Yochanan ben Zakai

Yochanan ben Zakai ( _he. יוחנן בן זכאי c. 30 BCE - 90 CE) was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah.

There is a paucity of information about his early life and family, but the Mishnah divides his life into three divisions of a symbolic 40 years each, portraying him as a merchant in the first third, as a student in the the second third, and only teaching for the final third ["Rosh haShanah" 30b] . To the Mishnah he is an important link in the chain of religious teaching, passing on the wisdom of both Hillel and Shammai [Pirkei Abot" 2:8] ; generally, though, he is considered to have been more in favour of Hillel's views than of Shammai's [Sukkah 28a] , and is said to have been Hillel's youngest pupil.

The Talmud reports that, in the mid first century, he was particularly active in opposing the Sadducee's interpretations of halakah ["Menahot" 65a] ["Baba Batra" 115b] , and produced counter-arguments to the Sadducees' objection to the Pharisees ["Yadayim" 4:5] . So dedicated was he to opposing the Sadducee view of Jewish law, that he prevented the Jewish high priest, who was a Sadducee, from following the Sadducee interpretation of the Red Heifer ritual ["Parah" (Tosefta) 3:8] His home, at this time, was in 'Arab, a location in the Galilee ["Jewish Encyclopedia", "Johanan ben Zaccai"] . However, although living among them, he found the secular attitude of Galileans to be objectionable, allegedly exclaiming that they hated the torah and would therefore "fall into the hands of robbers" ["Jewish Encyclopedia", "Johanan ben Zaccai"] . During the siege of Jerusalem in the Great Jewish Revolt, he argued in favour of peace; when he found the anger of the besieged denizens to be intolerable, he arranged to be snuck out of the city inside a coffin, so that he could negotiate with Vespasian (who, at this time, was still just a military commander) ["Jewish Encyclopedia", "Johanan ben Zaccai"] . Johanan (correctly) predicted that Vespasian would become Emperor, and that the temple would soon be destroyed, in return, Vespasian granted Johanan three wishes; Johanan was granted his desire to resettle in Jamnia, and was given permission to continue teaching religious law ["Jewish Encyclopedia", "Johanan ben Zaccai"] .

Upon the destruction of Jerusalem, Johanan converted his school at Jamnia into the Jewish religious centre, insisting that certain privileges, given by Jewish law uniquely to Jerusalem, should be transferred to Jamnia ["Rosh haShanah" 4:1-3] . His school behaved as a re-establishment of the Sanhedrin, and he soon established the Council of Jamnia (70-90 AD), so that Judaism could decide how to deal with the loss of the sacrificial altars of the temple of Jerusalem, and other pertinent questions. Under his leadership the council replaced animal sacrifice (korban) with prayer, a practice that continues in today's worship services; eventually Rabbinic Judaism emerged from the council's conclusions.

He was buried in the city of Tiberias near where Maimonides would be buried 11 centuries later.

He is quoted in the Midrash Avot D'Rabbi Nathan (31b) as saying "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 greet the Messiah."

A synagogue in modern Israel, named "the Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai Synagogue", is held by Jewishspecify legend to be sited at the place of Johanan's final prayers, prior to his escape from Jerusalem. A moshav in central Israel, Ben Zakai, is also named after him.

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References

External links

* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=362&letter=J JOHANAN B. ZACCAI] Jewish Encyclopedia
* [http://www.campsci.com/iguide/rebbi_yochanan_ben_zakkai.htm Rabbi Yochanan ben Zaccai] Israel Guide
* [http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/zakkai.htm "Rabbi Yochanan ben Zaccai"] Orthodox Union