Judah haNasi

"Rebbi" redirects here.

Roman province of Judea.

Rabbi Judah haNasi, (Hebrew: יהודה הנשיא, pronounced Yehuda haNasi, "Judah the Prince"), also known as "Rabbi" and "Rabeinu HaKadosh" (Hebrew: רבינו הקדוש, "our holy rabbi"), was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century AD, during the occupation of the Roman Empire. He is best known as the chief "editor" or "redactor" of the Mishnah. He was of the Davidic line, the royal line of King David, hence the title "Prince." The title nasi means president of the Sanhedrin.

Biography

Family and education

The Galilee in late antiquity

Judah haNasi was born in 135. According to the midrash, he came into the world on the same day that Rabbi Akiva died a martyr's death (Midrash Genesis Rabbah lviii.; Midrash Eccl. Rabbah i. 10) The Talmud suggests that this was a result of Divine Providence: God had granted the Jewish people another leader of great stature to succeed Rabbi Akiva. His place of birth is unknown. His father, Shimon ben Gamliel II, sought refuge with his family at an unknown location during the persecutions of the Jews under the Roman emperor Hadrian after the defeat of the Bar Kochba revolt, of which Akiva had been a prominent supporter.

On the restoration of order in Palestine, the western Galilean town of Usha became the seat of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish rabbinical court. Here Judah spent his youth. It may be assumed that his father gave him about the same education that he himself had received, and that his studies included Greek. He is reported to have held that the Jews of Palestine who did not speak Hebrew should consider Greek as the language of the country, while Syriac (Aramaic) had no claim to that distinction. In Judah's own house, pure Hebrew seems to have been spoken.

Judah devoted himself chiefly to the study of the Jewish law. In his youth he had close relations with most of the great pupils of Akiva, and a number of anecdotes are preserved by in the Talmud concerning their discussions. He thus laid the foundations which enabled him to undertake his life's work, the redaction of the Mishnah. His teacher at Usha was Judah bar 'Ilai, who was officially employed in the house of the Roman-recognized Jewish patriarch as judge in religious and legal questions (Men. 104a; Sheb. 13a).

Judah also speaks of studying with of Simeon bar Yochai and Eleazar ben Shammua' but not with the famous Rabbi Meir, evidently because of conflicts which made this famous pupil of Akiva unwelcome in the house of the patriarch. Nathan the Babylonian, who also took a part in the conflict between Meir and the patriarch, was another of Judah's teachers. In halakic as well as in haggadic tradition Judah's opinion is often opposed to Nathan's. In the tradition of the Palestinian schools Judah ben Ḳorshai, is designated as Judah's real teacher. Jacob ben Ḥanina is also mentioned as one of Judah's teachers. Finally, in the list of Judah's teachers his own father, Simon ben Gamaliel, must not be omitted. In the halakic tradition the view of this son is often opposed to that of his father, the latter generally advocating the less rigorous application. Judah himself says: "My opinion seems to me more correct than that of my father." ('Er. 32a) Humility was a virtue ascribed to Judah, and he admired it greatly in his father, who openly recognized Simeon bar Yoḥai's superiority.

Judah's academy and patriarchate

Eventually, Judah came to succeeded his father as leader of the Palestinian Jews. According to a tradition (Mishnah Soṭah, end), the country at the time of Simon ben Gamaliel's death was devastated by a plague of locusts and many other hardships. This may be the reason why Judah transferred the seat of the patriarchate and of the academy to another place in Galilee, namely, Beit She'arim. Here he officiated for a long time. However, during the last 17 years of his life he lived at Sepphoris, where he settled on account of its high altitude and pure air (Yer. Kil. 32b; Gen. R. xcvi.; Ket. 103b). However, it is at Beit She'arim that his activity as director of the academy and chief judge is principally associated, "To Beit She'arim must one go in order to obtain Rabbi's decision in legal matters," says one tradition (Sanh. 32b). The chronology of Judah's activity at Beit She'arim, however, remains speculative.

It is difficult to harmonize the many anecdotes, found in Talmudic and midrashic literature, relatingto Judah's intercourse with an emperor named Antoninus (see Jew. Encyc. i. 656) with the accounts of the various bearers of that name; and they therefore can not be used in a historic account of Judah's life and activity. However, as Marcus Aurelius visited Palestine in 175, and Septimius Severus in 200, there is a historical basis for the statement that Judah came into personal relations with some one of the Antonines; the statement being supported by the anecdotes, although they may report more fiction than truth. In many of these narratives references to the emperor apply really to the imperial representatives in Palestine. The assumption that not Judah I., but his grandson, Judah II., is the patriarch of the Antonine anecdotes (so Graetz) seems untenable in view of the general impression made by the personality of the patriarch; the tradition doubtless refers to Judah I. The splendor surrounding Judah's position, a splendor such as no other incumbent of the same office enjoyed, was evidently due to the favor of the Roman rulers. Although the Palestinian Jews had to contend with serious difficulties, and were persecuted during the patriarch's tenure of office, covering more than fifty years, yet it was on the whole a period of peace and one favorable to the activity of the academy. Judah I., who united in himself all the qualifications for internal and external authority, was naturally the chief personage of this period, which was destined, in virtue of its importance, to close the epoch of the Tannaim, and to inaugurate definitely with Judah I.'s life-work the epoch of the Amoraim. Judah's importance, which gave its distinctive impress to this period, was characterized at an early date by the saying that since the time of Moses the Torah and greatness, i.e., knowledge and rank, were united in no one to the same extent as in Judah I. (Giṭ. 59a; Sanh. 36a).

It is a curious fact, explainable by the nature of the sources, that only scattered data concerning Judah's official activity are to be found. These data refer to: the ordination of his pupils (Sanh. 5a, b); the recommendation of pupils for communal offices (Yeb. 105a; Yer. Yeb. 13a); orders relating to the announcement of the new moon (Yer. R. H. 58a, above); amelioration of the law relating to the Sabbatical year (Sheb. vi. 4; Yer. Sheb. 37a; comp. Ḥul. 7a, b), and to decrees relating to tithes in the pagan frontier districts of Palestine (Yer. Dem. 22c; Ḥul. 6b). The last-named he was obliged to defend against the opposition of the members of the patriarchal family (Ḥul. l.c.). The ameliorations he intended for the fast of the Ninth of Ab were prevented by the college (Meg. 5b; Yer. Meg. 70c). Many religious and legal decisions are recorded as having been rendered by Judah together with his court, the college of scholars (Giṭ. v. 6; Oh. xviii. 9; Tosef., Shab. iv. 16; see also Yeb. 79b, above; Ḳid. 71a).

The authority of Judah's office was enhanced by his wealth, which is referred to in various traditions. In Babylon the hyperbolical statement was subsequently made that Rabbi's equerry was more wealthy than King Sapor. The patriarch's house-hold was compared to that of the emperor (Ber. 43a, 57b). In connection with a sentence by Simeon b. Yoḥai, Simeon b. Menasya praised Judah I. by saying that he and Lis sons united in themselves beauty, power, wealth, wisdom, age, honor, and the blessings of children (Tosef., Sanh. xi. 8; Baraita Ab. vi. 8). During a famine Judah opened his granaries and distributed corn among the needy (B. B. 8a). But he denied himself the pleasures procurable by wealth, saying: "Whoever chooses the delights of this world will be deprived of the delights of the next world; whoever renounces the former will receive the latter" (Ab. R. N. xxviii.).

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According to the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 10a-b), Rabbi Judah the Prince was very wealthy and greatly revered in Rome. He had a close friendship with "Antoninus," possibly the Emperor Antoninus Pius, who would consult Rabbi Judah on various worldly and spiritual matters.

The Talmud records the tradition that Rabbi Judah haNasi was buried in the necropolis of Beit She'arim, in the Lower Galilee.

Compiler of the Mishna

Rabbinical Eras
Zugot Tannaim Amoraim Savoraim Geonim Rishonim Acharonim

According to Jewish tradition, God gave the Jewish nation the Written Law - Torah - and revealed to Moses additional laws and customs, called the Oral Law. For centuries, only the Torah appeared as a written text. Fearing that the oral traditions might be forgotten, Rabbi Judah Hanasi undertook the mission of compiling them in what became known as the Mishna. The Mishna consists of 63 tractates codifying Jewish law, which are the basis of the Talmud.

Talmudic legends

In the Talmud (Bava Metziah 85a), one of the most prominent rabbis is Judah haNasi, often referred to as "Rabbi." The title "Nasi" is often translated as "Prince," but in modern Hebrew, it is translated as "President."

Various stories are told about Judah HaNasi, to illustrate different aspects of his character. One of them tells of a calf being led to slaughter that broke free and tried to hide under Judah HaNasi's robes, bellowing with terror. Yehuda pushed the animal away, saying: "Go; for this purpose you were created."

In Heaven it was said: "Since he showed no pity, let us bring suffering upon him." Judah HaNasi was afflicted with kidney stones, painful flatulence and other gastric problems. He prayed for relief, but his prayers were ignored, just as he had ignored the pleas of the calf.

One day, Judah HaNasi's maid found some baby weasels in the house and was about to expel them violently with her broom. But Judah HaNasi stopped her, saying "Leave them alone! It is written: 'His Mercy is upon all his works.'"

And from Heaven was heard: "Since he has shown compassion, let us be compassionate with him." The rabbi was then healed of his painful illnesses and of his flatulence and could once again go out in public.

Rabbi Judah HaNasi also said "One ignorant of the Torah should not eat flesh" - possibly as a result of these experiences.

References

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Preceded by: Shimon ben Gamliel II

Nasi 165 (Est.) - 220

Succeeded by: Gamaliel III

Rabbis of the Mishnah

Hillel   Shammai           Teacher → Student                                                                             Gamaliel the Elder               Johanan b. Zakai                 Father → Son                                                                                 R. Gamaliel   Jose the Galilean   Eliezer b. Hyrcanus   Joshua b. Hananiah   Eleazar b. Arach   Eleazar b. Azariah                                                                         Elisha b. Abuyah       Akiva   Ishmael b. Elisha   Tarfon                                                                                                 Meir   Judah b. Ilai   Jose b. Halafta   Shimon b. Yohai                                                                                             Judah HaNasi   Hiyya   Oshiah

See also

• Talmud
• Mishna
• Tannaim
• Amoraim

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