Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 20, scan section 7

in order to receive instruction from him. His legal opinions are occasionally recorded in the Mishna as well as in the To- sephta and Boraitha. 7. R. Elazar (or Eliezer) b. Jacob was a disciple of R. Akiba and later a member of the Sanhedrin in Usha. This teacher must not be confounded with a former teacher by that name who flourished in the second generation. 8. R. Nechemia belonged to the last disciples of R. Akiba and was an authority especially in the sacrifi,cial law, and in laws concerning levitical purification. His controversies are mostly with R. Juda b. Ilai. He is said to have coippiled a Mishna collection which was embodied in the Tosephta. 9. R. Joshua b. Korcha is supposed by some to have been a son of R. Akiba, who, on one occasion, is called by such a sur- * The Cabbalists ascribe to him the compiling of the Zohar, which was revealed by Moses d' Leon. The Talmud also speaks of him as the one to whom miracles occurred frequently. 2 U i8 THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD. name (meaning the bald head) ; but this supposition is very improbable, for it would be strange that the son of so illustrious a man should not rather have been called by his father's proper name, and that he should never have alluded to his celebrated parent or to any of his teachincvs.* R. Joshua b. K. belonged to the authorities of this genera . tion, though only a few of his opinions are recorded in the Mishna. lo. R. Simon h. Gamaliel was the son and successor of the patriarch Gamaliel II. of Jabne. In his youth, he witnessed the fall of Bethar, and escaped the threatened arrest by flight. After the death of the emperor Hadrian, he returned to Jabne where he, in connection with some teachers, reopened an acad- emy, and assumed the hereditary dignity of a patriarch. As the returning disciples of R. Akiba, who were the leading teachers of that generation, preferred Usha as the seat of the new Sanhedrin, R. Simon was obliged to transfer his academy to that city, and appointed R. Nathan as Ab Beth-din (vice- president), and R. Meir as Chacham (advising sage, or speaker). Both of these officers had to retire however, when fotmd plan- ning his deposal on account of some marks of distinction introduced in order to raise the patriarchal dignity. He did not enjoy the privilege of his predecessors to be titled Rabban (our teacher), but like the other teachers, he was simply called Rabbi (my teacher), f probably because many of his contem- poraries were superior to him in learning. Still, his legal opinions, which are frequently quoted in the Mishna and Boraitha, give evidence that he was a man of considerable learning and of sound and clear judgment as well as of noble principles. He introduced several legal provisions for the protection of the rights of women and slaves, and for the general welfare of the community. All his opinions expressed in the Mishna, with the exception of only three cases, are re- garded by later teachers as authoritative (Halakha). His discussions recorded in the Mishna and Boraitha are mostly * That R. Akiba had a son by the name of R. Joshua is stated in a Boraitha ; but the identity of this son with R. Joshua b. Korcha is conclusively disproved by the Tosaphist Rabenu Tam in his remarks on Sabbath 150a, and B. Bathra 113a. t There are, however, some passages in the Mishna and Gemara in which he is called Rabban. HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION. 19 held with his celebrated son, R. Jehuda Hanasi. R. Simon b. Gamaliel appears to have been acquainted also with the Greek language and sciences. Apart from the great circle of teachers mentioned above, the disciples of R. Ishmael b. Elisha formed a school in the extreme South of Judea (Darom), where they continued the methods of their teacher. Of this separate school, called Debe R. Ishmael, only two members are mentioned by name: R. Josiah and R. Jonathan. Fifth Generation. This generation extends from the death of R. Simon b. Gamaliel II., to the death of R. Jehuda Hanasi (from 165 to about 200). The following are the most prominent teachers of this generation : (i) R. Nathan (the Babylonian); (2) Symmachos; (3) R. Jehuda Hanasi (the Patriarch), called simply Rabbi; (4) R. Joseb. Juda; (5) R. Elazarb. Simon; (6) R. Simon b. Elazar. Strack places these in the fourth generation and adds (7) Dus- tayi b. Janai; (8) Simeon b. Jehuda, of the village Akum; (9) Achia b. Joashai; (10) Jacob; (11) Itzchok; (12) Eliezar b. Simeon b. Johai; (13) Pinchas b. Jaier; (14) Ischmael b. Jos; (15) Menachem b. Jos (b. Chialaphta) ; (16) Jehudah b. Lakish; (17) Elazar Charkaper ; (18) Abba Elazar b. Gamla; (19) Simon b. Jos b. Lecunia; (20) Simon b. Menascha; (21) Jehudah b. Tamah. The junior sages of the fifth generation Strack quotes thus : (i) Hyye Rabbi (the Great); (2) Eliezer b. Kappara; (3) Simeon b. 'Halafta; (4) Lewib. Sissi; (5) Simai. Both Mielziner and Strack do not count Simon Shezurri, one of the great Tanaim who belongs to the third generation, and who is mentioned in the Mishna several times, and of whom it is said (Menachoth, 30 b), " Ever5rwhere the name of Simeon Shezurri is mentioned, the Halakha prevails in accordance with him." We would also count Wradimus b. R. Jose though according to some he was identical with Menachem, and who was one of the greatest Tanaim in the time of Rabbi. (See I. H. Weiss, p. 166.) [See Appendix No. I.] His father, 20 THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD. R. Jose, quotes him as the author of a Halakha (Tosephtha, Baba Metzia). Characteristics and Biographical Sketches. 1. R. Nathan was the son of one of the exilarchs in Babylon, and probably received his education in his native country. For some unknown reasons he emigrated to Judea, and on ac- count of his great learning he was appointed by the patriarch, R. Simon b. GamaHel, to the dignity of Ab-Beth-din (chief Justice or vice-president), in the Sanhedrin of Usha. He had to retire from this office because of his and R. Meir's dissension with the patriarch, but was soon reinstated and became recon- ciled with the Synhedrial president, who held him in high esteem. Also the suceeding patriarch, R. Jehuda, with whom he had many discussions on questions of the law, speaks of him with great respect. R. Nathan was not only an authority in the rabbinical law, especially in jurisprudence, but appears also to have been well versed in mathematics, astronomy and other sciences. To him is ascribed the authorship of Aboth de R. Nathan, which is a kind of Tosephta to Pirke Aboth. 2. Symmachos was a prominent disciple of R. Meir and distinguished for his great dialectical powers. After the death of his teacher, he as well as other disciples of R. Meir were ex- cluded from the academy of R. Jehuda Hanasi, as they were charged with indulging in sophistical disputations in order to