1 The Invention of Rabbinic Judaism: Development of the Talmud Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana MISHNA, Pirke Avot 1 -2 MOSES RECEIVED THE TORAH AT SINAI AND TRANSMITTED IT TO JOSHUA, JOSHUA TO THE ELDERS,1 AND THE ELDERS TO THE PROPHETS, AND THE PROPHETS TO THE MEN OF THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE2 SIMEON THE JUST3 WAS ONE OF THE LAST OF THE MEN OF THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE. ANTIGONUS4 (A MAN) OF SOCHO RECEIVED [THE ORAL TRADITION] FROM SIMEON THE RIGHTEOUS JOSE B. JO'EZER (A MAN) OF ZEREDAH, AND JOSE B. JOHANAN5 [A MAN] OF JERUSALEM RECEIVED [THE ORAL TRADITION] FROM THEM [I.E. SIMEON THE RIGHTEOUS AND ANTIGONUS]. JOSHUA B. PERAHIAH6 AND NITTAI THE ARBELITE RECEIVED [THE ORAL TRADITION] FROM THEM [I.E. THE FOREGOING]. JUDAH B. TABBAI7 AND SIMEON B. SHETAH8 RECEIVED [THE ORAL TRADITION] FROM THEM [I.E. THE FOREGOING]. SHEMAIAH9 AND ABTALION RECEIVED [THE ORAL TRADITION] FROM THEM [I.E. THE FOREGOING]. HILLEL10 AND SHAMMAI RECEIVED [THE ORAL TRADITION] FROM THEM [I.E. THE FOREGOING]. ABBAH JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI RECEIVED [THE ORAL TRADITION] FROM HILLEL AND SHAMMAI. RABBAN JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI HAD FIVE [PRE-EMINENT] DISCIPLES AND THEY WERE THESE: R. ELIEZER B. HYRCANUS, R. JOSHUA B. HANANIAH, R. JOSE, THE PRIEST, R. SIMEON B. NETHANEEL AND R. ELEAZAR B. ‘ARACH. 1 The Elders that outlived Joshua, Judges II, 7. ‘Elders’ in this Mishnah includes the Judges. 2 Kenesseth hagedolah: A body of 120 men founded by the leaders of the Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity Possibly Simeon b. Onias I (ca. 300 B.C.E.) or Simon II (219-199 B.C.E.) son of Onias II - שמעון הצדיק 3 The first noted Jew known to have had a Greek name. First half of the third century B.C.E - אנטיגנוס איש סוכו 4 5 2nd Century B.C.E. .latter half of - 2nd Century B.C.E יהושע בן פרחיה 6 7 Early 1st Century B.C.E. 8 Brother of Queen Salome 9 Nasi 65 B.C.E. – c. 31 B.C.E. 10 Nasi 31 B.C.E. – 9 C.E. 2 Nasi (literally “Prince”) of the Sanhedrin The office has been filled as follows: Nasi Unknown 191 BCE 170 BCE Yose ben Yoezer 170 BCE 140 BCE Joshua ben Perachyah 140 BCE 100 BCE Simeon ben Shetach 100 BCE 60 BCE Sh'maya 65 BCE c. 31 BCE Hillel the Elder c. 31 BCE 9 CE Rabban Shimon ben Hillel 9 9 Rabban Gamaliel the Elder 9 50 Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel 50 80 Rabban Gamaliel II of Yavne 80 118 Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah 118 120 Interregnum (Bar Kokhba revolt) 120 142 Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel II 142 165 Rabbi Judah I haNasi 165 220 Gamaliel III 220 230 Judah II Nesi'ah 230 270 Gamaliel IV 270 290 Judah III Nesi'ah 290 320 Hillel II 320 365 Gamliel V 365 385 Judah IV 385 400 Gamaliel VI c. 400 425 3 Rabbis: Middle Ages (ca. 500–1500 CE) Abraham ibn Daud, (Sefer HaKabbalah), (c. 1110–c.1180) 12th-century Spanish philosopher Abraham ben David of Posquières, (c. 1125–1198) 12th century, France Abraham ibn Ezra, (Even Ezra), (1089–1164) 12th-century Spanish-North African biblical commentator Abdullah ibn Saba', Rabbi convert to Islam, considered central figure in the configuration of Shia Islam. Abdullah ibn Salam, (550 - 630) rabbi, converted to Islam and was a companion of Islam's founder, Muhammad Amram Gaon, (?–875) 9th-century organizer of the siddur (prayer book) Asher ben Jehiel, (Rosh), (c. 1259–1327) 13th-century German-Spanish Talmudist Bahya ibn Paquda, (Hovot ha-Levavot), 11th-century Spanish philosopher and moralist Chananel Ben Chushiel (Rabbeinu Chananel), (990–1053) 10th-century Tunisian Talmudist David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra, (1479–1573) also called Radbaz, born in Spain, was a leading posek, rosh yeshiva and chief rabbi Eleazar of Worms, (Sefer HaRokeach), (1176–1238) 12th-century German rabbinic scholar Eliezer ben Nathan, (1090–1170) 12th-century poet and pietist Rabbenu Gershom, (c.960–c.1040) 11th-century German Talmudist and legalist Gersonides, Levi ben Gershom, (Ralbag), (1288–1344) 14th-century French Talmudist and philosopher Ibn Tibbon, a family of 12th and 13th-century Spanish and French scholars, translators, and leaders Don Isaac Abravanel, (Abarbanel), (1437–1508) 15th-century philosopher, Talmudist and Torah commentator. Also a court advisor and in charge of Finance to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. Isaac Alfasi, (the Rif), (1013–1103) 12th-century North African and Spanish Talmudist and Halakhist; author of "Sefer Ha-halachot" Jacob ben Asher, (Baal ha-Turim ; Arbaah Turim), (c. 1269–c.1343) 14th-century German-Spanish Halakhist Joseph Albo, (Sefer Ikkarim), (c. 1380–1444) 15th-century Spain Joseph ibn Migash (1077–1141) 12th-century Spanish Talmudist and rosh yeshiva; teacher of Maimon, father of Maimonides Judah ben Joseph ibn Bulat (c. 1500 - 1550), Spanish Talmudist and rabbi Ka'ab al-Ahbar, Iṣḥaq Ka‘b ben Mati, (?– 652/653) was a prominent rabbi from Yemen who was one of the earliest important Jewish converts to Islam. Maimonides, Moshe Ben Maimon, (Rambam), (1138–1204) 12th-century Spanish-North African Talmudist, philosopher, and law codifier Meir ben Samuel (c. 1060–1135) known by the Hebrew acronym (RaM) was a French rabbi and tosafist, Mordecai ben Hillel, (The Mordechai), (c. 1250–1298) 13th-century German Halakhist Nahmanides, Moshe ben Nahman, (Ramban), (1194–1270) 13th-century Spanish and Holy Land mystic and Talmudist Rashbam, (Samuel ben Meir), (1085–1158) French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi" Rashi, (Solomon ben Yitzchak), (1040–1105) 11th-century Talmudist, primary commentator of the Talmud Saadia Gaon, (Emunoth ve-Deoth ; Siddur), (c.882–942) 10th-century exilarch and leader of Babylonian Jewry Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon, (c. 1150–c.1230) 12th–13th-century French Maimonidean philosopher and translator Tosafists, (Tosfot) 11th, 12th and 13th-century Talmudic scholars in France and Germany Yehuda Halevi, (Kuzari), (c. 1175–1241) 12th-century Spanish philosopher and poet devoted to Zion 4 1. Talmud: Gitten – 56a-b - JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI ESCAPES THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM Abba Sikra the head of the biryoni (rebellion) in Jerusalem was the son of the sister of Rabban Yohanan b. Zakkai. [The latter] sent to him saying, “Come to visit me privately.” When he came he said to him, “How long are you going to carry on in this way and kill all the people with starvation?” He replied: “What can I do? If I say a word to them, they will kill me.” He said: “Devise some plan for me to escape. Perhaps I shall be able to save a little.” He said to him: “Pretend to be ill, and let everyone come to inquire about you. Bring something evil smelling and put it by you so that they will say you are dead. Let then your disciples get under your bed (as pallbearers), but no others, so that they shall not notice that you are still light, since they know that a living being is lighter than a corpse.” He did so, and R. Eliezer went under the bier from one side and R. Joshua from the other. When they reached the door, some men wanted to put a lance through the bier. He said to them: “Shall [the Romans] say. They have pierced their Master?” They wanted to give it a push. He said to them: “Shall they say that they pushed their Master?” They opened a town gate for him and he got out. When he reached the Romans he said, “Peace to you, O king, peace to you, O king.” He [Vespasian] said: “Your life is forfeit on two counts, one because I am not a king and you call me king, and again, if I am a king, why did you not come to me before now?” He replied: “As for your saying that you are not a king, in truth you are a king, since if you were not a king Jerusalem would not be delivered into your hand, as it is written, And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.11 . As for your question, why if you are a king, I did not come to you till now, the answer is that the biryoni among us did not let me. At this point a messenger came to him from Rome saying, “Up, for the Emperor is dead, and the notables of Rome have decided to make you head [of the State]” . He said; “I am now going, and will send someone to take my place. You can, however, make a request of me and I will grant it.” He said to him: “Give me Yabneh and its Wise Men,12 and the family chain of Rabban Gamaliel,13 . .” R. Joseph, or some say R. Akiba, applied to him the verse, ‘[God] turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledge foolish’. He ought to have said to him; Let them [the Jews] off this time. He, however, thought that so much he would not grant, and so even a little would not be saved. 11 Isa. X, 34 12 I.e., leave to found a seminary at Yabneh (Yamnia) (Yavne) 13 That the R. Gamaliel dynasty be spared. R. Yohanan was particularly solicitous for R. Gamaliel and his family, as they were supposed to be of the house of David .