Jose ben Halafta

Last updated

Jose ben Helpetha, [lower-alpha 1] commonly known as Jose ben Halafta (IPA:'josibenxa'lafta/) was a tanna of the fourth generation (2nd century CE). He is the fifth-most-frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah. [1] Yose Ben Halafta is the one of two rabbis called Rabbi Yose in the Talmud; the other being Jose ben Zimra, an amora.

Contents

Biography

He was born at Sepphoris; but his family was of Babylonian-Jewish origin. [2] According to a genealogical chart found at Jerusalem, he was a descendant of Jonadab ben Rechab. [3] He was one of Rabbi Akiva's five principal pupils, called "the restorers of the Law," [4] who were afterward ordained by Judah ben Baba. [5] He was also a student of Johanan ben Nuri, whose halakhot he transmitted [6] and of Eutolemus. [7] It is very likely that he studied much under his father, Halafta, whose authority he invokes in several instances. [8] But his principal teacher was Akiva, whose system he followed in his interpretation of the Law. [9]

After having been ordained in violation of a Roman edict, [10] Jose fled to Asia Minor, [11] where he stayed till the edict was abrogated. Later he settled at Usha, then the seat of the Sanhedrin. As he remained silent when his fellow pupil Simeon bar Yohai once attacked the Roman government in his presence, he was forced by the Romans to return to Sepphoris, [12] which he found in a decaying state. [13] He established there a flourishing school; and it seems that he died there. [14]

Jose's great learning attracted so many pupils that the words "that which is altogether just shalt thou follow" [15] were interpreted to mean in part "follow Jose to Sepphoris". [16] He was highly extolled after his death. His pupil Judah ha-Nasi said: "The difference between Jose's generation and ours is like the difference between the Holy of Holies and the most profane." [17]

Owing to Jose's fame as a saint, legend describes him as having met Elijah. [18] Jose, complying with the levirate law, married the wife of his brother who had died childless; they had five sons: Ishmael, Eleazar, Menahem, Halafta (who died in his lifetime), and Eudemus. [19]

He exemplified Abtalion's dictum, "Love work"; [20] for he was a tanner, [21] a trade then commonly held in contempt. [22]

Teachings

Halakha

His legal decisions are mentioned throughout the greater part of the Mishnah, as well as in the Baraita and Sifra. The Babylonian Talmud says that in a dispute between Rabbi Jose b. Halafta and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the halakha follows Rabbi Jose b. Halafta. So, too, in any dispute between himself and his colleagues, Rabbi Yehuda b. 'Ilai and Rabbi Meir, the rule of practice is in accordance with Rabbi Jose. [23]

His teaching was very systematic. He was opposed to controversy, declaring that the antagonism between the schools of Shammai and Hillel made it seem as if there were two Torahs. [24] For the most part, Jose adopted a compromise between two contending halakhists. [25] Like his master Akiva, Jose occupied himself with the dots which sometimes accompany the words in the Bible, occasionally basing his halakhot on such dots. [26] He was generally liberal in his halakhic decisions, especially in interpreting the laws concerning fasts [27] and vows. [28]

Aggadah

Jose was also a prominent aggadist. The conversation which he had with a Roman matron, resulting in her conviction of the superiority of the Jewish religion, [29] shows his great skill in interpreting Biblical verses.

Jose is considered to be the author of the Seder Olam Rabba, a chronicle from the creation to the time of Hadrian, for which reason it is called also known as "Baraita di Rabbi Jose ben Halafta." [30] This work, though incomplete and too concise, shows Jose's system of arranging material in chronological order.

Jose is known for his ethical dicta, which are characteristic, and in which he laid special stress on the study of the Torah. [31] A series of Jose's ethical sayings [32] shows his tendency toward Essenism. As has been said above, Jose was opposed to disputation. When his companion Judah desired to exclude Meïr's disciples from his school, Jose dissuaded him. [33] One of his characteristic sayings is, "He who indicates the coming of the Messiah, he who hates scholars and their disciples, and the false prophet and the slanderer, will have no part in the future world." [34] According to Bacher [35] this was directed against the Hebrew Christians.

Quotes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judah ha-Nasi</span> 2nd-century rabbi and editor of the Mishnah

Judah ha-Nasi or Judah I, known simply as Rebbi or Rabbi, was a second-century rabbi and chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah. He lived from approximately 135 to 217 CE. He was a key leader of the Jewish community in Roman-occupied Judea after the Bar Kokhba revolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabbi Akiva</span> Jewish scholar and sage (c. 50 – c. 135 CE)

Akiva ben Joseph, also known as Rabbi Akiva, was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a tanna of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to the Mishnah and to Midrash halakha. He is referred to in Tosafot as Rosh la-Hakhamim -"Chief of the Sages". He was executed by the Romans in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shimon bar Yochai</span> Tannaitic sage of the 2nd century

Shimon bar Yochai or Shimon ben Yochai, also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century tanna or sage of the period of Roman Judaea and early Syria Palaestina. He was one of the most eminent disciples of Rabbi Akiva. The Zohar, a 13th-century foundational work of Kabbalah, is ascribed to him by Kabbalistic tradition, but this claim is universally rejected by modern scholars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerusalem Talmud</span> Talmud that was compiled in Southern Levant

The Jerusalem Talmud or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talmud after Palestine or the Land of Israel—rather than Jerusalem—is considered more accurate, as the text originated mainly from Galilee in Byzantine Palaestina Secunda rather than from Jerusalem, where no Jews lived at the time.

Johanan bar Nappaha was a leading rabbi in the early era of the Talmud. He belonged to the second generation of amoraim.

Shimon ben Lakish, better known by his nickname Reish Lakish, was an amora who lived in the Roman province of Judaea in the third century. He was reputedly born in Bosra, east of the Jordan River, around 200 CE, but lived most of his life in Sepphoris. Nothing is known of his ancestry except his father's name.

Dosetai is a Hebraized form of the Greek given name Dositheus meaning "gift of God". It was extremely popular in late classical Judea and among Jewish communities in Egypt, and corresponds to the Hebrew "Mattaniah" or "Nethaneel," which seems to have been a favorite one both in Palestine and in Alexandria.

Rabbi Meir was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was one of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139-163). He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah and is mentioned over 3,000 times in the Babylonian Talmud. His wife Bruriah is one of the few women cited in the Gemara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johanan HaSandlar</span>

Johanan HaSandlar was a rabbi who lived in the second century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabbi Tarfon</span> Late 1st/early 2nd century Jewish rabbi and sage

Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon, a Kohen, was a member of the third generation of the Mishnah sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Betar.

Simeon ben Azzai or simply Ben Azzai was a distinguished tanna of the first third of the 2nd century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rav Huna</span> 3rd century Babylonian Talmudist and Exilarch

Rav Huna was a Jewish Talmudist and Exilarch who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; he was born about 216 CE and died in 296–297 CE or in 290 CE.

Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Hyrcanus was one of the most prominent Sages (tannaim) of the 1st and 2nd centuries in Judea, disciple of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai and colleague of Gamaliel II, and of Joshua ben Hananiah. He is the sixth most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.

Joshua ben Hananiah, also known as Rabbi Yehoshua, was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Second Temple. He is the seventh-most-frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.

Eleazar ben Shammua or Eleazar I was a rabbi of the 2nd century, frequently cited in rabbinic writings as simply Rabbi Eleazar (Bavli) or Rabbi Lazar רִבִּי לָֽעְזָר (Yerushalmi). He was of priestly descent and rich, and acquired great fame as a teacher of traditional law.

Hoshaiah Rabbah or Hoshayya Rabbah was a Amora of the Land of Israel from the first amoraic generation, compiler of Baraitot explaining the Mishnah-Tosefta.

The House of Hillel and House of Shammai were, among Jewish scholars, two schools of thought during the period of tannaim, named after the sages Hillel and Shammai who founded them. These two schools had vigorous debates on matters of ritual practice, ethics, and theology which were critical for the shaping of the Oral Law and Judaism as it is today.

Rabbi Yannai was an amora who lived in the 3rd century, and of the first generation of the Amoraim of the Land of Israel.

Rabbah bar Abuha was a Babylonian rabbi of the second generation of amoraim.

Biblical mile is a unit of distance on land, or linear measure, principally used by Jews during the Herodian dynasty to ascertain distances between cities and to mark the Sabbath limit, equivalent to about ⅔ of an English statute mile, or what was about four furlongs. The basic Jewish traditional unit of distance was the cubit, each cubit being roughly between 46–60 centimetres (18–24 in) The standard measurement of the biblical mile, or what is sometimes called tǝḥūm šabbat, was 2,000 cubits.

References

  1. ↑ Drew Kaplan, "Rabbinic Popularity in the Mishnah VII: Top Ten Overall [Final Tally] Drew Kaplan's Blog (5 July 2011).
  2. ↑ Yoma 66b
  3. ↑ Yerushalmi Ta'anit 4 2; Genesis Rabba 98:13
  4. ↑ Yevamot 63b
  5. ↑ Sanhedrin 14a
  6. ↑ Tosefta, Kelim Bava Kamma 2:2; Tosefta Kelim Bava Batra 7:4
  7. ↑ Eruvin 35a; Rosh Hashanah 15a
  8. ↑ Bava Kamma 70a; Megillah 17b
  9. ↑ Pesahim 18a; Yevamot 62b
  10. ↑ Sanhedrin, l.c.
  11. ↑ Bava Metzia 84a
  12. ↑ Shabbat 33b
  13. ↑ Bava Batra 75b
  14. ↑ Sanhedrin 109a; compare Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah 3:1.
  15. ↑ Deuteronomy 16:20
  16. ↑ Sanhedrin 32b
  17. ↑ Yerushalmi Gittin 6 9
  18. ↑ Berakhot 3a; Sanhedrin 113b
  19. ↑ Yerushalmi Yevamot 1 1
  20. ↑ Pirkei Avot 1:10
  21. ↑ Shabbat 49a
  22. ↑ Pesahim 65a
  23. ↑ Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 46b; Sanhedrin 27a; Yerushalmi Terumot 3:1; Eruvin 51a
  24. ↑ Sanhedrin 88b
  25. ↑ Compare Terumot 10:3; Eruvin 8:5 (86a); Yoma, 4:3 (43b)
  26. ↑ Pesahim 9:2 (93b); Menahot 87b.
  27. ↑ Ta'anit 22b
  28. ↑ Nedarim 21b, 23a
  29. ↑ Genesis Rabba 68:4
  30. ↑ Yevamot 82b; Niddah 46b; compare Shabbat 88a
  31. ↑ Compare Avot 4:6
  32. ↑ In Shabbat 118b
  33. ↑ Kiddushin 52a; Nazir 50a
  34. ↑ Derekh Eretz Rabbah 11
  35. ↑ Monatsschrift, 42:505-507
  36. ↑ Avot de-Rabbi Nathan 17:1
  37. ↑ Bava Metzia 3
  38. ↑ Lamentations Rabbah 2:9
  39. ↑ Jerusalem Talmud (Shabbat 2:6 [20a])
  1. ↑ See Halafta for pronunciations.

Resources

Schechter, Solomon and M. Seligsohn. "Jose ben Ḥalafta." Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906; which cites:

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls.{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.