Phinehas ben Jair

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Phinehas ben Jair (Hebrew : פנחס בן יאיר) was a Tanna of the 4th generation who lived, probably at Lod, in the second half of the 2nd century. He was the son-in-law of Shimon bar Yochai and a fellow disciple of Judah I. He was more celebrated for piety than for learning, although his discussions with his son-in-law [1] evince great sagacity and a profound knowledge of tradition. [2]

Hebrew language Semitic language native to Israel

Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language native to Israel; the modern version of which is spoken by over 9 million people worldwide. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, although the language was not referred to by the name Hebrew in the Tanakh. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language.

Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10-220 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 210 years. It came after the period of the Zugot ("pairs"), and was immediately followed by the period of the Amoraim ("interpreters").

Lod Place in Israel

Lod is a city 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv in the Central District of Israel. In 2017 it had a population of 74,604.

Contents

Biography

His piety

An aggadah gives the following illustration of Phinehas' scrupulous honesty: Once two men deposited with him two seahs (a quantity) of wheat. After a prolonged absence of the depositors, Phinehas sowed the wheat and preserved the harvest. This he did for seven consecutive years, and when at last the men came to claim their deposit he returned them all the accumulated grain. [3] [2]

Aggadah non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature

Aggadah refers to non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres, from business to medicine.

The se'ah or seah is a unit of dry measure of ancient origin used in Halakha, which equals one third of an ephah, or bath. In layman's terms, it is equal to the capacity of 144 medium-sized eggs, or what is equal in volume to about 9 US quarts. Its size in modern units varies widely according to the criteria used for defining it.

Phinehas is said never to have accepted an invitation to a meal and, after reaching the age of majority, to have refused to eat at the table of his father. The reason given by him for this behavior was that there are two kinds of people: (1) those who are willing to be hospitable, but can not afford to be so, and (2) those who have the means but are not willing to extend hospitality to others. [4] Judah I once invited him to a meal, and exceptionally he decided to accept the invitation; but on arriving at the house of the patriarch he noticed in the yard mules of a certain kind the use of which was forbidden by local custom on account of the danger in handling them. Thereupon he retraced his steps and did not return. [4]

Phinehas gave special weight to the laws of ma'aser. The aggadah relates a story of a donkey belonging to Phinehas which, having been stolen, was released after a couple of days due to its refusal to eat food from which ma'aser had not been taken. [5] To Phinehas is attributed the abandonment by Judah I of his project to abolish the shmita year of release. [6]

The sabbath year also called the sabbatical year or shǝvi'it is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel, and still observed in contemporary Judaism.

Description of his era

Phinehas draws a gloomy picture of his time: "Since the destruction of the Temple, the members and freemen are put to shame, those who conform to the Law are held in contempt, the violent and the informer have the upper hand, and no one cares for the people or asks pity for them. We have no hope but in God". [7] Elsewhere he says: "Why is it that in our time the prayers of the Jews are not heard? Because they do not know the holy name of God". [8] Phinehas, however, believed in man's perfectibility, and enumerates the virtues which render man worthy to receive the Holy Spirit. [9]

Exemplum

The Jerusalem Talmud relates how that R' Phinehas ben Jair, a priest of Aaron’s lineage, and others with him, used to go down into the marketplace of the Saracens in Ashkelon to buy wheat during the shmita year, and return to their own city, and immerse themselves in order to eat their bread (Terumah) in a state of ritual purity. The Beth-Din of Rabbi Ishmael ben Jose and Ben HaKapar, when they heard that Rabbi Phinehas ben Jair (known as a very pious man) had visited Ashkelon when it was not permitted for priests to venture outside the Land of Israel, understood thereby that Ashkelon – though not conquered by those returning from the Babylonian exile – was not like other lands of the gentiles, and that defilement had not been decreed upon that city. [10] Therefore, with the example of Rabbi Phinehas ben Jair, they assembled themselves and reverted the old practice, decreeing a state of cleanness over the city’s air, and that, henceforth, Jews (including priests) were permitted to visit Ashkelon without harboring feelings of guilt or fear of contracting uncleanness. [11]

Jerusalem Talmud the Talmud that was written in Palestine

The Jerusalem Talmud, also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmuda de-Eretz Yisrael, is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talmud after the Land of Israel rather than Jerusalem is considered more accurate by some because, while the work was certainly composed in "the West", i.e. in the Holy Land, it mainly originates from the Galilee rather than from Jerusalem in Judea, as no Jews lived in Jerusalem at this time. The Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in the Land of Israel, then divided between the Byzantine provinces of Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda, and was brought to an end sometime around 400. The Jerusalem Talmud predates its counterpart, the Babylonian Talmud, by about 200 years, and is written in both Hebrew and Jewish Palestinian Aramaic.

Ashkelon Place in Israel

Ashkelon or Ashqelon, also known as Ascalon, is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Tel Aviv, and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age. In the course of its history, it has been ruled by the Ancient Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Hasmoneans, the Romans, the Persians, the Arabs and the Crusaders, until it was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1270.

A beth din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it is invested with legal powers in a number of religious matters both in Israel and in Jewish communities in the Diaspora, where its judgments hold varying degrees of authority in matters specifically related to Jewish religious life.

Miracles Attributed to Him

The aggadah records many miracles performed by Phinehas. Among these is that of having passed on dry ground through the River Ginai, which he had to cross on his way to ransom prisoners. [12] According to another version, Phinehas performed this miracle while he was going to the school to deliver a lecture. His pupils, who had followed him, asked if they might without danger cross the river by the same way, whereupon Phinehas answered: "Only those who have never offended any one may do so". [13]

Tomb

Phinehas was buried in Kefar Biram. [14] [2]

Teachings

To Phinehas is attributed the authorship of a later midrash entitled Tadshe or Baraita de-Rabbi Pinehas ben Ya'ir. The only reasons for this ascription are the facts (1) that the midrash begins with Phinehas' explanation of Gen. i.11 , from which the work derives its name, and (2) that its seventh chapter commences with a saying of his on the tree of knowledge.

Quotes

Heedfulness leads to cleanliness, and cleanliness leads to purity, and purity leads to abstinence, and abstinence leads to holiness, and holiness leads to humility, and humility leads to the shunning of sin, and the shunning of sin leads to saintliness, and saintliness leads to [the gift of] the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit leads to the resurrection of the dead, and the resurrection of the dead shall come through Elijah of blessed memory. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ Shab. 33b
  2. 1 2 3 PD-icon.svg  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : W. B. I. Br. (1901–1906). "PHINEHAS BEN JAIR". In Singer, Isidore; et al. The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls . Retrieved Apr 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Deuteronomy Rabbah 3
  4. 1 2 Hul. 7b
  5. ↑ Genesis Rabbah 60:8; compare Avot of Rabbi Natan 8, end
  6. ↑ Yerushalmi Demai 1:3; Ta'an. 3:1
  7. ↑ Sotah 49a
  8. ↑ Pesikta Rabbati 22, end; Midr. Tch. to Psalms 91:15
  9. ↑ see infra
  10. ↑ Cf. Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 14a
  11. ↑ Jerusalem Talmud Shevi'it 6:1
  12. ↑ Yer. Demai 1:3
  13. ↑ Hullin 7a
  14. ↑ Burial Places of the Fathers, published by Yehuda Levi Nahum in book: Ṣohar la-ḥasifat ginzei teiman (Heb. צהר לחשיפת גנזי תימן), Tel-Aviv 1986, p. 252
  15. ↑ Mishnah Sotah 9:5; Avodah Zarah 20b

Bibliography


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