| Rabbinical Eras |
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Johanan ben Zakai (Hebrew: יוחנן בן זכאי c. 30 - 90 CE), also known as Johanan B. Zakkai 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 Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time. His tomb is located in Tiberias, within the Maimonides burial compound.
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The Talmud reports that, in the mid first century, he was particularly active in opposing the Sadducees' interpretations of Jewish law[1][2], and produced counter-arguments to the Sadducees' objection to the Pharisees.[3] 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.[4]
His home, at this time, was in 'Arab, a location in the Galilee[5]. 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."[5]
During the siege of Jerusalem in the Great Jewish Revolt, he argued in favour of peace; according to talmudic legend, when he found the anger of the besieged populace to be intolerable, he arranged a secret escape from the city inside a coffin, so that he could negotiate with Vespasian (who, at this time, was still just a military commander).[5] Yochanan 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 Yavneh (Jamnia) and its sages, the descendants of Rabban Gamliel, who was of the Davidic dynasty, and a physician to treat Rabbi Tzadok, who had fasted for 40 years to stave off the destruction of Jerusalem.[6] However, this popular legend has come to be valued as a false account, for the supposed chronology of Yochanan's dramatic escape and subsequent meeting with Vespasian contradicts the true history of events surrounding the Great Jewish Revolt. By this time, Vespasian had already ascended to the position of emperor, and the scholarly community of Yavneh only emerged after the destruction of the Second Temple.[7]
Upon the destruction of Jerusalem, Jochanan 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.[8] His school functioned 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 in Jerusalem, and other pertinent questions. Referring to a passage in the Book of Hosea, "I desired mercy, and not sacrifice",[9] he helped persuade the council to replace animal sacrifice with prayer,[10] a practice that continues in today's worship services; eventually Rabbinic Judaism emerged from the council's conclusions.
In his last years he taught at Berur Hayil[11], a location near Jamnia. His students were present at his deathbed, and were requested by him, in his penultimate words, according to the Talmudic record, to reduce the risk of ritual impurity due to the presence of death:
More enigmatic were the Talmud's record of his last words, which seem to relate to Jewish messianism:[5]
His students returned to Jamnia upon his death, and he was buried in the city of Tiberias; eleven centuries later, Maimonides was buried nearby. In his role as leader of the Jewish Council, he was succeeded by Gamaliel II.
Jewish tradition records Yochanan as being extremely dedicated to religious study, claiming that no one ever found him engaged in anything but study[13]. 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[14] and he is known for establishing a number of edicts in the post-destruction era:[15]
Some of his comments were of an esoteric nature[14]. On one occasion he advises that mankind should seek to understand the infinity of God, by imagining the heavens being extended to unthinkable distances[16]. He argued that Job's piety was not based on the love of God, but on the fear of Him.[17]
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[18][19][20] in the Book of Numbers didn't add up to their totals[21][22], and the reasoning behind the ritual of the red heifer[23]; 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.[24]
He articulated the principle that you shouldn't take credit for your learning, because "this was the purpose of your creation".[25] He is also quoted as saying:
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