See also: Johanan (name).
Yohanan ben Zakkai (he|יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי|Yōḥānān ben Zakkaʾy; 1st century CE), sometimes abbreviated as for Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, was a tanna, an important Jewish sage during the late Second Temple period during the transformative post-destruction era. He was a primary contributor to the core text of Rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah. His name is often preceded by the honorific title Rabban. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time, and his escape from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem (which allowed him to continue teaching) may have been instrumental in Rabbinic Judaism's survival post-Temple. His tomb is located in Tiberias within the Maimonides burial compound.
Yohanan was the first Jewish sage attributed the title of rabbi in the Mishnah.[1]
The Talmud reports that, in the mid-first century, he was particularly active in opposing the interpretations of Jewish law (Halakha) by the Sadducees[2] [3] and produced counter-arguments to their objections to the interpretations of the Pharisees.[4] So dedicated was he to opposing the Sadducean view of Jewish law that he prevented the Jewish high priest of his time, a Sadducee, from following the Sadducaic interpretation of the Red Heifer ritual.[5] His home at this time was in Arraba, a village in the Galilee, where he spent eighteen years.[6] [7] Although living among them, he found the attitude of Galileans to be objectionable, allegedly exclaiming that they hated the Torah and would therefore "fall into the hands of robbers."[6] During the outbreak of hostilities, he settled in Jerusalem.
During the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE in the First Jewish–Roman War, he argued in favour of peace: according to the Talmud (Gittin 56a), when he found the anger of the besieged populace to be intolerable, he arranged a secret escape from the city inside a coffin, helped by his nephew and Zealot leader Ben Batiach, so that he could negotiate with Vespasian (who, at this time, was still just a military commander).[8] Ben Zakkai correctly predicted that Vespasian would become Emperor and that the Temple would soon be destroyed. In return, Vespasian granted Yochanan three wishes: the salvation of Yavne and its sages and the descendants of Rabban Gamliel, who was of the Davidic line, and a physician to treat Rabbi Zadok, who had fasted for 40 years to stave off the destruction of Jerusalem.[9]
Upon the destruction of Jerusalem, Yochanan converted his school at Yavne into the Jewish religious centre, insisting that certain privileges given by Jewish law uniquely to Jerusalem should be transferred to Yavne.[10] His school functioned as a re-establishment of the Sanhedrin so that Judaism could decide how to deal with the loss of the sacrificial altars of the temple in Jerusalem and other pertinent questions. Referring to a passage in the Book of Hosea ("I desired mercy, and not sacrifice"),[11] he helped persuade the Sanhedrin to—as the temple had been destroyed—replace animal sacrifice with prayer,[12] a practice that remains the basis of Jewish worship. Eventually, Rabbinic Judaism emerged from the council's conclusions.
In his last years, he taught at Bror Hayil, near Yavne.[13] His habit was to wear his Tefillin (phylacteries) all day, both in summer and winter.[14] However, during the hot summer months, he only wore his arm phylactery (shel yad).[14] His students were present at his deathbed and were requested by him, in his penultimate words according to the Talmudic record, to reduce their risk of ritual contamination conveyed by a corpse:
More enigmatic were the Talmud's record of his last words, which seem to relate to Jewish messianism:
According to the Talmud, Yochanan ben Zakkai lived 120 years.[15] Upon his death, his students returned to Yavneh, and he was buried in the city of Tiberias; eleven centuries later, Maimonides was buried nearby. As leader of the Sanhedrin, he was succeeded by Gamliel II.
The following story is told in the Jewish classic, Avoth deRabbi Nathan, version B, chapter 4:5, about the war with Rome.
Jewish tradition records Yohanan ben Zakkai as being extremely dedicated to religious study, claiming that no one ever found him engaged in anything but study.[16] He is considered to be someone who passed on the teachings of his predecessors; on the other hand, numerous homiletic and exegetical sayings are attributed to him[17] and he is known for establishing a number of edicts in the post-destruction era:[18]
If you are holding a sapling in your hand and someone tells you, 'Come quickly, the Messiah is here!', first finish planting the tree and then go to greet the Messiah.[19]
If you have been studious in learning the Torah, do not take credit to yourself, since it is to this end that you were created.[20] [21]
Some of Rabbi Yohanan's comments were of an esoteric nature. On one occasion he advises that mankind should seek to understand the infinity of God, by imagining the heavens being extended to unthinkable distances.[22] He argued that Job's piety was not based on the love of God, but on the fear of Him.[23]
He was challenged to resolve several biblical curiosities by a Roman commander, who was familiar with the Torah, but whose name has been lost in confusion. Among the issues were the fact that the numbers[24] [25] [26] in the Book of Numbers didn't add up to their totals,[27] [28] and the reasoning behind the ritual of the red heifer;[29] on this latter question the answer he gave didn't satisfy his own students, so he decreed that the ritual was one that shouldn't be questioned.[30]
He is buried in HaRambam compound / complex in Tiberias / Tveria.
Other notable rabbis also buried in HaRambam compound / complex:
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