by the way and I reclined to recite the shema' in the manner prescribed by Beth Shammai, and I incurred danger from robbers. they said to him: you deserved to come to harm, because you acted against the opinion of Beth Hillel. {in Gemara they learn from this that one who follows the rule of Beth Shammai makes his life forfeit}.

Mesilat Yesharim explained this Gemara in the end of Chapter 20:

The episode of R. Tarfon (Berachoth 10b) substantiates what has been said. Although he took upon himself the more stringent decision of Beth Shammai, he was told, "You would rightly have been accounted the cause of your own death, for you violated the words of Beth Hillel." All this because the controversy between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel had become an area of difficulty to Israel in view of the great contention that had grown up between them; and after it had finally been ruled that the law should constantly be decided in accordance with Beth Hillel it was essential for the very endurance of Torah that this ruling forever retain its force and not be weakened in any way lest the Torah come to take on the semblance of two Torahs (G-d forbid). Hence, the view of this Mishnah that it is Saintlier to hold with Beth Hillel even when more lenient, than to be more stringent in accordance with Beth Shammai. This should serve us as a guide to perceive the path where light resides with truth and faith for the doing of what is just in the eyes of G-d.

Conclusion: There was no more members of Bet Shamai in the generation of Rabbi Shim'on and his Rabbi was not member of BS, and The Rabbanim of his Rabbi also was not. The question you linked and answers count only people from former generations, not from the Generation of Rabbi Shim'on. See also Seder Hadorot, who said that he receive Smicha from Rabbi Yehuda Ben Baba who was the Rav of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasssi.

So Rabbi Shim'on obviously was not of Beth Shammai.