Rabbi Yehoshua: Kindliness Personified
Rabbi Yehoshua is the most consistently portrayed Tanna in fiction. A complete teddy bear of a man, he offsets his unhandsome features by being the kindest, nicest, most understanding surrogate father that any rabbinic youth could wish for. A blue-collar worker by birth and trade, he is a man of the people, a pacifist, and a strong supporter of moderation and innovation in Jewish practice. Rabbi Yehoshua's character appears in several well-known works of mishanic fiction, including As A Driven Leaf, by Milton Steinberg, and The Orchard, by Yochi Brandes. Always, he is the protagonist's mentor, teacher, and trusted friend, the benevolent interlocutor of any tale in which he plays a part... or is he? Let us see what the original sources have to say!
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chanaiah: The Early Years
זכור אני שהיתה אמו מולכת עריסתו לבית הכנסת בשביל שיתדבקו אזניו בדברי תורה.
Rabbi Dosa ben Hyrcanus remembered that Rabbi Yehoshua's mother used to carry him in his cradle into the synagogue so that his ears might become accustomed to the sounds of the words of the Torah.
Rabbi Aryeh Klapper makes the astute guess that Rabbi Yehoshua's mother was the laundress at the yeshiva, a blue-collar worker in a position of extreme intimacy with the Sages--someone who literally saw their dirty laundry. Far from being a total stranger or embarrassing groupie, she was therefore in a position to bring her infant to work with her, and make the request of the Rosh Yeshiva as his trusted supporter (see Brachot 28 below).
Why did the laundress of Yavneh wish to bring her infant to work so badly? Yochi Brandes suggests that Rabbi Yehoshua had severe craniofacial anomalies from birth--perhaps Apert's Syndrome or something very like it. Brandes describes the laundress of Yavneh appealing to a young Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai to help her raise her son among scholars who would see his inner beauty, who would notice the little boy's burgeoning Torah learning more than his face. Rabban Yochanan apparently was so impressed by the determination and saintliness Rabbi Yehoshua's mother that she was first in his thoughts as he gave graduation speeches about his five most trusted disciples.
חֲמִשָּׁה תַלְמִידִים הָיוּ לוֹ לְרַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן הוֹרְקְנוֹס, וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה, וְרַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַכֹּהֵן, וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן נְתַנְאֵל, וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ. הוּא הָיָה מוֹנֶה שִׁבְחָן. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן הוֹרְקְנוֹס, בּוֹר סוּד שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְאַבֵּד טִפָּה. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה, אַשְׁרֵי יוֹלַדְתּוֹ. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַכֹּהֵן, חָסִיד. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן נְתַנְאֵל, יְרֵא חֵטְא. וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ, מַעְיָן הַמִּתְגַּבֵּר.
Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had five disciples and they were: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, Rabbi Yose, the priest, Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel and Rabbi El'azar ben Arach. He [Rabbi Yohanan] used to list their outstanding virtues: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah--happy is the she who bore him; Rabbi Yose, the priest, is a pious man; Rabbi Simeon ben Nethaneel is one that fears sin, And Rabbi El'azar ben Arach is like a spring that flows ever stronger.
Washing clothes was apparently a well-respected and high-profile blue collar trade. In Talmudic times, launderers were proverbially known for their distinctive communication codes and clever speech. מִשְׁלוֹת כּוֹבְסִין was apparently akin to beggar's cant or Cockney-style rhyming slang. (Consider Leerie Jack bidding us, "Give us yer weep an’ wail!” in "Mary Poppins Returns.") In Sukkah 28a, we learn that Rabbi Yehoshua's master, Yochanan ben Zakkai, valued this blue-collar worker's cant so much, he studied to become fluent in it. Rabbi Aryeh Klapper explains that among the 18 things Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai had PhD’s in were מִשְׁלוֹת שׁוּעָלִים, Aesop’s fables / Anansi stories, and מִשְׁלוֹת כּוֹבְסִין, a.k.a. washerwoman's tales; Rabib Klapper notes not only the common folk wisdom, but the in-group linguistics of the latter. Eruvin 53b explains why being able to communicate obliquely through clever codes was seen in Talmudic times as a sign of intellectual achievement in Judaea.
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: שְׁמוֹנִים תַּלְמִידִים הָיוּ לוֹ לְהִלֵּל הַזָּקֵן. שְׁלֹשִׁים מֵהֶן רְאוּיִם שֶׁתִּשְׁרֶה עֲלֵיהֶן שְׁכִינָה כְּמֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, וּשְׁלֹשִׁים מֵהֶן רְאוּיִם שֶׁתַּעֲמוֹד לָהֶם חַמָּה כִּיהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן. עֶשְׂרִים בֵּינוֹנִים. גָּדוֹל שֶׁבְּכוּלָּן — יוֹנָתָן בֶּן עוּזִּיאֵל, קָטָן שֶׁבְּכוּלָּן — רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי.
The Gemara continues to praise the Sages. The Sages taught: Hillel the Elder had eighty students. Thirty of them were sufficiently worthy that the Divine Presence should rest upon them as it did upon Moses our teacher, and thirty of them were sufficiently worthy that the sun should stand still for them as it did for Joshua bin Nun, and twenty were on an intermediate level between the other two. The greatest of all the students was Yonatan ben Uzziel author of the Targum Yonatan, and the youngest of them was Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai.
אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי שֶׁלֹּא הִנִּיחַ מִקְרָא וּמִשְׁנָה, גְּמָרָא הֲלָכוֹת וְאַגָּדוֹת; דִּקְדּוּקֵי תוֹרָה וְדִקְִדּוּקֵי סוֹפְרִים; קַלִּים וַחֲמוּרִים וּגְזֵרוֹת שָׁווֹת; תְּקוּפוֹת וְגִימַטְרִיָּאוֹת; שִׂיחַת מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת וְשִׂיחַת שֵׁדִים וְשִׂיחַת דְּקָלִים; מִשְׁלוֹת כּוֹבְסִין, מִשְׁלוֹת שׁוּעָלִים; דָּבָר גָּדוֹל וְדָבָר קָטָן.
The Gemara relates: The Sages said about Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai that he did not rest from mikra; Mishna; Gemara; halakhot and aggadot; grammar of the Torah and grammar of the scribes; kal va'chomer inferences and g'zeira shavah analogies; scientific calculation of the equinoxes and seasons; and mathematics[gematriyaot]. Moreover, he excelled in the conversation of ministering angels; the conversation of demons, and the conversation of palm trees; parables of launderers, parables of foxes; and a general sense of priorities, for a great matter and a small matter.
Who was Rabbi Yehoshua's father? Chananiah was apparently a Levi who served in the Temple choir; it was assumed that Yehoshua ben Chananiah would follow in his father's footsteps and become the Lin-Manuel Miranda of the Heichal.
תנאי היא דתניא מעשה בר' יהושע בר חנניה שהלך לסייע בהגפת דלתות אצל ר' יוחנן בן גודגדא אמר לו בני חזור לאחוריך שאתה מן המשוררים ולא מן המשוערים
There was an incident involving Rabbi Yehoshua bar Ḥananya (a Levite), who went to help (another Levite) Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Gudgeda to assist in closing the doors of the Temple. Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Gudgeda said to him: My son, go back, as you are among the poets and not among the gatekeepers.
Many translators focus on the word משוררים and see the story as an unremarkable incident where a young singer left choir practice to hold the door for an older doorkeeper, but Ilana Kurshan urges us to take this story as a profound metaphor. The spiritual life of the nation is supported by poets, whose job it is to wax rhapsodic about the greatness of our heritage and inspire as many people as possible to reach for the divine, and gatekeepers, whose job it is to restrict the service to those who will take it seriously and put in the appropriate amount of self control to be worthy. Both Yehoshua ben Chananiah and Yochanan ben Gudgeda were destined to be great rabbis in the days after the Temple was no more, but they belonged to very different schools of thought. "No, my son," urges the older rabbi. "You need not help me close these doors." (That would be Rabban Gamliel's job!) "Yours is not the soul of a gatekeeper. Your job will be to bring your people closer to their Father in Heaven, not inventing yeshiva admissions tests to keep them out."
Rabbi Yehoshua's Home Life
Yehoshua married the daughter of one of his father's priestly colleagues, presumably while they all still lived and worked together in Jerusalem. This marriage did not bring length of years or happiness to the couple. In his book The Last Pharisee: The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, the author Joshua Podro believes that the bride’s parents, who may have been wealthy and influential Jerusalemites, seem to have opposed the marriage, or that it proved a failure since there were no surviving children and the marriage was short-lived.
רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ נְסֵיב כָּהֵנְתָּא, חֲלַשׁ. אָמַר: לָא נִיחָא לֵיהּ לְאַהֲרֹן דְּאֶדְבַּק בְּזַרְעֵיהּ, דְּהָוֵי לֵיהּ חַתְנָא כִּי אֲנָא.
Rabbi Yehoshua married a daughter of a priest and became ill with lasting health problems. He said: Apparently, it displeases Aharon haKohen that I attach myself to his beautiful and worthy descendant, thus giving him a shlepper of a son-in-law like me.
However, after the Beit HaMikdash was no more, neither Yehoshua nor Chananiah nor their machatunim could support themselves. The Yerushalmi in Brachot 7 records Rabbi Yehoshua's as a needlemaker, a trade he may have taken to due to his mother's involvement in the laundry and garment business. By the time Rabban Gamliel visits this venerable Sage (Brachot 27-28 below), it becomes clear he has been earning his living as a charcoal burner. Again, we see the huge influence of the laundry industry in the yeshiva world, because Rabban Gamliel was accustomed to judging Rabbi Yehoshua by his fine white clothes--as provided and pressed by the washerwomen of Yavneh--and the Nasi was genuinely shocked to discover that not only was Rabbi Yehoshua a poor man, he was a poor man working a very dirty trade.
...כִּי מְטָא לְבֵיתֵיהּ, חֲזִינְהוּ לְאַשְׁיָתָא דְבֵיתֵיהּ דְּמַשְׁחֲרָן. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִכּוֹתְלֵי בֵיתְךָ אַתָּה נִיכָּר שֶׁפֶּחָמִי אַתָּה. אָמַר לוֹ: אוֹי לוֹ לַדּוֹר שֶׁאַתָּה פַּרְנָסוֹ, שֶׁאִי אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ בְּצַעֲרָן שֶׁל תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים, בַּמֶּה הֵם מִתְפַּרְנְסִים וּבַמֶּה הֵם נִזּוֹנִים.
When he reached Rabbi Yehoshua’s house, he saw that the walls of his house were black. Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua in wonderment: From the walls of your house it is apparent that you are a charcoal burner, as until then he had no idea that Rabbi Yehoshua was forced to engage in that arduous trade in order to make a living. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Woe unto a generation that you are its leader as you are unaware of the difficulties of Torah scholars, how they make a living and how they feed themselves.
Some translators incorrectly indicate that Rabbi Yehoshua was a blacksmith. However, the blacksmith throughout history was typically the mightiest shtarker in town; the Philistines held a monopoly on blacksmith work for a good reason! Far from being a poor man, the smith was often revered as one of the most respected craftsmen in his village. Notice how later in Bekhorot and Brachot, Rabban Gamliel tries repeatedly to intimidate him with a lot of yeshiva gate guards and bouncers. Rabbi Yehoshua is less likely to have been a mighty man of the forge than a humble woodsman collecting firewood in his spare hours.
Rabbi Yehoshua's views on What Women Want were clearly influenced by his humble life and the poverty in which he and his priestly wife were forced to subside in their woodsy life. He advises his students not to follow Rabbi Akiva's model and leave their wives alone for months and years at a time; he insists that a deeply present physical and emotional affection can make for a happy marriage even when there is not much to eat.
רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר: רוֹצָה אִשָּׁה בְּקַב וְתִפְלוּת, מִתִּשְׁעָה קַבִּין וּפְרִישׁוּת...
Rabbi Yehoshua says: A woman wants $50k of support and a vibrant relationship full of eros, horseplay, and lightheaded silliness [tiflut] more than $450k of support and a relationship of distance, separate circles, and nun-like abstinence.
It is not clear whether Rabbi Yehoshua is telling us what he did as a husband, or what he wishes he had done in the years that followed. Unlike the wife of Rabbi Eliezer and the wife of Rabbi Akiva, the wife/household Rabbi Yehoshua has only one indirect mention, as above, and his sons only appear briefly on baking day in Pesachim 36a:11-12. All the commentators and modern writers are eager to elaborate the Talumd's vision of a fatherly mentor of Rabbi Yishmael whom he rescues from being sold into the sex trade (Gittin 58a:9-10), Rabbi Akiva the second-career shepherd (Tosefta Chagigah 2:2), Rabbi Elisha son of the heretic (Yerushalmi Chagigah 77b), and any other hero who needs a gentle and loving saint to set his feet on the path of Torah.
Rabbi Yehoshua and the Fair Sex
It is possible that Rabbi Yehoshua's wife died young, and that he was unwilling or unable to marry a second time. This may have had something to do with his physical appearance. The Imrei Eliaser believes that Rabbi Yehoshua had Apert syndrome; certainly, complete strangers felt empowered to make personal remarks about him, about which Rabbi Yehoshua was forced spent a lifetime delivering witty answers.
כְּדַאֲמַרָה לֵיהּ בְּרַתֵּיה דְּקֵיסָר לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה: אִי חׇכְמָה מְפוֹאָרָה בִּכְלִי מְכוֹעָר! אֲמַר לַהּ: אָבִיךָ רָמֵי חַמְרָא בְּמָנֵי דְפַחְרָא? אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: אֶלָּא בְּמַאי נִירְמֵי? אֲמַר לַהּ: אַתּוּן דַּחֲשִׁיבִיתוּ, רְמוֹ בְּמָאנֵי דַּהֲבָא וְכַסְפָּא. אֲזַלָה וַאֲמַרָה לֵיהּ לַאֲבוּהּ רַמְיֵיהּ לְחַמְרָא בְּמָנֵי דַּהֲבָא וְכַסְפָּא, וּתְקֵיף. אֲתוֹ וַאֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ. אֲמַר לַהּ לִבְרַתֵּיהּ: מַאן אֲמַר לָךְ הָכִי? אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה. קַרְיוּהוּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אַמַּאי אֲמַרְתְּ לַהּ הָכִי? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: כִּי הֵיכִי דַּאֲמַרָה לִי, אֲמַרִי לַהּ. וְהָא אִיכָּא שַׁפִּירֵי דִּגְמִירִי! אִי הֲווֹ סְנוּ — טְפֵי הֲווֹ גְּמִירִי.
This is as the daughter of Caesar said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: Woe to splendid wisdom, contained in an ugly vessel! Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said to her: Does your father keep his wine in clay vessels? Caesarina said to him: Of course! In what rather should he keep it? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said to her: You, who are so important, should put it in vessels of gold and silver. Young Caesarina went and said this to her father, who approved her science experiment and agreed to help her. He put the wine in vessels of gold and silver and it turned sour. When the nursemaid and the empress came and told the emperor that the wine had turned sour and made a godawful mess all over Caesarina's nursery, he shamefacedly said to his daughter: Who told you to do this? His daughter responded: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya. Caesar summoned him and said to him: Why did you say this to her? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said to him: Just as she said to me, so I said say to her, to demonstrate to her that fine material is best preserved in the least of vessels. The emperor said to him: But there are handsome people who are learned. Rabbi Yehoshua replied wittily: Had they been ugly, they would have been even more learned! That is, it is commendable for beautiful people to acquire kindness and humility, inasmuch as the world praises them constantly for existing. People whose appearance is constantly denigrated learn to value kindness and compassionabove all else. People whose appearance is pleasing to their supervisors are often allowed to indulge in fits of self-importance, expecting the world to bow before their natural gifts; people whose appearance causes the world to wave them away in disgust must work more than twice as hard to be thought half as good.
שָׁאַל בֶּן אַלְמָנָה אַחַת אֶת רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אַבָּא אוֹמֵר הַשְׁקֵינִי מַיִם וְאִימָּא אוֹמֶרֶת הַשְׁקֵינִי מַיִם אֵיזֶה מֵהֶם קוֹדֵם אֲמַר לֵיהּ הַנַּח כְּבוֹד אִמְּךָ וַעֲשֵׂה כְּבוֹד אָבִיךָ שֶׁאַתָּה וְאִמְּךָ חַיָּיבִים בִּכְבוֹד אָבִיךָ בָּא לִפְנֵי רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אָמַר לוֹ כָּךְ אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי נִתְגָּרְשָׁה מַהוּ אֲמַר לֵיהּ מִבֵּין רִיסֵי עֵינֶיךָ נִיכָּר שֶׁבֶּן אַלְמָנָה אַתָּה הַטֵּל לָהֶן מַיִם בְּסֵפֶל וְקַעְקֵעַ לָהֶן כְּתַרְנְגוֹלִין
The son of one widow asked Rabbi Eliezer: If my father says to me: Get me a glass of water to drink, and my mother also says to me: Get me a glass of water to drink, which of them should I obey first? Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, whose interfering mother nigh on ruined his life, said to him: Set by the honor of your mother for a moment, and do honor to your father, as you and your mother are both obligated to honor your father. He came before Rabbi Yehoshua and said to him: This is what the other rabbi said. But if one’s mother is divorced, what is the halakha? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: From your eyelashes, which are filled with tears, it is evident that you are the son of a widow. You goofball, pour water for them into a pitcher and cackle at them as one does to call chickens to feeding time, and see who shows up to pour their own water first!
That is, Rabbi Yehoshua believed that the answer to such a delicate question depends on the conditions of the divorce, the maturity of the adults in question, and the closeness of the family relationships, none of which can be prescribed academically by anyone who does not know the family well. We will see later in the deposition of Rabban Gamliel that Rabbi Yehoshua often tried to diffuse stressful social situations with a joke.
Rabbi Yehoshua ...would say: An idiot of a chassid, and a conniving rasha, and an abstinent/separatist woman [perusha], and a plague of Pharisees; all these are people who erode the world.
חָסִיד שׁוֹטֶה - (lit. idiotically pious)
These are people who allow false pride in “tznius” to interfere with women’s health and safety (21b:5). More globally, these are people who refuse to help others in danger, because they believe that the existence of an Other (e.g. women, LGBTT+, people of color) is a threat to their legitimacy as human beings.
רָשָׁע עָרוּם - (lit. naked wickedness)
These are people who play the system for their own profit, including lawyers who know how to get on the judge’s good side, money launderers, and investment managers who advise the needy to sink all their resources in the manager’s own funds, or manage endowments for them that are just enough to get the clients into an unfavorable tax bracket, and not one cent more. (21b:6-9)
אִשָּׁה פְּרוּשָׁה - (lit. an abstinent/separatist woman)
This is, on the first read, a woman who treats Rabbi Yehoshua the way that Rabbi Akiva and Rehumi treat their own wives, e.g. staying distant for months at a time such that it’s impossible to build any relationship other than convenience. Oh, see the men howl when it’s their turn to be treated like valuable but easily dismissed livestock!
The Gemara is too much in collusion with these absentee husbands to support this point, however, so on second read, this phrase may refer to those busybodies (i.e. journalists and politicians) who make a living off of others’ misfortunes. Consider Janice and Brian Mosher, the journalists in Come From Away, who decide that they don’t actually like “sticking microphones in the faces of people who are suffering,” and decide to stay in small town Canada rather than networking their 9/11 coverage into a career whose purpose is to conspicuously convey “thoughts and prayers” of the prurient viewers without actually being of any real assistance to the victims.
מַכּוֹת פְּרוּשִׁין - (lit. the blows of abstinence/separatism)
"Pharisee" in mishnaic Hebrew means "separatist," and only sometimes refers to the founding movement of rabbinic Judaism, "Separatists" akin to seventeenth century Puritans. The rabbis worried that their people, like Puritans and medieval Catholics, might, in their urge to be purer than their decadent priest-cult neighbors, perpetuate a culture of too-high expectations and self harm in the name of self control. Note the strong correlation between these too-strict forms of religiosity and serious mental health issues in need of treatment.
וּמַכּוֹת פְּרוּשִׁין וְכוּ׳. תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן, שִׁבְעָה פְּרוּשִׁין הֵן: פָּרוּשׁ שִׁיכְמִי, פָּרוּשׁ נִקְפִּי, פָּרוּשׁ קִיזַּאי, פָּרוּשׁ מְדוּכְיָא, פָּרוּשׁ ״מָה חוֹבָתִי וְאֶעֱשֶׂנָּה״, פָּרוּשׁ מֵאַהֲבָה, פָּרוּשׁ מִיִּרְאָה.
... The Sages taught: There are seven over-abstinent people who erode the world:
* The abstinent of Shechem who circumcise their menfolk for material gain
* The self-flagellating separatists, who promote toxic mental health attitudes and actual self-harm, just like--
* The bloodletting separatists who self-harm like non-Jewish priests
* The pestle-like separatists who beat themselves over the head, literally or figuratively
* The abstinent who are never satisfied with the commandments and always say: Tell me what my extra obligation is and I will perform it.
* Those who are separate due to love (i.e. Elsa in Disney’s Frozen, who pushes her devoted sister away to keep young Anna safe from Elsa’s powers)
* ...and those who separate due to fear (e.g. Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, who senses rising darkness in his teenage nephew and raises a hand to slay him). (22b:2)
After The Churban
פעם אחת היה רבן יוחנן בן זכאי יוצא מירושלים והיה רבי יהושע הולך אחריו וראה בית המקדש חרב [אר״י אוי לנו על זה שהוא חרב] מקום שמכפרים בו עונותיהם של ישראל. א״ל בני אל ירע לך יש לנו כפרה אחת שהיא כמותה ואיזה זה גמ״ח שנאמר כי חסד חפצתי ולא זבח שכן מצינו בדניאל איש חמודות שהיה מתעסק בגמ״ח...
On acts of kindness. ...Once, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, left Jerusalem, and Rabbi Yehoshua was walking after him and saw he saw the Holy Temple lying destroyed in ruins. [Rabbi Yehoshua said: Woe to us, for this is destroyed –] the place where all of Israel’s sins are forgiven! [Rabbi Yochanan] said to him: My son, do not be distressed, for we have a form of atonement just like it. And what is it? Acts of kindness, as it says (Psalms 89:3), “For I desire kindness, not a well-being offering.” Did not Daniel the Beloved Man [of God] not do just so...?
Rabbi Eliezer and his friend Rabbi Yehoshua were part of the secret service team that smuggled Yochanan ben Zakkai past the Sicarii (Zealots) out of Yerushalayim to negotiate with Vespasian in the days before the destruction of the Temple (Gittin 56a-b, also further portions of Avot D'Rebbe Natan 4:5 as above). Rabban Yochanan rebuilt the great yeshiva and reestablished the Sanhedrin in Yavneh. In the years that followed, the aging Rabban Yochanan was edged out of office by the younger Rabban Gamliel II, who sought to forge Jewish unity in a post-Temple world by highly centralized authority. A disgruntled Rabban Yochanan retired to Bror Chayil, but Rabbi Yehoshua continued to appear in court in Yavneh. In time, he founded his own yeshiva in Peki'in.
ת"ר צדק צדק תרדף הלך אחר חכמים לישיבה אחר ר' אליעזר ללוד אחר רבן יוחנן בן זכאי לברור חיל אחר רבי יהושע לפקיעין אחר רבן גמליאל ליבנא אחר רבי עקיבא לבני ברק אחר רבי מתיא לרומי אחר רבי חנניא בן תרדיון לסיכני אחר ר' יוסי לציפורי אחר רבי יהודה בן בתירה לנציבין אחר רבי יהושע לגולה ...
The Sages taught: The verse states: “Justice, justice, shall you follow.” This teaches that one should follow the Sages to the academy where they are found. For example, follow after Rabbi Eliezer to Lod, after Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai to B'ror Chayil, after Rabbi Yehoshua to Peki'in, after Rabban Gamliel to Yavne, after after Rabbi Akiva to Bnei Brak, after Rabbi Matya to Rome [Romi]...
In the years that followed, Rabbi Yehoshua took Rabban Yochanan's advice about lovingkindness to heart, and became a strong proponent of moderation in all things. He campaigned against asceticism, separatism, and needless self-denial in the name of religious stringency.
אָמַר לָהֶן בָּנַי בּוֹאוּ וְאוֹמַר לָכֶם שֶׁלֹּא לְהִתְאַבֵּל כׇּל עִיקָּר אִי אֶפְשָׁר שֶׁכְּבָר נִגְזְרָה גְּזֵרָה וּלְהִתְאַבֵּל יוֹתֵר מִדַּאי אִי אֶפְשָׁר שֶׁאֵין גּוֹזְרִין גְּזֵירָה עַל הַצִּבּוּר אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן רוֹב צִבּוּר יְכוֹלִין לַעֲמוֹד בָּהּ דִּכְתִיב בַּמְּאֵרָה אַתֶּם נֵאָרִים וְאֹתִי אַתֶּם קֹבְעִים הַגּוֹי כֻּלּוֹ אֶלָּא כָּךְ אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים סָד אָדָם אֶת בֵּיתוֹ בְּסִיד וּמְשַׁיֵּיר בּוֹ דָּבָר מוּעָט וְכַמָּה אָמַר רַב יוֹסֵף אַמָּה עַל אַמָּה אָמַר רַב חִסְדָּא כְּנֶגֶד הַפֶּתַח עוֹשֶׂה אָדָם כׇּל צׇרְכֵי סְעוּדָה וּמְשַׁיֵּיר דָּבָר מוּעָט מַאי הִיא אָמַר רַב פָּפָּא כָּסָא דְהַרְסָנָא עוֹשָׂה אִשָּׁה כׇּל תַּכְשִׁיטֶיהָ וּמְשַׁיֶּירֶת דָּבָר מוּעָט מַאי הִיא אָמַר רַב בַּת צִדְעָא שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי וְגוֹ׳
Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: My children, come, and I will tell you how we should act. To not mourn at all is impossible, as the decree was already issued and the Temple has been destroyed. But to mourn excessively as you are doing is also impossible, as our people simply cannot live this way. After all, the Sages do not issue a decree upon the public unless a majority of the public is able to abide by it, as it is written: “You are cursed with the curse, yet you rob Me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:9).
Rabbi Yehoshua continues: Rather, this is what the Sages said: A person may plaster his house with plaster, but he must leave over a small amount in it without plaster to remember the destruction of the Temple. The Gemara interjects: And how much is a small amount? Rav Yosef said: One cubit by one cubit. Rav Ḥisda said: This should be opposite the entrance, so that it is visible to all. Rabbi Yehoshua continues: The Sages said that a person may prepare all that he needs for a meal, but he must leave out a small item to remember the destruction of the Temple. The Gemara interjects: What is this small item? Rav Pappa said: Something akin to small, fried fish. Rabbi Yehoshua continues: The Sages said that a woman may engage in all of her cosmetic treatments, but she must leave out a small matter to remember the destruction of the Temple. The Gemara interjects: What is this small matter? Rav said: She does not remove hair from the place on the temple from which women would remove hair. The source for these practices is a verse, as it is stated: “If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember you not; if I set not Jerusalem above my highest joy” (Psalms 137:5–6).
דְּתַנְיָא, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: אֵין לוֹ לָאָדָם בְּיוֹם טוֹב, אֶלָּא אוֹ אוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה, אוֹ יוֹשֵׁב וְשׁוֹנֶה. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, חַלְּקֵהוּ: חֶצְיוֹ לַיהוה, וְחֶצְיוֹ לָכֶם.
As it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: A person has no way of properly fulfilling the mitzva of a Festival but to choose either eating and drinking, or sitting and studying Torah--that is to say, those who waste time on feasting and visiting during the holiday are neglecting their mitzvot. Rabbi Yehoshua says: There is no need for such a choice. Indeed, we should divide it: Half to God, Torah study, and half to yourselves, engaging in eating, drinking, and other festive activities.
Rabbi Yehoshua was famous for his moderation, both in spiritual and practical matters.
תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם גָּדְשׁוּ סְאָה. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר: בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם מָחֲקוּ סְאָה.
[On the day that Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria opened up the yeshiva to all men who wished to learn, one of the ideas discussed was how far one may carry a pouch on Shabbat rather than passing it off to a willing gentile.] It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: On that day they measured with a large se’a measurement, i.e., they did well to issue these decrees, which construct a fence around the Torah to prevent its violation. Rabbi Yehoshua said: On that very day they measured with a minimal se’a, i.e., because these decrees are difficult to observe, they not only will lead people to violate the decrees, but to violate Torah prohibitions as well.
Rabbi Yoḥanan raised an objection to Reish Lakish from a baraita (see Tosefta, Eduyyot 3:3): Once, human bones were found in the Chamber of the Woodshed, and the Sages sought to decree impurity upon all of Jerusalem, i.e., to proclaim all who go there to be impure. Rabbi Yehoshua stood upon his feet to voice a formal objection and said: Is it not a shame and disgrace for us to decree impurity upon the city of our fathers because there might be undiscovered skeletons in any part of the holy city? Show me: Where are the dead of the flood, and where are all of the dead killed by Nebuchadnezzar in the previous exile?
הלכה: אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹנָה מַתְנִיתִין בַּעֲנִיֵּי חֲבֵרִים וּבְאַכְסַנְיָה כְּרִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. תַּנִּי מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ שֶׁהָלַךְ אַחַר רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי לִבְרוֹר חַיִל וְהָיוּ אוֹתָן בְּנֵי הָעֲייָרוֹת מְבִיאִין לָהֶן פֵּירוֹת. אָמַר לָהֶן רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אִם לָנוּ כָּאן חַייָבִין אָנוּ לְעַשֵּׂר. וְאִם לָאו אֵין אָנוּ חַייָבִין לְעַשֵּׂר. רִבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר בַּעֲנִיֵּי עַם הָאָרֶץ הִיא מַתְנִיתָא. אִם אָמַר אַתְּ בַּעֲנִיֵּי חֲבֵירִים נִמְצֵאת נוֹעֵל דֶּלֶת בִּפְנֵי עַם הָאָרֶץ. מַה מְקַייֵם רִבִּי יוֹסֵי לְאַכְסַנְייָה כְּהָדָא דְתַנִּי הַגָּרִים עִמָּכֶם לְרַבּוֹת אֶת הָאַכְסַנְייָה. רִבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר זוּ אַכְסַנְיָה שֶל גּוֹי.
HALAKHAH: Rebbi Jonah said, our Mishnah speaks about poor ḥaverim, and about guests following Rebbi Joshua. It was stated: “It happened that Rebbi Joshua went to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai in Beror Ḥayil, and some local people brought them fruit. Rebbi Joshua said to them, if they stay overnight, we are obliged to tithe; otherwise, we are not obliged to tithe.” Rebbi Yose said that the Mishnah speaks about am haäreẓ poor. If you restrict the tithing laws to poor ḥaverim, you lock the door before am haäreẓ poor. How does Rebbi Yose hold about “the stranger?” Following what was stated: “(Lev. 25:45) ‘Those who dwell among you,’ to include the stranger; Rebbi Eliezer said, that means the gentile stranger.”
When the people of Lod declared a fast on a day of Chanukah, possibly to commemorate some local calamity, Joshua told them: “And now you should fast again, to win forgiveness for having fasted on a holiday!” (Tosefta Taanit 2:5). Among these was a sect of early Christians in Antioch, whose members began to claim that they were the real Chosen People and all others worthless leavings, who vied in piety with the Essenes and the other apocalyptic groups engaged in continuous prayer and in other “other-worldly” practices. Rabbi Yehoshua reminded the people that they had work to do—“Six days shalt thou labor”—and had no right to abandon their normal occupations. Though not wishing to belittle the importance of Torah study, he suggested that “if one studies two halachot in the morning and two in the evening, it is counted as if one had fulfilled the whole of the Torah” (Mekhilta Beshallach as quoted by Podro).
What's New? Rabbi Yehoshua and the Chiddush
Yochi Brandes suggests that Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva were strong proponents of the midrashic approach: the ability to derive halacha and aggadah from the implications of a single Scriptural verse. Rabbi Yehoshua is tremendously in favor of interpreting and reinterpreting the old to make something new--a practice that Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, as below, is vehemently opposed to. Here, a pair of students is aware that the last time a great Rosh Yeshiva asked, "What's new in the Beit Midrash?" the answer so enraged him that he shouted at the poor scholar until his eyeballs just about fell out of his head. However, that Rosh Yeshiva was Rabbi Eliezer, the well-known traditionalist with perfect recall, who believes that anything new is a threat to traditions everywhere! Rabbi Yehoshua, on the other hand, can't figure out why getting an answer to, "What's new? is like pulling teeth: he teaches the scholars that it is impossible to have a productive discussion in a Beit Midrash without figuring out something new. If anything, he teases them for their reticence and suggests that, in their institutional loyalty, they are doing him a disservice!
We will see Rabbi Yehoshua's student Elazar ben Chisma below in "Rabbi Yehoshua and the Snitches."
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן בְּרוֹקָה וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר [בֶּן] חִסְמָא שֶׁהָלְכוּ לְהַקְבִּיל פְּנֵי רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּפְקִיעִין. אָמַר לָהֶם: מָה חִידּוּשׁ הָיָה בְּבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ הַיּוֹם? אָמְרוּ לוֹ: תַּלְמִידֶיךָ אָנוּ וּמֵימֶיךָ אָנוּ שׁוֹתִין. אָמַר לָהֶם: אַף עַל פִּי כֵן, אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ בְּלֹא חִידּוּשׁ. שַׁבָּת שֶׁל מִי הָיְתָה? שַׁבָּת שֶׁל רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה הָיְתָה. וּבַמֶּה הָיְתָה הַגָּדָה הַיּוֹם? אָמְרוּ לוֹ: בְּפָרָשַׁת הַקְהֵל. וּמָה דָּרַשׁ בָּהּ? ״הַקְהֵל אֶת הָעָם הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַטַּף״. אִם אֲנָשִׁים בָּאִים לִלְמוֹד, נָשִׁים בָּאוֹת לִשְׁמוֹעַ, טַף לָמָּה בָּאִין? כְּדֵי לִיתֵּן שָׂכָר לִמְבִיאֵיהֶן. אָמַר לָהֶם: מַרְגָּלִית טוֹבָה הָיְתָה בְּיַדְכֶם, וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם לְאַבְּדָהּ מִמֶּנִּי?
§ The Sages taught: There was an incident involving Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka and Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥisma, when they went to greet Rabbi Yehoshua in Peki’in. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: What novel idea was taught today in the study hall? They said to him: We are your students and we drink from your water, i.e., all of our Torah knowledge comes from you, so it is impossible for us to teach you anything you do not know already? He said to them: Even so, there cannot be a study hall without a chiddush.
He urged them asked them: Whose week was it to lead the Sanhedrin? They said to him: It was Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya’s week. [See Brachot 27-28 below, during the period where the reinstated Rabban Gamliel shared the leadership duties with his replacement, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria.] He inquired: And on what subject was the lecture today? They said to him: He spoke about the portion of hakhel, the mitzva of assembly. Rabbi Yehoshua persisted: And what verse did he interpret homiletically with regard to this mitzva? They said to him that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya interpreted the following verse: “Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones” (Deuteronomy 31:12). This verse is puzzling: If men and nashim chashuvot come to learn, and women, caregivers, and children come to hear, why do the boisterous toddlers come? They come in order to give a reward to those who bring them, so that all caregivers of all standings can also come and learn. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them with great excitement: This splendid gem of wisdom was in your hands, and you tried to conceal it from me?
Rabbi Yehoshua Takes a Fundraising Trip
In his biographical series, The Sages, Rav Binyamin Lau cites an anecdote from the early days when Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua were still friendly colleagues, before Rabbi Yehoshua became a famous emissary to Rome and before Rabban Gamliel became worried that Rabbi Yehoshua was after his job. Rabban Gamliel shows his privileged background, assuming that anyone with enough wisdom, knowledge, and opportunity will find the yeshiva world a rewarding place to be, both personally and financially. He is surprised and embarrassed to discover that Rabbi Yehoshua is wiser in the ways of seafearing than he, but still has to take trips like this to fundraise for his yeshiva, his students, and his own self.
כי הא דר' גמליאל ורבי יהושע הוו אזלי בספינתא בהדי דר' גמליאל הוה פיתא בהדי רבי יהושע הוה פיתא וסולתא שלים פיתיה דר' גמליאל סמך אסולתיה דרבי יהושע אמר ליה מי הוה ידעת דהוה לן עכובא כולי האי דאיתית סולתא אמר ליה כוכב אחד לשבעים שנה עולה ומתעה את (הספינות) [הספנים] ואמרתי שמא יעלה ויתעה [אותנו] אמר ליה כל כך בידך ואתה עולה בספינה א"ל עד שאתה תמה עלי תמה על שני תלמידים שיש לך ביבשה רבי אלעזר חסמא ורבי יוחנן בן גודגדא שיודעין לשער כמה טפות יש בים ואין להם פת לאכול ולא בגד ללבוש נתן דעתו להושיבם בראש כשעלה שלח להם ולא באו חזר ושלח ובאו אמר להם כמדומין אתם ששררה אני נותן לכם
There was a similar incident where Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua were traveling together on a ship. Rabban Gamliel, a seasoned commuter, had packed light and only had bread for the journey. Rabbi Yehoshua, who seldom traveled overseas and was apt to overplan, had packed not only bread, and additionally he had flour and other groceries for emergencies. The journey lasted longer than expected, and Rabban Gamliel’s bread was finished. He relied on Rabbi Yehoshua’s flour for nourishment.
Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Did you know from the outset that we would have so substantial a delay? Is that the reason that you brought so many things that you even had flour with you? Rabbi Yehoshua said to Rabban Gamliel: There is one star that rises once in seventy years and misleads sailors at sea, causing their journeys to be extended. And I said: Perhaps that star will rise during our journey and mislead us. Rabban Gamliel said to him: So much wisdom is at your disposal, and you board a ship to fundraise??? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Before you wonder about me, wonder about two students that you have on dry land, Rabbi Elazar Ḥisma and Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Gudgeda, who are so wise that they know how to calculate how many drops of water there are in the sea, and yet they have neither bread to eat nor a garment to wear.
Embarrassed, Rabban Gamliel made up his mind to seat them at the head of the academy in cushy administrative positions with large salaries. When Rabban Gamliel ascended to dry land, he sent a messenger to them to tell them to come so that he could appoint them to high honor, but, shy as they were, they did not come. He again sent a messenger to them and they came. Rabban Gamliel said to them: Do you imagine that I am granting you authority, and since you did not want to accept the honor you did not come when I sent for you?
Rabbi Yehoshua and the Emperor
Rabbi Yehoshua's fundraising trip was evidently successful, as he founded a very successful school in Peki'in, and he traveled not only to the high court at Yavne, but to Jewish communities around the Roman world. His quick wit and willingness to answer back apparently drew the attention of Caesar, adding a few lighthearted moments into Hadrian's stormy relationship with his Jewish subjects. Rabbi Yehoshua meets Caesar not only on the road, but on several embassies to Rome. Tales of their interchanges include"The Sabbath Spice" (made famous by several contemporary children's stories)," "The Debate in Sign Language" (now a comical Jewish folktale by master storyteller Sid Lieberman), "The Face of God," "Rabbi Joshua and the Lion" (Chullin 59b:9), "A Meal for God" (a variant of which appears in Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories), and "A Distaff for Hadriana," which is not likely to be found in any book on interfaith dialogue.
אָמַר לוֹ קֵיסָר לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָא: מִפְּנֵי מָה תַּבְשִׁיל שֶׁל שַׁבָּת רֵיחוֹ נוֹדֵף? אָמַר לוֹ: תַּבְלִין אֶחָד יֵשׁ לָנוּ וְשַׁבָּת שְׁמוֹ, שֶׁאָנוּ מְטִילִין לְתוֹכוֹ וְרֵיחוֹ נוֹדֵף. אָמַר לוֹ: תֵּן לָנוּ הֵימֶנּוּ. אָמַר לוֹ: כׇּל הַמְשַׁמֵּר אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת — מוֹעִיל לוֹ, וְשֶׁאֵינוֹ מְשַׁמֵּר אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת — אֵינוֹ מוֹעִיל לוֹ.
Caesar said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: Why does the fragrance of a cooked Shabbat dish diffuse so deliciously? He said to him: We have a certain spice called Shabbat [shevet--it's actually dill, bad pun here], which we place in the recipes and its fragrance diffuses. The emperor said to him: Give us some of it.
Rabbi Yehoshua gave the imperial chefs all the recipes from the best Shabbat tables of Judaea. However, as every dish was brought out, the emperor sniffed and said, "This is tasty enough, but it is the same stuffed fish and roast fowl that I have every day." Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: it is not the recipe alone that delights the heart, your Majesty, but the experience of Shabbat itself. For anyone who observes Shabbat, the spice is effective, and for one who feasts but does not observe Shabbat, it is not effective.
רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה הֲוָה קָאֵי בֵּי קֵיסָר, אַחְוִי לֵיהּ הָהוּא מִינָא: עַמָּא דְּאַהְדְּרִינְהוּ מָרֵיהּ לְאַפֵּיהּ מִינֵּיהּ. אַחְוִי לֵיהּ: יָדוֹ נְטוּיָה עָלֵינוּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ קֵיסָר לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: מַאי אַחְוִי לָךְ? עַמָּא דְּאַהְדְּרִינְהוּ מָרֵיהּ לְאַפֵּיהּ מִינֵּיהּ, וַאֲנָא מַחְוֵינָא לֵיהּ יָדוֹ נְטוּיָה עָלֵינוּ. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ לְהָהוּא מִינָא: מַאי אַחְוִיית לֵיהּ? עַמָּא דְּאַהְדְּרִינְהוּ מָרֵיהּ מִינֵּיהּ. וּמַאי אַחְוִי לָךְ? לָא יָדַעְנָא. אֲמַרוּ: גַּבְרָא דְּלָא יָדַע מַאי מַחְווּ לֵיהּ, בְּמָחוֹג יַחְוֵי קַמֵּי מַלְכָּא?! אַפְּקוּהוּ וְקַטְלוּהוּ.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya was in the house of the Caesar. A particular heretic (posibly a Christian prosletyzer) gestured to him, indicating that his was the nation whose Master, God, turned His face away from it. Rabbi Yehoshua gestured to him that His hand is outstretched over us in protection. Caesar said to Rabbi Yehoshua: What did he gesture to you, and how did you respond? He replied: He indicated that mine is the nation whose Master turned His face from it, and I gestured to him that His hand is outstretched over us. The members of the Caesar’s household said to that heretic: What did you gesture to him? He said to them: I gestured that his is the nation whose Master has turned His face from it. They asked: And what did he gesture to you? He said to them: I don’t know; I did not understand. They said: How can a man who does not know what others gesture to him claim to gesture in the presence of the king? Since the heretic clearly did not speak sign language, they arrested him under suspicion of espionage, e.g. making secret hand signals across the court and lying that they were sign lanaguge. Indeed, they took him out and killed him.
אמר ליה קיסר לר' יהושע בן חנניה בעינא דאיחזי לאלהיכו א"ל לא מצית חזית ליה א"ל איברא חזינא ליה אזל אוקמיה להדי יומא בתקופת תמוז א"ל איסתכל ביה א"ל לא מצינא א"ל יומא דחד משמשי דקיימי קמי דקודשא בריך הוא אמרת לא מצינא לאיסתכלא ביה שכינה לא כל שכן
§ The Gemara recounts: Caesar said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: I wish to see your God. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: You cannot see Him. The emperor said to him: Truly, I wish to see Him. Rabbi Yehoshua went and stood the emperor facing the sun at the summer solstice (lit. "the season of Tammuz"). Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Look at it. The emperor said to him: I cannot. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Now, if with regard to the sun, which is only one of the servants that stand before the Holy One, Blessed be He, you say: I cannot look at it, is it not all the more so with regard to the Divine Presence?
אמר ליה קיסר לרבי יהושע בן חנניה בעינא דאיצבית ליה נהמא לאלהיכו אמר ליה לא מצית אמאי נפישי חילוותיה א"ל איברא אמר ליה פוק צבית לגידא דרביתא דרויחא עלמא טרח שיתא ירחי קייטא אתא זיקא כנשיה לימא טרח שיתא ירחי דסיתוא אתא מיטרא טבעיה בימא א"ל מאי האי אמר ליה הני כנושאי זלוחאי דאתו קמיה א"ל אי הכי לא מצינא
§ The Gemara recounts: Caesar said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: I desire to arrange bread, i.e., a meal, for your God. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: You cannot. The emperor asked him: Why? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: His hosts are too great. The emperor said to him: Truly, I wish to do it. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Go out and arrange a meal on the shore of the great sea [dirvita], where there is a wide open space. The emperor worked all the six months of summer to accomplish this. A wind came and swept it all into the sea. The emperor worked to arrange another meal all the six months of winter. Rain came and sank it all in the sea. The emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua: What is this? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: These are only the sweepers and floor washers that wait on Him, and they alone have eaten everything. The emperor said to him: If so, I cannot arrange a meal before Him.
א"ל בת קיסר לר' יהושע בן חנניה אלהיכון נגרא הוא דכתיב (תהלים קד, ג) המקרה במים עליותיו אימא ליה דנעביד לי חדא מסתוריתא אמר לחיי בעא רחמי עלה ואינגעה אותבה בשוקא דרומי ויהבי לה מסתוריתא דהוו נהיגי דכל דמנגע ברומי יהבו ליה מסתוריתא ויתיב בשוקא וסתר דוללי כי היכי דליחזו אינשי וליבעי רחמי עליה יומא חד הוה קא חליף התם הות יתבא וסתרה דוללי בשוקא דרומאי אמר לה שפירתא מסתוריתא דיהב ליך אלהי אמרה ליה אימא ליה לאלהיך לשקול מאי דיהב לי אמר לה אלהא דידן מיהב יהיב משקל לא שקיל
Caesar's daughter, who had been investigating Christianity, said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: Your God is a carpenter, as it is written: “Who lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters” (Psalms 104:3). [Note that anyone whose bumper sticker proclaims that their boss is a Jewish carpenter is telling us nothing about Judaism or carpentry!] Tell Him to make for me a distaff, a simple tool used in spinning. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said: Very well. He prayed for mercy for her (?!?) and she was stricken with illness. She sat in the Roman market, and they gave her a distaff, since it was their custom to give a distaff to anyone stricken in Rome, and the patient would sit in the market and untangle bunches of wool, so that people would see and pray for mercy on him. One day Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya was passing there, and he saw that she was sitting and untangling bunches of wool in the Roman market. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said to her: Is the distaff my God gave you pleasing? She said to him: Tell your God to take back what He has given me. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said to her: Our God gives, but does not take. You must find healing and comfort by building relationships with your own people, not sit waiting for "God to provide," either materially or spiritually. Beware, O daughter of Caesar, of miracle workers peddling salvation in the marketplace!
Milton Steinberg turns Rabbi Yehoshua's easy familiarity with royalty upon its head in As A Driven Leaf. In his version of events, the young protagonist is shocked at the casual way in which Trajan treats the delegation of Sages. The crabby and distracted monarch ignores all of our mightiest princes, and focuses on Rabbi Yehoshua, "You there! The ugly one! That clever remark of yours was the talk of Rome for days! Tell me briefly what all these bothersome people want of me." The Emperor treats Rabbi Yeohshua as a carnival attraction: Caesar agrees to allow the Temple to be rebuilt because this entertaining fellow has pleased his humour, and he summarily halts the building process when someone else pleases him better. Steinberg links this chain of events with the subsequent rebellion which lead Rome to wipe out the Jews of Alexandria.
Rabbi Yehoshua's Peace Party
(ז) אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, מְקֻבָּל אֲנִי מֵרַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, שֶׁשָּׁמַע מֵרַבּוֹ וְרַבּוֹ מֵרַבּוֹ, הֲלָכָה לְמשֶׁה מִסִּינַי, שֶׁאֵין אֵלִיָּהוּ בָא לְטַמֵּא וּלְטַהֵר, לְרַחֵק וּלְקָרֵב, אֶלָּא לְרַחֵק הַמְקֹרָבִין בִּזְרוֹעַ וּלְקָרֵב הַמְרֻחָקִין בִּזְרוֹעַ. מִשְׁפַּחַת בֵּית צְרִיפָה הָיְתָה בְעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן וְרִחֲקָהּ בֶּן צִיּוֹן בִּזְרוֹעַ, וְעוֹד אַחֶרֶת הָיְתָה שָׁם וְקֵרְבָהּ בֶּן צִיּוֹן בִּזְרוֹעַ. כְּגוֹן אֵלּוּ, אֵלִיָּהוּ בָא לְטַמֵּא וּלְטַהֵר, לְרַחֵק וּלְקָרֵב. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, לְקָרֵב, אֲבָל לֹא לְרַחֵק. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, לְהַשְׁווֹת הַמַּחֲלֹקֶת. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, לֹא לְרַחֵק וְלֹא לְקָרֵב, אֶלָּא לַעֲשׂוֹת שָׁלוֹם בָּעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלאכי ג) הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ לָכֶם אֵת אֵלִיָּה הַנָּבִיא וְגוֹ' וְהֵשִׁיב לֵב אָבוֹת עַל בָּנִים וְלֵב בָּנִים עַל אֲבוֹתָם:
Rabbi Joshua said: I have received a tradition from Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, who heard it from his teacher, and his teacher [heard it] from his teacher, as a halakhah [given] to Moses from Sinai, that Elijah will not come to pronounce unclean or to pronounce clean, to put away or to bring near, but to put away those brought near by force and to bring near those put away by force....
Rabbi Yehoshua is credited with quelling a riot--or, as above, a full scale rebellion among the Jews of Palestine!--with a version of Aesop's "The Lion and the Crane." Not only has he learned מִשְׁלוֹת שׁוּעָלִים from Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, he is a strong voice for peace in the face of the unconquerable Roman threat.
...בִּימֵי רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה גָּזְרָה מַלְכוּת הָרְשָׁעָה שֶׁיִּבָּנֶה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, הוֹשִׁיבוּ פַּפּוּס וְלוּלְיָאנוּס טְרַפִּיזִין מֵעַכּוֹ עַד אַנְטוֹכְיָא וְהָיוּ מְסַפְּקִין לְעוֹלֵי גוֹלָה כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב וְכָל צָרְכָּם.
אֲזַלִּין אִלֵּין כּוּתָאֵי וְאָמְרִין [עי' (עזרא ד, יב יג)]: יְדִיעַ לֶהֱוֵי לְמַלְכָּא דְּהָדֵין קַרְתָּא מָרָדְתָּא תִּתְבְּנֵא וְשׁוּרַיָּא יִשְׁתַּכְלְלוּן מִנְדָה בְלוֹ וַהֲלָךְ לָא יִתְּנוּן. מִנְדָה, זוֹ מִדַּת הָאָרֶץ. בְּלוֹ, זוֹ פְּרוֹבָגִירוֹן. וַהֲלָךְ, אַנְגְּרוֹטִינָה. וַאֲמַר לְהוֹן מַה נַּעֲבֵיד וּגְזָרִית, אָמְרִין לֵיהּ שְׁלַח וַאֲמַר לְהוֹן אוֹ יְשַׁנּוּן יָתֵיהּ מֵאַתְרֵיהּ, אוֹ יוֹסְפוּן עֲלֵיהּ חֲמֵשׁ אַמִּין, אוֹ יִבְצְרוּן מִנֵּיהּ חֲמֵשׁ אַמִּין, מִן גַּרְמֵיהוֹן אִינוּן חָזְרִין בְּהוֹן.
וַהֲוָן קְהָלַיָּא מְצַתִין בַּהֲדָא בִּקְעֲתָא דְּבֵית רִמּוֹן, כֵּיוָן דַּאֲתוֹן כְּתִיבָא שְׁרוֹן בָּכְיִין. בָּעֲיִין לְמִמְרַד עַל מַלְכוּתָא, אָמְרִין יֵעוֹל חַד בַּר נַשׁ חַכִּימָא וִישַׁדֵּךְ צִבּוּרָא, אָמְרִין יֵעוֹל רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָא דְּהוּא אַסְכּוֹלוֹסְטַקְיָא דְאוֹרָיְיתָא. עָאל וְדָרַשׁ אֲרִי טָרַף טֶרֶף וְעָמַד עֶצֶם בִּגְרוֹנוֹ, אֲמַר כָּל דַּאֲתֵי מַפֵּיק לֵיהּ אֲנָא יְהֵיב לֵיהּ אַגְרֵיהּ, אֲתָא הָדֵין קוֹרֵא מִצְרָאָה דְּמַקּוֹרֵיהּ אָרִיךְ, יְהֵיב מַקּוֹרֵיהּ וְאַפְקֵיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ הַב לִי אַגְרִי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ זִיל תְּהֵא מְלַגְלֵג וְאוֹמֵר דְּעַיְלַת לְפוּמָא דְאַרְיֵה בִּשְׁלָם וּנְפָקַת בִּשְׁלָם, כָּךְ דַּיֵּינוּ שֶׁנִּכְנַסְנוּ לְאֻמָּה זוֹ בְּשָׁלוֹם וְיָצָאנוּ בְּשָׁלוֹם. (בראשית כו, לב): וַיָּבֹאוּ עַבְדֵי יִצְחָק, אֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִים אִם מָצְאוּ אִם לֹא מָצָאוּ, מִן מַה דִּכְתִיב (בראשית כו, יט): וַיִּמְצְאוּ שָׁם בְּאֵר מַיִם חַיִּים, הֱוֵי שֶׁמָּצְאוּ מַיִם חַיִּים.
... In the days of R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah, the evil kingdom (Rome) decreed to rebuild the Temple. Papos and Lulianos (two brothers who were later martyred in Lod) set up [fundraising] tables from Akko to Antioch and supplied the pilgrims from the diaspora with silver, gold and all of their needs.
Some Samaritans went [to the emperor] and said, "The king should know that if this rebellious city is built and its walls fortified, 'they will not pay tribute, poll-tax, or land-tax.'" He said to them, "What should I do, I have already made the decree?" They said to him, "Send to say to them [that] they either change the location of the Temple or add or remove five ells from it[s building plans] to suit you, and they will pull back from the process on their own."
And all of the [Jewish] people was gathered in Beit Rimon. When the imperial edict arrived, they began to cry [with rage]; they sought to rebel against the emperor. [The sages sought to quell the riot and] said, "Let a wise man go up to quiet the assembled." They said, "Let Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah go up, as he is learned in the Torah." Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah went up and expounded:
A lion was devouring prey [and] a bone got stuck in its throat. It said, 'I will give a reward to anyone who comes and removes it.' An Egyptian heron with a long beak put his beak into the mouth of the lion and extracted the bone. It said to the lion, 'Give me my reward.' The lion said to it, 'Go and boast, "I went into the mouth of the lion in peace and I came out in peace" - and there is no greater reward than that.' So too, it must be enough for us that we entered into this empire in peace and came out in peace! Be grateful that we still have our heads, and do not antagonize the lion any further!
In As a Driven Leaf, Rabbi Yehoshua is successful in convincing the Jews of Palestine to accept Trajan's whims without bloodshed. Unlike Rabbi Akiva, he draws a sharp distinction between religious freedom and political glory. He is not opposed to gentiles or gentile nations on principle: according to the Tosefta (Sanh. 13:2) Rabbi Yehoshua insisted that pious gentiles have a share in the world to come, while Rabbi Eliezer denied them any such reward. That said, Rabbi Yehoshua was unwilling to enter a house of interfaith "debate" (Shabbat 152a:3) which he knew to be (like many modern college campuses) a space more focused on trolling the Jews than actual interfaith dialogue. Contemporary pessimists may complain that Rabbi Yehoshua is loathe to enter into a contest which he is not sure he can win. However, he did debate with the Elders of Athens (Bekhorot 8b), and he was seen conducting political negotiations at the highest level with a worthy Roman matron in Shabbat 127:9-13. (The fact that the noble lady might have been advised to "say it, not spray it," he kept to himself.)
Rabbi Yehoshua and the Powers That Be
In advance of the dispute about the Oven of Akhnai, it is important to establish that Rabbi Yehoshua was no stranger to rabbinic magic. He was a student of the secret Torah, a wonder-worker, and--when sufficiently provoked by gentile trolls--an accomplished spellcaster. However, the arcane was never his preferred mode of study, and he never brought his secret knowledge to bear on matters of halachah.
וּכְשֶׁנֶּאֶמְרוּ הַדְּבָרִים לִפְנֵי רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, הָיָה הוּא וְרַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַכֹּהֵן מְהַלְּכִים בַּדֶּרֶךְ. אָמְרוּ: אַף אָנוּ נִדְרוֹשׁ בְּמַעֲשֵׂה מֶרְכָּבָה. פָּתַח רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְדָרַשׁ. וְאוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם תְּקוּפַת תַּמּוּז הָיָה. נִתְקַשְּׁרוּ שָׁמַיִם בְּעָבִים וְנִרְאֶה כְּמִין קֶשֶׁת בֶּעָנָן, וְהָיוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת מִתְקַבְּצִין וּבָאִין לִשְׁמוֹעַ, כִּבְנֵי אָדָם שֶׁמִּתְקַבְּצִין וּבָאִין לִרְאוֹת בְּמַזְמוּטֵי חָתָן וְכַלָּה.
And when these matters, this story involving his peer Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh succesfully studying the Divine Chariot, were recounted before Rabbi Yehoshua, he was walking along the way with Rabbi Yosei the Priest. They said: We too shall expound the Design of the Divine Chariot. Rabbi Yehoshua began expounding. And that was the day of the summer solstice, when there are no clouds in the sky. Yet the heavens became filled with clouds, and there was the appearance of a kind of rainbow in a cloud. And ministering angels gathered and came to listen, like people gathering and coming to see the rejoicing of a bridegroom and bride.
אָמַר רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה. יְכִיל אֲנָא נְסִיב קַרְייָן וַאֲבַטִּיחִין וַעֲבִיד לוֹן אַייְלִין טַבִּין וְהִידְנוֹן עֲבִידִין אַייְלִין וְטַבִּין. אֲמַר רִבִּי יַנַּאי. מְהַלֵּךְ הֲוִינָא בְּהָדָא אִסְרָטָא דְצִיפּוֹרִי וַחֲזִית חַד מִינַײ נְסִיב חַד צְרִיר וּזְרַק לֵיהּ לְרוּמָא וַהֲוָה נְחַת וּמִתְעֲבֵּד עֶגֶל. וְלֹא כֵן אָמַר רִבִּי לָֽעְזָר בְּשֵׁם רִבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר זִמְרָא. אִם מִתְכַּנְּסִין הֵן כָּל־בָּאֵי עוֹלָם אֵינָן יְכוּלִין לִבְרָאוֹת יְתוּשׁ אֶחָד וְלִזְרוֹק בּוֹ נְשָׁמָה. נֵימַר. לָא נָֽסְבָה הוּא מִינַייָא חַד צְרוֹר וּזְרָקֵיהּ לְרוּמָא וּנְחַת וּמִתְעֲבֵּד חַד עֶגֶל. אֶלָּא לְסָרֵיהּ קָרָא וְגָנַב לֵיהּ עֶגֶל מִן בָּקוֹרָתָא וְאַײתֵי לֵיהּ.
Rebbi Joshua ben Hanania said: I am able to take gourds and watermelons and turn them into rams and deer who would produce rams and deer. Rebbi Yannai said, I was walking on a road in Sepphoris when I saw a Minean (a Christian prosletyzer?) taking a pebble, throwing it into the air, after which it came down transforming itself into a calf. But did not Rebbi 'Lazar say in the name of Rebbi Yose ben Zimra: If all people of the world came together, they could not create one mosquito and bring it to life
דִּלֹמָא. רִבִּי לִעֶזֶר וְרִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְרִבִּי עֲקִיבָה עֲלוֹן לְמִסְחֵי בְהָדֵין דֵּימוֹסִין דְּטִיבֵּרִיָּא. חַמְתּוֹן חַד מִינַײ. אָמַר מַה דָמַר וּתְפַשִּׂיתּוֹן כִּיפָּה. אָמַר רִבִּי לִיעֶזֶר לְרִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. מַה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה. חֲמִי מַה דְאַתְּ עֲבַד. מִי נְפַק אָהֵן מִינַייָא אֲמַר רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ מַה דָמַר וְתָפַשׂ יָתֵיהּ תִּרְעָה. וַהֲוָה כָּל־מָאן דַּעֲלֵיל הֲוָה יְהִיב לֵיהּ חַד מַרְתּוּקָה וְכָל־מָאן דִּנְפַק הֲוָה יְהִיב לֵיהּ בִּנְתִּיקָא. אֲמַר לוֹן. שָׁרוֹן מַה דַעֲבַדְתּוֹן. אָֽמְרִין לֵיהּ. שָׁרִי וַאֲנָן שָׁרֵײ. שָׁרוֹן אִילֵּין וְאִילֵּין. מִן דִּנְפַקּוֹן אֲמַר רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְהַהוּא מִינַייָה. הָא מַה דְאַתְּ חֲכַם. אֲמַר נִיחוֹת לְיַמָּא. מִן דְּנַחְתִּין לְיַמָּא אֲמַר הַהוּא מִינַייָא מַה דַאֲמַר וְאִיתְבְּזַע יַמָּא. אֲמַר לוֹן. וְלָא כֵן עֲבַד מֹשֶׁה רַבְּכוֹן בְּיַמָּא. אָֽמְרִין לֵיהּ. לֵית אַתְּ מוֹדֶה לוֹן דַּהֲלִיךְ מֹשֶׁה רַבָּן בְּגַוֵיהּ. אֲמַר לוֹן. אִין. אָֽמְרוּן לֵיהּ. וַהֲלִיךְ בְּגַוֵּיהּ. הָלַךְ בְּגַוֵּיהּ. גְּזַר רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ עַל שָׂרָהּ דְיַמָּא וּבְלָעֵיהּ.
Rebbi Eliezer, Rebbi Joshua, and Rebbi Akiba went to bathe at the public baths of Tiberias. A heretic (a Christian prosletyzer?) saw them, said what he said [e.g a spell], and the doors of the cupola caught them from behind with a painful slam. Rebbi Eliezer, an accomplished sorcerer himself, said to Rebbi Joshua: Joshua ben Ḥanania, see what you can do. When this Minean was leaving, Rebbi Joshua used his memory--another specialty of Rabbi Eliezer's--said what he said, and the door trapped him just as smartly. Anybody who entered that bath room inadvertently hit him with his fist, anybody leaving hit him inadvertently when forcing the door open. The Minean told them, undo what you did; they told him, you undo, then we shall undo. They mutually undid their spells and left [the rest of the Muggles] in peace.
But when they left, Rebbi Joshua said to this Minean, is that all you are wise to? He answered, let us go down to the sea. When they had descended to the sea, this Minean said what he said [insert magic spell here] and the sea was split. He told them, is that not what your teacher Moses did to the sea? They answered, do you not agree that our teacher Moses walked through it? He said to them, yes. They told him, enter it. He entered it. Rebbi Joshua commanded the prince of the sea who swallowed him. "Dear me," the Sages may have mused. "Impaled on your own sword, eh Gilderoy?"
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה שֶׁהָיָה עוֹמֵד עַל גַּב מַעֲלָה בְּהַר הַבַּיִת, וְרָאָהוּ בֶּן זוֹמָא וְלֹא עָמַד מִלְּפָנָיו. אָמַר לוֹ: מֵאַיִן וּלְאַיִן בֶּן זוֹמָא? אָמַר לוֹ: צוֹפֶה הָיִיתִי בֵּין מַיִם הָעֶלְיוֹנִים לְמַיִם הַתַּחְתּוֹנִים, וְאֵין בֵּין זֶה לָזֶה אֶלָּא שָׁלֹשׁ אֶצְבָּעוֹת בִּלְבַד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם״ — כְּיוֹנָה שֶׁמְּרַחֶפֶת עַל בָּנֶיהָ וְאֵינָהּ נוֹגַעַת. אָמַר לָהֶן רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְתַלְמִידָיו: עֲדַיִין בֶּן זוֹמָא מִבַּחוּץ.
The Sages taught: There was once an incident with regard to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, who was standing on a step on the Temple Mount, and ben Zoma saw him and did not rise before him and greet him, as he was deep in thought. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him kindly: From where do you come and where are you going, ben Zoma, i.e., what is on your mind? He said to him: In my thoughts I was looking upon the act of Creation, at the gap between the upper waters and the lower waters, as there is only the breadth of a mere three fingers between them, as it is stated: “And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2), like a dove hovering over its young without touching them. Rabbi Yehoshua said to his students who had overheard this exchange: Ben Zoma is still outside.
Rabbi Yehoshua is perfectly capable of engaging with the supernatural, but he prefers to leave these matters outside the yeshiva. He is a humble man, content to practice his own rough life as best as the Creator allows him. However, Rabbi Yehoshua's rough manners get him into trouble with the younger, more temperamental Rabban Gamliel...
Passing the Cup
Gamliel ben Shimon ben Gamliel, our Rabban Gamliel II, is a hardcore snob. In order to be admitted to his yeshiva, one has to be independently wealthy, such that one can afford to spend one’s entire week learning the Law and not be distracted by how hard it is to make a living or be tempted by bribes that would sustain one’s family while one is busy in court. His attitudes presumably inspired Shimon Bar Yochai to wonder how anyone engaged in agriculture could come to any real Torah understanding, given all the interruptions for plowing and planting and harvest (Shabbat 33b). Gamliel employs guards, bouncers, to make sure no one comes into the Yavneh building “whose inside is not like his outside.” He himself lives like a prince: he rubs shoulders with Roman officials, hobnobs with their wives, and talks them out of oppressing his people overmuch. He is bewildered and distraught when his successor, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, waives the admissions requirements and dismisses the bouncers, causing a huge influx of Jewish males to Torah learning. He is so distraught that God sends him a false dream to comfort him for “having taken Torah away from the Jewish people” (Brachot 28). (There’s nothing Gamliel can do about it now that Rabbi Elazar has opened the gates, so God decides to limit the amount of grief it causes him.)
Rabbi Yehoshua is a charcoal burner. He is fearsomely poor, not just in the “broke student” way we all went through in college, but even as a master sage. How did he manage to slip through the admissions requirements for scholars of independent means? Well, for starters, he’s Rabban Gamliel’s colleague rather than his student. Next, Rabbi Yehoshua came to the Beit Midrash as a newborn, as above. He’s everyone’s mascot, and he comes to school in his school clothes. Rabbi Yehoshua’s most valuable possessions are his two sets of good clothes (plus a white outfit for holidays) that enable him to rub elbows with Rabban Gamliel while dressed for the part. The launderers in Yavneh keep his clothes clean and presentable (see Brachot 28 for the laundryman who breezes in and out among the Sages giving them political advice), so Rabban Gamliel has no idea how poor his colleague is until he comes crawling to Rabbi Yehoshua’s house to apologize to him. Rabbi Yehoshua’s inside is a poverty-stricken member of the working class. Rabban Gamliel hires bouncers to keep men like him out of the yeshiva. Rabbi Yehoshua has spent the entire period of Rabban Gamliel’s regime trying to keep from being exposed, secure in the knowledge that the Nasi would gladly expel him on any pretext were he not so fearsomely popular.
Why is Rabbi Yehoshua so popular, asks Rabbi Aryeh Klapper at Yeshiva University? Well, let’s start with the chesed and k’vod habriot that every author of fiction seems to set their compasses by. He’s a nice guy. Second, he’s a man of the people. He understands their troubles and their daily pressures to survive far better than the privileged and spoiled Rabban Gamliel (Brachot 28). Rabbi Yehoshua puts bread on his table by the dirty, poorly-paying work of charcoal manufacture: he’s not above anyone. He’s a good old-fashioned union-organizing Labour man.
Also bear in mind that Rabbi Yehoshua is the third-best scholar of his generation, according to his master Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai--Pirkei Avot 2:8-10 lists him right behind Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (who would not be a good Nasi because of his fearsome temper) and Rabbi El’azar ben Arakh (the boy genius who went to live with his wife’s people in Emmaus after everyone else went to Yavneh). Rabban Gamliel II seized power from Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai in a moment of political crisis: his excellent performance as Emperor Palpatine “seizing emergency powers” is only justified since he is a better politician than anyone of his generation. However, Rabbi Klapper argues, although Rabban Gamliel may be a better politician, the even-tempered, kindly, and super-learned Rabbi Yehoshua is a better rabbi… and Rabban Gamliel knows it. If the President of the Jewish Senate did not have to report to the Roman powers, Rabbi Yehoshua could do his job better than he could.
Rabbi Klapper puts Kiddushin 32b at the beginning of this story, where a newly-appointed (and only partially accepted!) Rabban Gamliel is passing out drinks at his own reception. He’s trying to be a man of the people, mingle, kiss some babies, and exude the kind of bonhomie that will quiet the whispers of, “When is Chancellor Palpatine giving back those emergency powers he assumed for the duration of the crisis?” It is his duty as master of the house to appear gracious and welcoming; it is his humble servants’ duty to see to the drinks for everyone and not make the prince work as a waiter in his own house. Rabbi Klapper reiterates: Rabban Gamliel must condescend to offer drinks, his loyal subjects must graciously demur. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, son of a wealthy landowner, knows this routine well. Rabbi Yehoshua, a blue-collar workingman, is deaf to the social signals: he is offered a drink, so he takes it, makes kiddush, and drinks! This embarrasses the heck out of everybody else present: the gracious condescension rebounds on Rabban Gamliel, who is awkwardly rebuked by Rabbi Eliezer for impairing the dignity of his office by serving as butler in his own house. Rabban Gamliel, now righteously scolded, is wary of Rabbi Yehoshua, who--unbeknownst to the washerwoman’s son--has just cheerfully agreed that Rabban Gamliel’s place is passing the tray of drinks and not, say, being the guest of honor at the inauguration ball. This is where Rabban Gamliel first got the sense that Rabbi Yehoshua had no respect for his authority and wouldn’t blink to see him out on his princely backside. Rabbi Yehoshua is absolutely blind to the effect of his actions on the company, because although he’s a master of academic debate and scholarly grace, he has never been taught drawing-room manners!
In Rabbi Yehoshua’s defense, he is probably just as facile with מִשְׁלוֹת כּוֹבְסִין, Tales of the Laundrymen, as his own master Yochana ben Zakkai was. If you told Rabbi Yehoshua he’d just made a Cadbury’s Flake of things and was trying everyone’s West Ham Reserves, he’d have said, “There’s a Barry Crocker! I don’t want any Barney Rubble, so I’d better say something ‘umble quick, or it’ll be my Bushel ‘N’ Peck and no mistake!” Rabbi Aryeh Klapper suggests that blue-collar workers, especially personal servants like laundrymen and washerwomen, had their own Cockney-like dialect, with its own Jack-tales and buzzwords designed to keep clever Jacks like them in the know while their betters were not troubled by overhearing anything they shouldn’t overhear. Rabban Gamliel may have polished above-stairs manners, but he would be in a kettle of “Fisherman’s Daughter” if he tried to make head or tail of life below-stairs. He wouldn’t get far without a dictionary of rhyming slang and a list of words like “berk” that he’ll get punched for using. Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabban Gamliel just don’t get each other’s social cues because they come from such different class backgrounds.
אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי אֲפִילּוּ לְמַאן דְּאָמַר הָרַב שֶׁמָּחַל עַל כְּבוֹדוֹ כְּבוֹדוֹ מָחוּל נָשִׂיא שֶׁמָּחַל עַל כְּבוֹדוֹ אֵין כְּבוֹדוֹ מָחוּל מֵיתִיבִי מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְרַבִּי צָדוֹק שֶׁהָיוּ מְסוּבִּין בְּבֵית הַמִּשְׁתֶּה בְּנוֹ שֶׁל רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל וְהָיָה רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל עוֹמֵד וּמַשְׁקֶה עֲלֵיהֶם נָתַן הַכּוֹס לְרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר וְלֹא נְטָלוֹ נְתָנוֹ לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְקִיבְּלוֹ אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר מָה זֶה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אָנוּ יוֹשְׁבִין וְרַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל בְּרִיבִּי עוֹמֵד וּמַשְׁקֶה עָלֵינוּ אֲמַר לֵיהּ מָצִינוּ גָּדוֹל מִמֶּנּוּ שֶׁשִּׁמֵּשׁ אַבְרָהָם גָּדוֹל מִמֶּנּוּ וְשִׁמֵּשׁ אַבְרָהָם גְּדוֹל הַדּוֹר הָיָה וְכָתוּב בּוֹ וְהוּא עָמַד עֲלֵיהֶם וְשֶׁמָּא תֹּאמְרוּ כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת נִדְמוּ לוֹ לֹא נִדְמוּ לוֹ אֶלָּא לְעַרְבִיִּים וְאָנוּ לֹא יְהֵא רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל בְּרִיבִּי עוֹמֵד וּמַשְׁקֶה עָלֵינוּ אָמַר לָהֶם רַבִּי צָדוֹק עַד מָתַי אַתֶּם מַנִּיחִים כְּבוֹדוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם וְאַתֶּם עוֹסְקִים בִּכְבוֹד הַבְּרִיּוֹת הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מֵשִׁיב רוּחוֹת וּמַעֲלֶה נְשִׂיאִים וּמוֹרִיד מָטָר וּמַצְמִיחַ אֲדָמָה וְעוֹרֵךְ שׁוּלְחָן לִפְנֵי כׇּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד וְאָנוּ לֹא יְהֵא רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל בְּרִיבִּי עוֹמֵד וּמַשְׁקֶה עָלֵינוּ אֶלָּא אִי אִיתְּמַר הָכִי אִיתְּמַר אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי אֲפִילּוּ לְמַאן דְּאָמַר נָשִׂיא שֶׁמָּחַל עַל כְּבוֹדוֹ כְּבוֹדוֹ מָחוּל מֶלֶךְ שֶׁמָּחַל עַל כְּבוֹדוֹ אֵין כְּבוֹדוֹ מָחוּל שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ שֶׁתְּהֵא אֵימָתוֹ עָלֶיךָ
Rav Ashi said: Even according to the one who says that if a rabbi forgoes the honor due him, his honor is forgone, if a Nasi forgoes the honor due him, his honor is not forgone. The Gemara raises an objection: There was an incident involving Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Tzadok, who were reclining at the wedding of Rabban Gamliel’s son. And Rabban Gamliel, who had just been named Nasi of the Sanhedrin at the time, was standing over them and serving them drinks. He gave the cup to Rabbi Eliezer and he would not accept it; he gave it to Rabbi Yehoshua and he accepted it, made kiddush over it, and drank. Rabbi Eliezer said to him: What is this, Yehoshua? We sit and the esteemed Rabban Gamliel stands over us and serves us drinks? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: We found one greater than him who served his guests, as our forefather Abraham was greater than him and he served his guests. Abraham was the greatest man of his generation and it is written about him: “And he stood over them under the tree, and they ate” (Genesis 18:8). And lest you say: His guests appeared to him as ministering angels, and that is why he honored them, in fact they appeared to him only as Arabs. And if so, should not the esteemed Rabban Gamliel stand over us and serve us drinks?
Rabbi Tzadok said to them: For how long will you ignore the honor due to the Omnipresent, and deal with the honor of people? You could cite a proof from God Himself. After all, the Holy One, Blessed be He, makes the winds blow, and raises the clouds, and brings the rain, and causes the earth to sprout, and sets a table before each and every creature. And should not the esteemed Rabban Gamliel stand over us and serve us drinks?
This discussion indicates that even a Nasi may forgo the honor due him. Rather, if it was stated, it was stated as follows: Rav Ashi said: Even according to the one who says that if a Nasi forgoes the honor due him, his honor is forgone, if a king forgoes the honor due him, his honor is not forgone. As it is stated: “You shall set a king over you” (Deuteronomy 17:15), which indicates that his fear should be upon you. The people are commanded to fear a king, and therefore it is not permitted for him to forgo the honor due to him.
We will meet Rabbi Tzadok again later in "Rabbi Yehoshua and the Snitches." Apparently, this incident made a profound impression on him as well, as an important representative of the rabbinic Kohanim: Rabbi Tzadok also wonders if Rabbi Yehoshua meant actual disrespect by his bad manners.
Rabbi Yehoshua's Humility
וּמְנָא תֵּימְרָא דְּשָׁנֵי לַן בֵּין עֶשֶׂר לְיוֹתֵר מֵעֶשֶׂר — דַּאֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן לְרֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: לֹא כָּךְ הָיָה הַמַּעֲשֶׂה, שֶׁהָלַךְ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֵצֶל רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן נוּרִי לִלְמוֹד תּוֹרָה, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁבָּקִי בְּהִלְכוֹת כִּלְאַיִם, וּמְצָאוֹ שֶׁיּוֹשֵׁב בֵּין הָאִילָנוֹת וּמָתַח זְמוֹרָה מֵאִילָן לְאִילָן. וְאָמַר לוֹ: רַבִּי, אִי גְּפָנִים כָּאן מַהוּ לִזְרוֹעַ כָּאן? אָמַר לוֹ: בְּעֶשֶׂר מוּתָּר, בְּיוֹתֵר מֵעֶשֶׂר אָסוּר.
...As Rabbi Yehoshua went to Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri to study Torah, even though Rabbi Yehoshua himself was an expert in the halakhot of diverse kinds and found him sitting among the trees, and Rabbi Yehoshua stretched a vine from one tree to another and said to him: Rabbi, if there are grapevines here, in the enclosed area, what is the halakha with regard to sowing diverse kinds of seeds here, on the other side of the partition? Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri said to him: In a case where the trees are only ten cubits apart, it is permitted; however, where they are more than ten cubits apart, it is prohibited.
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה: מִיָּמַי לֹא נִצְּחַנִי אָדָם חוּץ מֵאִשָּׁה תִּינוֹק וְתִינוֹקֶת. אִשָּׁה מַאי הִיא? פַּעַם אַחַת נִתְאָרַחְתִּי אֵצֶל אַכְסַנְיָא אַחַת, עָשְׂתָה לִי פּוֹלִין בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן — אֲכַלְתִּים וְלֹא שִׁיַּירְתִּי מֵהֶן כְּלוּם. שְׁנִיָּיה, וְלֹא שִׁיַּירְתִּי מֵהֶן כְּלוּם. בְּיוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי הִקְדִּיחָתַן בְּמֶלַח, כֵּיוָן שֶׁטָּעַמְתִּי — מָשַׁכְתִּי יָדַי מֵהֶן. אָמְרָה לִי: רַבִּי, מִפְּנֵי מָה אֵינְךָ סוֹעֵד? אָמַרְתִּי לָהּ: כְּבָר סָעַדְתִּי מִבְּעוֹד יוֹם. אָמְרָה לִי: הָיָה לְךָ לִמְשׁוֹךְ יָדֶיךָ מִן הַפַּת! אָמְרָה לִי: רַבִּי, שֶׁמָּא לֹא הִנַּחְתָּ פֵּאָה בָּרִאשׁוֹנִים? וְלֹא כָּךְ אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים: אֵין מְשַׁיְּירִין פֵּאָה בָּאִלְפָּס, אֲבָל מְשַׁיְּירִין פֵּאָה בַּקְּעָרָה. תִּינוֹקֶת מַאי הִיא? פַּעַם אַחַת הָיִיתִי מְהַלֵּךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, וְהָיְתָה דֶּרֶךְ עוֹבֶרֶת בַּשָּׂדֶה, וְהָיִיתִי מְהַלֵּךְ בָּהּ. אָמְרָה לִי תִּינוֹקֶת אַחַת: רַבִּי, לֹא שָׂדֶה הִיא זוֹ? אָמַרְתִּי לָהּ: לֹא, דֶּרֶךְ כְּבוּשָׁה הִיא. אָמְרָה לִי: לִיסְטִים כְּמוֹתְךָ כְּבָשׁוּהָ. תִּינוֹק מַאי הִיא? פַּעַם אַחַת הָיִיתִי מְהַלֵּךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, וְרָאִיתִי תִּינוֹק יוֹשֵׁב עַל פָּרָשַׁת דְּרָכִים. וְאָמַרְתִּי לוֹ: בְּאֵיזֶה דֶּרֶךְ נֵלֵךְ לָעִיר? אָמַר לִי: זוֹ קְצָרָה וַאֲרוּכָּה, וְזוֹ אֲרוּכָּה וּקְצָרָה. וְהָלַכְתִּי בִּקְצָרָה וַאֲרוּכָּה, כֵּיוָן שֶׁהִגַּעְתִּי לָעִיר מָצָאתִי שֶׁמַּקִּיפִין אוֹתָהּ גַּנּוֹת וּפַרְדֵּיסִין. חָזַרְתִּי לַאֲחוֹרַי. אָמַרְתִּי לוֹ: בְּנִי, הֲלֹא אָמַרְתָּ לִי קְצָרָה? אָמַר לִי: וְלֹא אָמַרְתִּי לְךָ אֲרוּכָּה? נְשַׁקְתִּיו עַל רֹאשׁוֹ, וְאָמַרְתִּי לוֹ: אַשְׁרֵיכֶם יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁכּוּלְּכֶם חֲכָמִים גְּדוֹלִים אַתֶּם, מִגְּדוֹלְכֶם וְעַד קְטַנְּכֶם.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said as follows: In all my days, no person defeated me in debate--except for one woman, one young boy, and one young girl.
Which woman? The hostess who taught me better manners! One time I was staying at a certain inn and the hostess prepared me beans. On the first day I ate them and left nothing over, although proper etiquette dictates that one should leave scraps on his plate to show he has not left hungry. On the second day I again ate and left nothing over. On the third day she over-salted them so that they were inedible. As soon as I tasted them, I withdrew my hands from them. She said to me: My Rabbi, why aren’t you eating beans as on the previous days? Not wishing to offend her, I said to her: I have already eaten during the daytime. She said to me: You should have withdrawn your hand from snacks and bread and left room for some protein! She then said to me: My Rabbi, perhaps you did not leave a remainder of food on your plate on the first days, which is why you are leaving over food today. Isn’t this what the Sages said: One need not leave a remainder in the pot [ilpas], but one must leave a remainder on the plate as an expression of etiquette (Tosafot).
Which is the young girl? The one who taught me that just because everyone is getting away with it doesn't mean that you should try it, too. One time I was walking along the path, and the path passed through a field, and I was walking on it. A certain young girl who lived on that farm said to me: My Rabbi, isn’t this a field? One should not walk through a field, so as not to damage the crops growing there. I said to her: Isn’t it a well-trodden path through the field, across which one is permitted to walk? She said to me: Robbers like you have trodden it as flat as a path! (Just because everybody else cuts through our lot doesn't mean that a great leader like you should encourage them by doing so yourself!)
Which is the young boy? The one who posed me the internationally acknowledged "traveller's riddle." One time I was walking along the path, and I saw a young boy sitting at the crossroads. And I said to him: On which path shall we walk in order to get to the city? He said to me: This path is short and long, and that path is long and short. I walked on the path that was short and long. When I approached the city I found that gardens and orchards surrounded it, and I did not know the trails leading through them to the city. I went back and met the young boy again and said to him: My son, didn’t you tell me that this way is short? He said to me: And didn’t I tell you that it is also long? I kissed him on his head and said to him: Happy are you, O Israel, for you are all exceedingly wise, from your old to your young.
Rabbi Yehoshua Enforces the Laws According to Beit Hillel
בִּימֵי רַבִּי דּוֹסָא בֶּן הַרְכִּינָס הִתִּירוּ צָרַת הַבַּת לָאַחִין, וְהָיָה הַדָּבָר קָשֶׁה לַחֲכָמִים, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁחָכָם גָּדוֹל הָיָה, וְעֵינָיו קָמוּ מִלָּבֹא לְבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ. אָמְרוּ: וּמִי יֵלֵךְ וְיוֹדִיעוֹ? אָמַר לָהֶן רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: אֲנִי אֵלֵךְ. וְאַחֲרָיו מִי — רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה. וְאַחֲרָיו מִי — רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. הָלְכוּ וְעָמְדוּ עַל פֶּתַח בֵּיתוֹ. נִכְנְסָה שִׁפְחָתוֹ, אָמְרָה לוֹ: רַבִּי, חַכְמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּאִין אֶצְלְךָ, אָמַר לָהּ: יִכָּנְסוּ, וְנִכְנְסוּ. תְּפָסוֹ לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, וְהוֹשִׁיבָהוּ עַל מִטָּה שֶׁל זָהָב. אָמַר לוֹ: רַבִּי, אֱמוֹר לְתַלְמִידְךָ אַחֵר וְיֵשֵׁב. אָמַר לוֹ: מִי הוּא? רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה. אָמַר: וְיֵשׁ לוֹ בֵּן לַעֲזַרְיָה חֲבֵירֵנוּ? קָרָא עָלָיו הַמִּקְרָא הַזֶּה: ״נַעַר הָיִיתִי גַּם זָקַנְתִּי וְלֹא רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק נֶעֱזָב וְזַרְעוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ לָחֶם״. תְּפָסוֹ וְהוֹשִׁיבוֹ עַל מִטָּה שֶׁל זָהָב. אָמַר לוֹ: רַבִּי, אֱמוֹר לְתַלְמִידְךָ אַחֵר וְיֵשֵׁב. אָמַר לוֹ: וּמִי הוּא? עֲקִיבָא בֶּן יוֹסֵף. אָמַר לוֹ: אַתָּה הוּא עֲקִיבָא בֶּן יוֹסֵף שֶׁשִּׁמְךָ הוֹלֵךְ מִסּוֹף הָעוֹלָם וְעַד סוֹפוֹ?! שֵׁב בְּנִי, שֵׁב, כְּמוֹתְךָ יִרְבּוּ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל. הִתְחִילוּ מְסַבְּבִים אוֹתוֹ בַּהֲלָכוֹת, עַד שֶׁהִגִּיעוּ לְצָרַת הַבַּת. אֲמַרוּ לוֹ: צָרַת הַבַּת מַהוּ? אָמַר לָהֶן: מַחְלוֹקֶת בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵית הִלֵּל. הֲלָכָה כְּדִבְרֵי מִי? אָמַר לָהֶן: הֲלָכָה כְּבֵית הִלֵּל. אָמְרוּ לוֹ: וַהֲלֹא מִשִּׁמְךָ אָמְרוּ הֲלָכָה כְּבֵית שַׁמַּאי! אָמַר לָהֶם: דּוֹסָא שְׁמַעְתֶּם, אוֹ בֶּן הַרְכִּינָס שְׁמַעְתֶּם? אֲמַרוּ לוֹ: חַיֵּי רַבִּי, סְתָם שָׁמַעְנוּ. אָמַר לָהֶם: אָח קָטָן יֵשׁ לִי, בְּכוֹר שָׂטָן הוּא, וְיוֹנָתָן שְׁמוֹ, וְהוּא מִתַּלְמִידֵי שַׁמַּאי. וְהִזָּהֲרוּ שֶׁלֹּא יְקַפֵּחַ אֶתְכֶם בַּהֲלָכוֹת, לְפִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ עִמּוֹ שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת תְּשׁוּבוֹת בְּצָרַת הַבַּת שֶׁהִיא מוּתֶּרֶת. אֲבָל מֵעִיד אֲנִי עָלַי שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ, שֶׁעַל מְדוֹכָה זוֹ יָשַׁב חַגַּי הַנָּבִיא, וְאָמַר שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים: צָרַת הַבַּת אֲסוּרָה, עַמּוֹן וּמוֹאָב מְעַשְּׂרִין מַעְשַׂר עָנִי בַּשְּׁבִיעִית, וּמְקַבְּלִים גֵּרִים מִן הַקַּרְדּוֹיִין וּמִן הַתַּרְמוֹדִים. תַּנָּא: כְּשֶׁנִּכְנְסוּ — נִכְנְסוּ בְּפֶתַח אֶחָד, כְּשֶׁיָּצְאוּ — יָצְאוּ בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה פְּתָחִים. פָּגַע בּוֹ בְּרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אַקְשִׁי לֵיהּ וְאוֹקְמֵיהּ. אָמַר לוֹ: אַתָּה הוּא עֲקִיבָא שֶׁשִּׁמְךָ הוֹלֵךְ מִסּוֹף הָעוֹלָם וְעַד סוֹפוֹ? אַשְׁרֶיךָ שֶׁזָּכִיתָ לְשֵׁם, וַעֲדַיִין לֹא הִגַּעְתָּ לְרוֹעֵי בָקָר. אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: וַאֲפִילּוּ לְרוֹעֵי צֹאן. עַמּוֹן וּמוֹאָב מְעַשְּׂרִין מַעְשַׂר עָנִי בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. דְּאָמַר מָר: הַרְבֵּה כְּרַכִּים כָּבְשׁוּ עוֹלֵי מִצְרַיִם וְלֹא כָּבְשׁוּ עוֹלֵי בָבֶל, וּקְדוּשָּׁה רִאשׁוֹנָה — קִדְּשָׁה לִשְׁעָתָהּ, וְלֹא קִדְּשָׁה לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא. וְהִנִּיחוּם, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּסְמְכוּ עֲלֵיהֶן עֲנִיִּים בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. וּמְקַבְּלִים גֵּרִים מִן הַקַּרְדּוֹיִים וְהַתַּרְמוֹדִים. אִינִי?! וְהָא תָּנֵי רָמֵי בַּר יְחֶזְקֵאל: אֵין מְקַבְּלִים גֵּרִים מִן הַקַּרְדּוֹיִים! אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי: קַרְתּוֹיִים אִתְּמַר. כִּדְאָמְרִי אִינָשֵׁי: קַרְתּוֹיִים פְּסוּלִים. וְאִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי, תָּנֵי רָמֵי בַּר יְחֶזְקֵאל: אֵין מְקַבְּלִים גֵּרִים מִן הַקַּרְתּוֹיִים. מַאי לָאו: הַיְינוּ קַרְתּוֹיִים הַיְינוּ קַרְדּוֹיִים! אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי: לָא, קַרְתּוֹיֵי לְחוֹד וְקַרְדּוֹיֵי לְחוֹד, כִּדְאָמְרִי אִינָשֵׁי: קַרְתּוֹיֵי פְּסִילִי. רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן וְסָבַיָּא דְּאָמְרִי תַּרְוַיְיהוּ: אֵין מְקַבְּלִים גֵּרִים מִן הַתַּרְמוֹדִים. וּמִי אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן הָכִי? וְהָתְנַן: כׇּל הַכְּתָמִים הַבָּאִים מִן הָרְקָם — טְהוֹרִים. וְרַבִּי יְהוּדָה מְטַמֵּא, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהֵם גֵּרִים וְטוֹעִים. מִבֵּין הַגּוֹיִם — טְהוֹרִים. וְהָוֵינַן בַּהּ:
Indeed, Beit Shammai did posken and hold by their own will in the issue of “tzarat ha-bat,” I assure you! (Come and learn (here be a baraita): it was in the days of Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas that a woman was permitted to perform levirate marriage after being co-wife to a childless uncle/niece marriage, and it was very hard for the rabbis to stomach! (Not that they realized the genetic issues in allowing uncle/niece marriages, but that they held by Beit Hillel, that such a tricky union ought not to be propagated by levirate marriage to anyone even remotely involved.) The issue was difficult for the Sages because the one who was giving this psak was himself a very great sage, and they did not wish to disrespect him by summoning him to court like a common criminal. “Who will go and inform him of the state of things?” they begged. “I will go,” offered Rabbi Yehoshua. And after him came young Rabbi El’azar ben Azaria and after him came Rabbi Akiva: a very illustrious committee.
Thereupon they stood in the courtyard like dopes because Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas had no doorbell and no porter, and it seemed wretchedly awkward simply to barge into his house without knocking and being invited in. Flawless as these great men were at Yeshiva etiquette, they had no idea what to do with themselves making a home visit to a stranger! Both Rabbi Yehoshua, that blue-collar champion of chips and beers by the telly (see Rosh Hashanah 25), and wealthy Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, who could hobnob with the Roman governor and charm his way out of antisemitic persecution (see Brachot 27-28), were completely without social instincts in this matter. Eventually, a maid came inside from the courtyard and told Rabbi Dosa, “The Sages of Israel have come to see you!” and he bade her to welcome them in, which she did. So then they came in. ☺
Rabbanit Farber stresses the pathos of this moment, that the bravest and best-educated rabbis of the Sanhedrin hanging nervously around the front door because they have excessive halachic intelligence but are painfully lacking in social intelligence.
Rabbi Dosa, who was blind, caught Rabbi Yehoshua by the arm, felt his face, recognized him easily because of his Apert's Syndrome, and seated him with great honor on a gilt couch--the finest in the living room. “Rabbi,” said Rabbi Yehoshua gently. “Bid my colleague, your student behind me also to sit.” Rabbi Dosa did not recognize his guest and whispered, “Who is he?” “This is Rabbi El’azar ben Azaria,” Rabbi Yehoshua introduced them. “Azaria our colleague has a son?” exclaimed the old man, who had been living quietly at home for more than 13 years. (See Brachot 28 and the Passover Haggadah for Rabbi Elazar’s extreme youth: he was scarcely 20 at the time.) “נַעַר הָיִיתִי גַּם זָקַנְתִּי וְלֹא רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק נֶעֱזָב וְזַרְעוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ לָחֶם,” quoted the old man happily, and seated Rabbi Elazar next to his colleague on the golden couch. “Rabbi,” said Rabbi Yehoshua gently. “Bid my colleague, your student, behind me also to sit.” “And who is this?” asked Rabbi Dosa, who did not realize there was still a third guest to be seated. “This is Akiva ben Yosef,” Rabbi Yehoshua introduced his former student. Said their host, “Are you Akiva ben Yosef whose fame has spread from one end of the world to the other??? Sit, sit my son! Sit, and may there be many more like you in Israel!”
They began talking around various laws with their host, until the conversation came around and arrived at tzarat ha-bat, a daughter’s co-wife. They asked him, “What is the issue of tzarat ha-bat?” Said he, “It is a machloket between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel.” Much surprised to hear the man who was promulgating Shammaist levirate unions state the case so unambiguously, they pressed, “And with whom does the final decision stand?” “With Beit Hillel,” replied their host. The rabbis were baffled. “Is it not in your name that they are saying that the law is according to Beit Shammai?” they stammered?
“Was it,” Rabbi Dosa asked them exasperatedly, “Rabbi Dosa’s name that you heard, or just plain ‘Ben Harkinas’?” “By your life, master,” the committee swore. “We just heard, stam.” Rabbi Dosa let out an almighty sigh. “I have a younger brother,” he explained, “firstborn of Satan that he is! His name is Yonatan [ben Harkinas] and he is a staunch Shammaite. [And if you go after him like you have done for me,] be wary that he does not fence you into defeat with halachot, for he can field 300 reasons why tzarat ha-bat is permitted. [But in spite of all his clever rhetoric], I call to witness heaven and earth that Chaggai the Prophet once sat on this very mortar [preserved ever after in my family as an heirloom] and taught three rulings: a daughter’s co-wife is forbidden in levirate marriage, lands of Ammon and Moav [in Transjordan] donate ma’aser ani to the poor of Israel during the shmita year, and it is permitted to accept and marry converts from among the Karduyim and Tamrodim.”
Who is really blind in this meeting? This scene would play well in ancient China, with its focus on the valuable memories of the old as compared to the brash assumptions of the younger generations. The committee is so sure of itself and is only embarrassed to be delivering a stinging rebuke to such a wise old sage. And here they are rebuking the wrong fellow when their host knows more about the history of these laws then they do!
The committee left the house one by one, quite ashamed of their presumption, and scattered throughout the neighborhood to find the elusive Rabbi Yonatan ben Harkinas. Rabbi Akiva bumped into him, and Rabbi Yonatan was just as troublesome with his fearsomely well-founded arguments as they had been warned. Laughed his adversary, “And YOU are Akiva whose fame has spread from one end of the earth to the other? You haven’t as much organizational expertise as a cattle rancher!” Replied Akiva, who had learned humility by his experience at the house of Rabbi Dosa, replies with a humble smile, “Not even as much as a shepherd, sir.”
There is no indication that Rabbi Akiva won the argument or that he succeeded in bringing Yonatan by Hyrcanus to heel. The victory here is Rabbi Akiva’s victory over his own ego, in that he is willing to lose an argument out of respect for the Torah and out of respect for his opponent’s clever reasoning. He doesn’t feel threatened by losing, either, and is able to respond to the dig with gentle humor. Yochi Brandes writes very persuasively about how well matched Rabbi Akiva was with his teacher, Rabbi Yehoshua.
How does Rabbi Yehoshua learn from this incident?
תָּא שְׁמַע: שָׁאֲלוּ אֶת רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, צָרַת הַבַּת מַהוּ? אָמַר לָהֶם: מַחְלוֹקֶת בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵית הִלֵּל. וַהֲלָכָה כְּדִבְרֵי מִי? אָמַר לָהֶם: מִפְּנֵי מָה אַתֶּם מַכְנִיסִין רֹאשִׁי בֵּין שְׁנֵי הָרִים גְּדוֹלִים, בֵּין שְׁתֵּי מַחְלוֹקוֹת גְּדוֹלוֹת, בֵּין בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵין בֵּית הִלֵּל. מִתְיָירֵא אֲנִי שֶׁמָּא יָרוֹצּוּ גֻּלְגׇּלְתִּי. אֲבָל אֲנִי מֵעִיד לָכֶם עַל שְׁתֵּי מִשְׁפָּחוֹת גְּדוֹלוֹת שֶׁהָיוּ בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם, מִשְׁפַּחַת בֵּית צְבוֹעִים מִבֶּן עַכְמַאי, וּמִשְׁפַּחַת בֵּית קוֹפַאי מִבֶּן מְקוֹשֵׁשׁ, שֶׁהֵם בְּנֵי צָרוֹת, וּמֵהֶם כֹּהֲנִים גְּדוֹלִים, וְשִׁמְּשׁוּ עַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ.
They asked Rabbi Yehoshua: What is the halakha with regard to the rival wife of a daughter? He said to them: It is a matter of dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel. They continued to ask him: And in accordance with whose statement is the halakha? He said to them: Why are you inserting my head between two great mountains, i.e., between two great disputing opinions, between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel? I fear lest these two mountains break my skull. However, I shall testify to you about two great families that were in Jerusalem, the Beit Tzevo’im family who came from the town of Ben Akhmai, and the Beit Kofai family from the town of Ben Mekoshesh: They were the descendants of rival wives who married others, in accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel, and from them came High Priests who served on the altar.
Rabbi Yehoshua is here giving a private opinion with many disclaimers. When he omits these protestations and simply gives a private opinion, he will get into trouble with...
Rabbi Yehoshua and the Snitches
Rabban Gamliel retaliates disproportionately to any indication that Rabbi Yehoshua is being insubordinate. He perceives Rabbi Yehoshua, in all his greatness and kindness, as a walking threat to his presidency. Rabbi Yehoshua, for his part, perceives Rabban Gamliel as an iron-fisted tyrant with no patience and no sense of humor, who has succeeded in culling almost everyone like him from the entering classes of Yavneh, and would just love an excuse to send him packing as well.
Note that every single one of the men who tattles to Rabban Gamliel is a well-known figure in Rabbi Yehoshua's life. Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas is a fellow bastion of Beit Hillel; he is old enough to be Rabbi Yehoshua's ancestor, and he is blind enough that he is no threat to Rabban Gamliel. Rabbi Tzadok watched Rabbi Yehoshua accept a kiddush cup from Rabban Gamliel in the Prince's own house above; Shimon bar Yochai is a legendary anti-Roman subversive whose political views are strongly opposed to Rabbi Yehoshua's peace party.
מַתְנִי׳ מַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁבָּאוּ שְׁנַיִם וְאָמְרוּ: רְאִינוּהוּ שַׁחֲרִית בַּמִּזְרָח, וְעַרְבִית בַּמַּעֲרָב. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן נוּרִי: עֵדֵי שֶׁקֶר הֵם. כְּשֶׁבָּאוּ לְיַבְנֶה קִיבְּלָן רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל. וְעוֹד, בָּאוּ שְׁנַיִם וְאָמְרוּ: רְאִינוּהוּ בִּזְמַנּוֹ, וּבְלֵיל עִיבּוּרוֹ לֹא נִרְאָה, וְקִיבְּלָן רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל. אָמַר רַבִּי דּוֹסָא בֶּן הוֹרְכִּינָס: עֵדֵי שֶׁקֶר הֵן, הֵיאַךְ מְעִידִים עַל הָאִשָּׁה שֶׁיָּלְדָה וּלְמָחָר כְּרֵיסָהּ בֵּין שִׁינֶּיהָ? אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: רוֹאֶה אֲנִי אֶת דְּבָרֶיךָ. שָׁלַח לוֹ רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: גּוֹזְרַנִי עָלֶיךָ שֶׁתָּבֹא אֶצְלִי בְּמַקֶּלְךָ וּבִמְעוֹתֶיךָ בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹנֶךָ.
MISHNA: There was an incident in which two witnesses came to testify about the new moon, and they said: We saw the waning moon in the morning in the east, and that same day we saw the new moon in the evening in the west. Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri said: They are false witnesses, as it is impossible to see the new moon so soon after the last sighting of the waning moon. However, when they arrived in Yavne, Rabban Gamliel, who had already consulted his scientific charts, knew it was Rosh Chodesh and accepted them as witnesses without concern. And there was another incident in which two witnesses came and said: We saw the new moon at its anticipated time, i.e., on the night of the thirtieth day of the previous month; however, on the following night, i.e., the start of the thirty-first, which is often the determinant of a full, thirty-day month, it was not seen. And nevertheless Rabban Gamliel relied on the science and accepted their testimony and established the New Moon on the thirtieth day.
Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas said: They are false witnesses; how can witnesses testify that a woman gave birth and the next day her enormous belly is between her teeth? If the new moon was already visible at its anticipated time, how could it not be seen a day later? (This was a rhetorical question: Rabbi Dosa disapproved of the Gamliel dynasty's reliance on science and math and insisted that the new moon was a property of the witness statements, not a property of the lunar cycle.) Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: I see the logic of your statement; Rabban Gamliel is singlehandedly trying to change the halachic system.
Rabban Gamliel sent a message to him: I decree against you that you must appear before me with your staff and with your money on the day on which Yom Kippur occurs according to your calculation; according to my calculation, that day is the eleventh of Tishrei, the day after Yom Kippur.
Rabbanit Michelle Farber of Hadran sets us straight as per Rosh Hashanah 2-3 above, regarding loans and liens and post-dated shtarot. Rabban Gamliel is trying to prevent lawsuits brought by nasty little pieces of work like Datan and Aviram, who claim payment on a post-dated lien made “according to the calendar of Rabbi Yehoshua.” Rabban Gamliel wants to make this clear to the richest and most powerful in Judaea: there is no calendar of Rabbi Yehoshua. There is no calendar of Rav Nachman. There is no calendar of Rava. There is only ONE calendar, the calendar set by the Sanhedrin: you don’t have to like it, but you do have to keep it! He’s not threatened by the complaints of Yochanan ben Nuri, who’s a great lawmaker but is never going to be a top dog at anything, and Dosa ben Horkinas, who’s made it into Pirkei Avot for his wisdom but hasn’t instituted a single halachah we’re ever heard of. He is threatened by Rabbi Yehoshua, who is popular enough to lead a movement of counter-cultural calendar-making all on his own. The last time the Jewish people kept two calendars was when we had two kingdoms. Not going there!
הָלַךְ וּמְצָאוֹ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא מֵיצֵר, אָמַר לוֹ: יֵשׁ לִי לִלְמוֹד שֶׁכׇּל מַה שֶּׁעָשָׂה רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל עָשׂוּי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אֵלֶּה מוֹעֲדֵי יהוה מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם״, בֵּין בִּזְמַנָּן בֵּין שֶׁלֹּא בִּזְמַנָּן — אֵין לִי מוֹעֲדוֹת אֶלָּא אֵלּוּ. בָּא לוֹ אֵצֶל רַבִּי דּוֹסָא בֶּן הוֹרְכִּינָס, אָמַר לוֹ: אִם בָּאִין אָנוּ לָדוּן אַחַר בֵּית דִּינוֹ שֶׁל רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, צְרִיכִין אָנוּ לָדוּן אַחַר כׇּל בֵּית דִּין וּבֵית דִּין שֶׁעָמַד מִימוֹת מֹשֶׁה וְעַד עַכְשָׁיו. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיַּעַל מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא וְשִׁבְעִים מִזִּקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל״, וְלָמָּה לֹא נִתְפָּרְשׁוּ שְׁמוֹתָן שֶׁל זְקֵנִים? אֶלָּא לְלַמֵּד שֶׁכׇּל שְׁלֹשָׁה וּשְׁלֹשָׁה שֶׁעָמְדוּ בֵּית דִּין עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל — הֲרֵי הוּא כְּבֵית דִּינוֹ שֶׁל מֹשֶׁה. נָטַל מַקְלוֹ וּמְעוֹתָיו בְּיָדוֹ, וְהָלַךְ לְיַבְנֶה אֵצֶל רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל בַּיּוֹם שֶׁחָל יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים לִהְיוֹת בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹנוֹ. עָמַד רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל וּנְשָׁקוֹ עַל רֹאשׁוֹ, אָמַר לוֹ: בּוֹא בְּשָׁלוֹם רַבִּי וְתַלְמִידִי! רַבִּי — בְּחׇכְמָה, וְתַלְמִידִי — שֶׁקִּבַּלְתָּ אֶת דְּבָרַי.
Rabbi Akiva went and found Rabbi Yehoshua distressed that the head of the Great Sanhedrin was forcing him to desecrate the day that "really" was Yom Kippur. In an attempt to console him, Rabbi Akiva said to Rabbi Yehoshua: I can learn from a verse that everything that Rabban Gamliel did in sanctifying the month is done, i.e., it is valid. As it is stated: “These are the appointed seasons of the Lord, sacred convocations, which you shall proclaim in their season” (Leviticus 23:4). This verse indicates that whether you have proclaimed them at their proper time or whether you have declared them not at their proper time, I have only these Festivals as established by the representatives of the Jewish people.
Rabbi Yehoshua then came to Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas, who said to him: If we come to debate and question the rulings of the court of Rabban Gamliel, we must debate and question the rulings of every court that has stood from the days of Moses until now. As it is stated: “Then Moses went up, and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel” (Exodus 24:9). But why were the names of these seventy Elders not specified? Rather, this comes to teach that every set of three judges that stands as a court over the Jewish people has the same status as the court of Moses. Since it is not revealed who sat on that court, apparently it is enough that they were official judges in a Jewish court.
When Rabbi Yehoshua heard that even Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas maintained that they must submit to Rabban Gamliel’s decision, he took his staff and his money in his hand, and went to Yavne to Rabban Gamliel on the day on which Yom Kippur occurred according to his own calculation. Upon seeing him, Rabban Gamliel stood up and kissed him on his head. He said to him: Come in peace, my teacher and my student. You are my teacher in wisdom and seniority, and you are my student, inasmuch as you accepted my statement, despite disapproving of my scientific process.
The incident in Masechet Bechorot is clearly the second of the three incidents: you see Rabbi Yehoshua reacting with the same language again in Masechet Brachot, and both men are genuinely surprised when the rest of the yeshiva community refuse to allow this kind of abuse to be perpetuated.
רבי צדוק הוה ליה בוכרא רמא ליה שערי בסלי בהדי דקאכיל איבזע שיפתיה אתא לקמיה דרבי יהושע אמר ליה כלום חילקנו בין חבר לעם הארץ אמר לו רבי יהושע הן אתא לקמיה דרבן גמליאל אמר ליה חילקנו בין חבר לעם הארץ אמר ליה רבן גמליאל לא אמר ליה והא רבי יהושע אמר לי הן אמר לו המתן עד שיעלו בעלי תריסין לבית המדרש
§ The Gemara relates: Rabbi Tzadok, an erudite priest, had a firstborn animal. He placed barley in wicker baskets for it, and while it was eating, its lip split, rendering the animal blemished. Rabbi Tzadok came before Rabbi Yehoshua, to ask whether or not he is suspected of intentionally causing a blemish in his firstborn animal offering. Rabbi Tzadok said to him: Didn’t we differentiate between a priest who is a ḥaver (a "friend of the court, i.e. a rabbinic Jew), and a priest who is an am-ha'artez (a non-rabbinic Jew who may be trying to circumvent inconvenient halachot)? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Yes, we did. Since you are a well-respected rabbi and a priest, you are deemed credible to testify that this blemish was caused inadvertently.
Rabbi Tzadok then came before Rabban Gamliel, the Nasi and head of the academy of Yavne at the time. Rabbi Tzadok said to him regarding another court case completely: Do we differentiate between a priest who is a ḥaver and a priest who is an am ha'artez? Rabban Gamliel said to him: No! We do not give "special dispensation" to priests with rabbinic ordination when they are accused of misappropriating Temple property for personal ain. Rabbi Tzadok complained and said to him: But Rabbi Yehoshua said to me that yes, we did! Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Tzadok: Wait until the masters of the shields [ba’alei terisin], a reference to the Torah scholars who battle in the war of Torah, enter the study hall, at which point we will discuss this issue.
Rabban Gamliel blows this incident completely out of proportion because of the aforementioned conflict about the calendar and his permanent worry that Rabbi Yehoshua is after his job. Rabbi Yehoshua gave personal psak to Rabbi Tzadok haKohen, who was one of the most famously learned kohanim of his generation, and who definitely merited an exemption from an overstrict "fence around the Torah." Rabban Gamliel accuses the famously plebian Rabbi Yehoshua of instituting tax exemptions for the privileged classes. Poor Rabbi Yehoshua, who told a personal friend of his he could eat the steak and enjoy his dinner, is completely taken aback by this public humiliation and tries to lighten things up with a joke. (His joke gently implies that his friend Rabbi Tzadok might merit being run over by a cart on his way home, since he should have kept his big mouth shut and has now "ruined it for everybody.") Unfortunately, Rabban Gamliel has no sense of humor, and the quip only makes matters worse.
כיון שנכנסו לבית המדרש עמד השואל ושאל כלום חילקנו בין חבר לעם הארץ א"ל רבי יהושע לאו א"ל רבן גמליאל והלא משמך אמרו לי הן יהושע עמוד על רגליך ויעידו בך עמד רבי יהושע על רגליו ואמר היאך אעשה אילמלי אני חי והוא מת יכול החי להכחיש את המת עכשיו שאני חי והוא חי היאך חי יכול להכחיש את החי והיה ר"ג עומד ודורש ור' יהושע עומד על רגליו עד שריננו כל העם ואמרו לחוצפית המתורגמן עמוד ועמד:
When the Torah scholars entered the study hall, the questioner stood before everyone present and asked: With regard to blemishes found on a firstborn animal, didn’t we differentiate between a priest who is a friend of the court and a priest who is an ignoramus? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: No, we did not. Rabban Gamliel said to him: But they said to me in your name that yes, we did differentiate. Rabban Gamliel continued: Yehoshua, stand on your feet and they will testify against you.
Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: How should I act? If I were alive and Rabbi Tzadok had been run over by a cart and were dead, the living can deny the dead. Now that I am alive and he is alive, how can the living deny the living? However, Rabban Gamliel did not dignify this quip with a response. He thought Rabbi Yehoshua was trying to treat this situation as a joke, and rather than engaging with the supposedly insubordinate rabbi, Rabban Gamliel left the matter hanging in haughty disdain.
For the rest of the afternoon, Rabban Gamliel was standing and lecturing, and Rabbi Yehoshua all the while was standing on his feet, as Rabban Gamliel did not give him permission to resume his seat. This continued for some time, until all of the people assembled began murmuring and said to Ḥutzpit the meturgeman (human microphone): Stop!, and he stopped the lecture.
It is unclear what happened afterward; it seems that classes were dismissed early that day, and the students stood around Rabbi Yehoshua and talked Torah until Rabban Gamliel left in a huff. Rabban Gamliel is therefore hypersensitive about the issue: he reacts with the exact same language the next time Rabbi Yehoshua gives a private opinion to another scholar, namely Shimon Bar Yochai.
I will make a supreme effort to be dan l’chaf zechut to Shimon Bar Yochai, that wonderful sage who later says Jews ought not to have to work for a living because that’s what for God created gentiles (Brachot 35b:7). Perhaps Shimon Bar Yochai really, really resented going to mincha-ma’ariv every day and was trying to get Rabban Gamliel to relent and make maariv optional. He was just trying to make Rabban Gamliel concede that he was being a stickler on a complicated question for which there are multiple well-respected opinions. I don’t think Rabban Gamliel is dan l’chaf zechut to Shimon Bar Yochai, because he focuses his entire tirade on Rabbi Yehoshua: he knows that Bar Yochai is being an informant, and he appreciates Bar Yochai's "loyalty." Also note that Rabban Gamliel does not have a gentle sense of humor like Rabbi Yehoshua does, or he would have saved his office by laughing, “Go to Ben Chaninah and ask if cleaning your ears before coming to the Beit Midrash is also optional, for I distinctly said it was obligatory!”
We are told before the story starts that Rabbi Yehoshua’s lodged protest was eventually successful, as even Amora’im like Rava and Abaye were still disagreeing on whether ma’ariv is encouraged or obligatory. The entire question was successfully returned to the anonymous halls of halacha: חוֹבָה or רְשׁוּת. However, Rabban Gamliel has only recently invented the Sh'moneh Esreh and is doing his best to unify the practice of Jewish prayer--and keep it separate from Judeo-Christian prayer!--and he cannot afford any dissent within the ranks, even from a known Jewish purist like Rabbi Yehoshua.
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּתַלְמִיד אֶחָד שֶׁבָּא לִפְנֵי רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. אָמַר לוֹ: תְּפִלַּת עַרְבִית רְשׁוּת אוֹ חוֹבָה? אָמַר לֵיהּ: רְשׁוּת. בָּא לִפְנֵי רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, אָמַר לוֹ: תְּפִלַּת עַרְבִית רְשׁוּת אוֹ חוֹבָה? אָמַר לוֹ: חוֹבָה. אָמַר לוֹ: וַהֲלֹא רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אָמַר לִי רְשׁוּת?! אָמַר לוֹ: הַמְתֵּן עַד שֶׁיִּכָּנְסוּ בַּעֲלֵי תְּרִיסִין לְבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ.
The Sages taught: There was an incident involving a student, who came before Rabbi Yehoshua. The student said to him: Is the evening prayer optional or obligatory? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Optional. The same student came before Rabban Gamliel and said to him: Is the evening prayer optional or obligatory? Rabban Gamliel said to him: Obligatory. The student said to Rabban Gamliel: But didn’t Rabbi Yehoshua tell me that the evening prayer is optional? Rabban Gamliel said to the student: Wait until the “masters of the shields,” a reference to the Torah scholars who battle in the war of Torah, enter the study hall, at which point we will discuss this issue.
Rabbi Aryeh Klapper of Yeshiva University bucks the tradition of translating בַּעֲלֵי תְּרִיסִין, shield-bearers, as a poetic epithet for “mighty scholars.” It is very clear from the context that Rabban Gamliel is telling his little troublemaker to wait until the Sanhedrin is assembled and the study hall is full of students for the question to be addressed properly.” Rabban Gamliel, unwilling to compromise the dignity of his office by making an argument in favor of his idea, intends to answer by a show of force. However, Rabbi Klapper thinks that the בַּעֲלֵי תְּרִיסִין are the gate-guards and bouncers--the lightly armed men responsible for enforcing Rabban Gamliel’s famous admissions requirements, as we will hear about in 28a below.
Rabban Gamliel is not only intimidating his wildly popular colleague with a show of presidential force, he is making sure the entire scene takes place in the presence of the armed men whose job it is to keep proletariat agitators like Rabbi Yehoshua from ever matriculating at his yeshiva! If that’s not a subtle threat to keep the charcoal-burner rabbi in his place, I don’t know what is. Yes, Rabban Gamliel doesn’t find out how poor Rabbi Yehoshua is until 28b:9, later on in this same story, but he’s picked up on the fact that Rabbi Yehoshua really, really disapproves of those guards, and he will stop at nothing to make the old man uncomfortable.
כְּשֶׁנִּכְנְסוּ בַּעֲלֵי תְּרִיסִין, עָמַד הַשּׁוֹאֵל וְשָׁאַל: תְּפִלַּת עַרְבִית רְשׁוּת אוֹ חוֹבָה? אָמַר לוֹ רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: חוֹבָה. אָמַר לָהֶם רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל לַחֲכָמִים: כְּלוּם יֵשׁ אָדָם שֶׁחוֹלֵק בְּדָבָר זֶה? אָמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: לָאו. אָמַר לוֹ: וַהֲלֹא מִשִּׁמְךָ אָמְרוּ לִי רְשׁוּת! אָמַר לֵיהּ: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, עֲמוֹד עַל רַגְלֶיךָ וְיָעִידוּ בְּךָ. עָמַד רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ עַל רַגְלָיו וְאָמַר אִלְמָלֵא אֲנִי חַי וְהוּא מֵת — יָכוֹל הַחַי לְהַכְחִישׁ אֶת הַמֵּת. וְעַכְשָׁיו שֶׁאֲנִי חַי וְהוּא חַי — הֵיאַךְ יָכוֹל הַחַי לְהַכְחִישׁ אֶת הַחַי? הָיָה רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל יוֹשֵׁב וְדוֹרֵשׁ וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ עוֹמֵד עַל רַגְלָיו, עַד שֶׁרִנְּנוּ כׇּל הָעָם וְאָמְרוּ לְחוּצְפִּית הַתּוּרְגְּמָן: עֲמוֹד! וְעָמַד.
When the masters of the shields entered, the questioner stood before everyone present and asked: Is the evening prayer optional or obligatory? Rabban Gamliel said to him: Obligatory. In order to ascertain whether or not Rabbi Yehoshua still maintained his opinion, Rabban Gamliel said to the Sages: Is there any person who disputes this matter? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: No, no one disagrees. In deference to the Nasi, he did not wish to argue with him publicly (Tziyyun LeNefesh Ḥayya). (Especially after what happened last time.) Rabban Gamliel, however, refused to accept this informal retraction and said to Rabbi Yehoshua: But was it not in your name that they told me that the evening prayer is optional?
Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Yehoshua, stand on your feet and they will testify against you. Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: If I were alive and the student were dead, the living can contradict the dead, and I could deny issuing that ruling. Now that I am alive and he is alive, how can the living contradict the living? I have no choice but to admit that I said it.
In the meantime, Rabban Gamliel, as the Nasi, was sitting and lecturing, and Rabbi Yehoshua all the while was standing on his feet, because Rabban Gamliel had not given him permission to resume his seat. This continued for some time, until all of the people assembled began murmuring and said to Ḥutzpit the meturgeman (human microphone): Stop conveying Rabban Gamliel’s lecture! And he stopped.
Rabbanit Michelle Cohen Farber explains that the Talmud is trying to be poetic and metaphorical here. Rabban Gamliel was known for seeing everything in terms of black and white. The issue was either alive or dead: there was no room for any kind of compromise in between. See also the upcoming complaint that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya had black hair instead of white.
Rabbi Daniel Vaisrub follows up on the position of the meturgeman, the human microphone, and adds, “Silencing the meturgeman during the ousting of Rabban Gamaliel was the 1st century equivalent of shutting down his Twitter account,” or locking him out of his social media platform.
The Deposition of Rabban Gamliel
אָמְרִי: עַד כַּמָּה נְצַעֲרֵיהּ וְנֵיזִיל, בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה אֶשְׁתָּקַד צַעֲרֵיהּ. בִּבְכוֹרוֹת בְּמַעֲשֵׂה דְרַבִּי צָדוֹק צַעֲרֵיהּ. הָכָא נָמֵי צַעֲרֵיהּ, תָּא וְנַעְבְּרֵיהּ! מַאן נוֹקֵים לֵיהּ? נוֹקְמֵיהּ לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ — בַּעַל מַעֲשֶׂה הוּא. נוֹקְמֵיהּ לְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא — דִּילְמָא עָנֵישׁ לֵיהּ, דְּלֵית לֵיהּ זְכוּת אָבוֹת. אֶלָּא נוֹקְמֵיהּ לְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה, דְּהוּא חָכָם, וְהוּא עָשִׁיר, וְהוּא עֲשִׂירִי לְעֶזְרָא. הוּא חָכָם — דְּאִי מַקְשֵׁי לֵיהּ, מְפָרֵק לֵיהּ. וְהוּא עָשִׁיר — דְּאִי אִית לֵיהּ לְפַלּוֹחֵי לְבֵי קֵיסָר, אַף הוּא אָזֵל וּפָלַח. וְהוּא עֲשִׂירִי לְעֶזְרָא — דְּאִית לֵיהּ זְכוּת אָבוֹת, וְלָא מָצֵי עָנֵישׁ לֵיהּ. אֲתוֹ וַאֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: נִיחָא לֵיהּ לְמָר דְּלֶיהְוֵי רֵישׁ מְתִיבְתָּא? אֲמַר לְהוּ: אֵיזִיל וְאִימְּלִיךְ בְּאִינָשֵׁי בֵּיתִי. אֲזַל וְאִמְּלִיךְ בִּדְבֵיתְהוּ. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: דִּלְמָא מְעַבְּרִין לָךְ. אֲמַר לַהּ: לִשְׁתַּמַּשׁ אִינָשׁ יוֹמָא חֲדָא בְּכָסָא דְמוֹקְרָא, וְלִמְחַר לִיתְּבַר. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: לֵית לָךָ חִיוָּרָתָא. הָהוּא יוֹמָא בַּר תַּמְנֵי סְרֵי שְׁנֵי הֲוָה, אִתְרְחִישׁ לֵיהּ נִיסָּא וְאִהַדַּרוּ לֵיהּ תַּמְנֵי סְרֵי דָּרֵי חִיוָּרָתָא. הַיְינוּ דְּקָאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה: הֲרֵי אֲנִי כְּבֶן שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה. וְלֹא ״בֶּן שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה״.
The Gemara relates that in their murmuring they said: How long will Rabban Gamliel continue afflicting him? Last year on Rosh HaShana, he afflicted him; Rabban Gamliel ordered Rabbi Yehoshua to come to him carrying his staff and bag, on the day on which Yom Kippur occurred, according to Rabbi Yehoshua’s calculations. Regarding the firstborn, in the incident involving the question of Rabbi Tzadok, he afflicted him just as he did now, and forced him to remain standing as punishment for his failure to defend his differing opinion. Here too, he is afflicting him. Let us remove him from his position as Nasi.
It was so agreed, but the question arose: Whom shall we establish in his place? Shall we establish Rabbi Yehoshua in his place? The Sages rejected that option because Rabbi Yehoshua was party to the incident for which Rabban Gamliel was deposed. Appointing him would be extremely upsetting for Rabban Gamliel. Shall we establish Rabbi Akiva in his place? The Sages rejected that option because Rabbi Akiva, who descended from a family of converts, would be vulnerable. Perhaps due to Rabban Gamliel’s resentment he would cause him to be divinely punished as he lacks the merit of his ancestors to protect him. Rather, suggested the Sages, let us establish Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya in his place, his outstanding characteristics set him apart from the other candidates. He is wise, rich, and a tenth generation descendant of Ezra. The Gemara explains: He is wise, so if Rabban Gamliel raises a challenge in matters of Torah, he will answer it and not be embarrassed. And he is rich, so if the need arises to pay homage to the Caesar’s court and serve as a representative of Israel to lobby and negotiate, he has sufficient wealth to cover the costs of the long journeys, taxes, and gifts, so he too is able to go and pay homage. And he is a tenth generation descendant of Ezra, so he has the merit of his ancestors, and Rabban Gamliel will be unable to cause him to be punished.
They came and said to him: Would the Master consent to being the Head of the Yeshiva? He said to them: I will go and consult with my household. He went and consulted with his wife. She said to him: Do not think this hot-headed committee is doing you any favors. Perhaps they will remove you from office just as they removed Rabban Gamliel. He said to her, based on the folk saying: Let a person use an expensive glass goblet one day and let it break tomorrow, as long as I could use it at the important moment tonight. She said to him: You have no white hair, so those who are not members of this committee will be dismissive of your leadership and ruin your reputation.
Yochi Brandes brings Rabbi Eliezer into the story at this stage. Rabbi Eliezer was known to rely on the supernatural in matters of Torah leadership, as below.
The Gemara relates: That day, he was eighteen years old, a miracle transpired for him and eighteen rows of hair turned white. The Gemara comments: That explains that which Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: I am as one who is seventy years old and he did not say: I am seventy years old, because he looked older than he actually was.
Yochi Brandes takes the tradition from Sanhedrin 68a:5-7 that both Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva were accomplished magicians, who were not timid about using their secret knowledge to advance Torah causes. In her version, Rabbi Elazar makes a secret visit to Rabbi Eliezer's chambers, and emerges the next morning with his hair turned from black to white. We will see later that appropriate use of supernatural means is a contentious issue between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua.
The first thing that young Elazar ben Azaria will do is strike down Rabban Gamliel's admissions requirements for the great yeshiva of Yavneh. On the one hand, Rabban Gamliel was right to be ashamed of himself below for denying hundreds of Jewish people the opportunity to study Torah. His interview-visitation- and-admissions system was as flawed as the notorious Beit Din of modern Israel. (His inside, i.e. his potential to foment social change, might not be like his outside, i.e. the perfect black-hatted hyper-conservative antifeminist traditionalist.)
However, as a theory, it is important to remember that there are less politicizing ways where this is both true and greatly to be feared: someone's outside, proclaiming their virtue and good intentions, may be a front concealing a peeping, groping, embezzling, fraud who believes that such a great man as himself can do what he likes without fear of repercussions. And these should be kept out of our yeshivas at all costs.
UPDATE: the Christian Bible (Acts 21-24, as per Yochi Brandes) indicates that Rabban Gamliel had good reason to worry about subversive elements wending into his yeshiva. One notorious troublemaker named Saul of Tarsus drops Rabban Gamliel’s name in court when he is arrested for Christian subversiveness. Paul’s plan is to start a riot between the Sadducees and Pharisees to preclude any possible end to the trial: “I am a Pharisee and son of a Pharisee,” his followers quote him, “and of the resurrection of the dead I am called into question!” Priests object, rabbis object to their objection, and Paul is successfully delivered over to the Roman authorities on a much lesser charge of Inciting Jews to Riot (which in those days was equivalent to Inciting Old Men to Complain). The clever Paul is successfully shipped out of Judaea to preach his message all the way to Rome. Yochi Brandes’ superb novel The Orchard describes the Jewish powers reacting with caution and fear to the growth of Christianity; Rabban Gamliel does not appreciate being cited as Saint Paul’s teacher, and does his absolute best to draw a firm line in the sand between the two religions, up to and including banishing Christians from Jewish prayer spaces (see birkat haminim immediately hereafter in Brachot 29a:3).
Brandes’ fictional version indicates that Paul may have been Gamliel’s chevruta rather than his student, so that the famous rabble-rouser was let in under Yochanan ben Zakkai. Rabban Gamliel, upon becoming Nasi, instituted strict admission requirements and background checks so as not to admit any more off-the-rails subversives like his old chevruta. And yes, he hired shield-bearing doorwardens in case one slips in to start yet another riot on his watch. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, however, looks at the doorwardens and sees bad ubran policing in action: they are keeping good people from flourishing more than they are keeping bad people from troubling them.
תָּנָא אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם, סִלְּקוּהוּ לְשׁוֹמֵר הַפֶּתַח וְנִתְּנָה לָהֶם רְשׁוּת לַתַּלְמִידִים לִיכָּנֵס. שֶׁהָיָה רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל מַכְרִיז וְאוֹמֵר: כׇּל תַּלְמִיד שֶׁאֵין תּוֹכוֹ כְּבָרוֹ, לֹא יִכָּנֵס לְבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ. הַהוּא יוֹמָא אִתּוֹסְפוּ כַּמָּה סַפְסַלֵּי. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: פְּלִיגִי בַּהּ אַבָּא יוֹסֵף בֶּן דּוֹסְתַּאי וְרַבָּנַן. חַד אָמַר: אִתּוֹסְפוּ אַרְבַּע מְאָה סַפְסַלֵּי. וְחַד אָמַר: שְׁבַע מְאָה סַפְסַלֵּי.
הֲוָה קָא חָלְשָׁה דַּעְתֵּיהּ דְּרַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, אֲמַר: דִּלְמָא חַס וְשָׁלוֹם מָנַעְתִּי תּוֹרָה מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל. אַחְזוֹ לֵיהּ בְּחֶלְמֵיהּ חַצְבֵי חִיוָּרֵי דְּמַלְיִין קִטְמָא. וְלָא הִיא, הַהִיא לְיַתּוֹבֵי דַּעְתֵּיהּ, הוּא דְּאַחְזוֹ לֵיהּ. תָּנָא: עֵדֻיוֹת בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם נִשְׁנֵית. וְכׇל הֵיכָא דְּאָמְרִינַן ״בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם״, הַהוּא יוֹמָא הֲוָה. וְלֹא הָיְתָה הֲלָכָה שֶׁהָיְתָה תְּלוּיָה בְּבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ שֶׁלֹּא פֵּירְשׁוּהָ.
וְאַף רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל לֹא מָנַע עַצְמוֹ מִבֵּית הַמִּדְרָשׁ אֲפִילּוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת. דִּתְנַן: בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם בָּא יְהוּדָה גֵּר עַמּוֹנִי לִפְנֵיהֶם בְּבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ. אָמַר לָהֶם: מָה אֲנִי לָבֹא בַּקָּהָל? אָמַר לוֹ רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: אָסוּר אַתָּה לָבֹא בַּקָּהָל. אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: מוּתָּר אַתָּה לָבֹא בַּקָּהָל. אָמַר לוֹ רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: וַהֲלֹא כְּבָר נֶאֱמַר ״לֹא יָבֹא עַמּוֹנִי וּמוֹאָבִי בִּקְהַל ה׳״? אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: וְכִי עַמּוֹן וּמוֹאָב בִּמְקוֹמָן הֵן יוֹשְׁבִין? כְּבָר עָלָה סַנְחֵרִיב מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר וּבִלְבֵּל אֶת כׇּל הָאוּמּוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְאָסִיר גְּבֻלוֹת עַמִּים וַעֲתוּדוֹתֵיהֶם שׁוֹשֵׂתִי וְאוֹרִיד כַּבִּיר יוֹשְׁבִים״, וְכׇל דְּפָרֵישׁ — מֵרוּבָּא פָּרֵישׁ. אָמַר לוֹ רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: וַהֲלֹא כְּבָר נֶאֱמַר ״וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן אָשִׁיב אֶת שְׁבוּת בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן נְאֻם ה׳״, וּכְבָר שָׁבוּ! אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: וַהֲלֹא כְּבָר נֶאֱמַר ״וְשַׁבְתִּי אֶת שְׁבוּת עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל״, וַעֲדַיִין לֹא שָׁבוּ. מִיָּד הִתִּירוּהוּ לָבֹא בַּקָּהָל.
It was taught: On that day that they removed Rabban Gamliel from his position and appointed Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya in his place, they also struck down the admissions requirements, and they dismissed the guard at the door and permission was granted to the students to enter. Instead of Rabban Gamliel’s selective approach that asserted that the students must be screened before accepting them into the study hall, the new approach asserted that anyone who seeks to study should be given opportunity to do so. As Rabban Gamliel would proclaim and say: Any student whose insides are not like his outside, will not enter the study hall. The Gemara relates: On that day several benches were added to the study hall to accommodate the numerous students. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Abba Yosef ben Dostai and the Rabbis disputed this matter. One said: Four hundred benches were added to the study hall. And one said: Seven hundred benches were added to the study hall.
When he saw the tremendous growth in the number of students, Rabban Gamliel was disheartened. He said: Perhaps, Heaven forbid, I prevented Israel from engaging in Torah study. They showed him in his dream white jugs filled with ashes alluding to the fact that the additional students were worthless idlers. The Gemara assures us: That is not the case, but that dream was shown to him to ease his mind so that he would not feel too bad.
About that glorious day of unrestrained discourse and absolute pandemonium, it was taught: the controversial laws that were later collected in Masechet Eduyyot were taught that day, despite this information previously having been reserved for the Nasi's inner circle of judges. And everywhere in the Mishna or in a baraita that they say: On that day, it is referring to that day. There was no halakha whose ruling was pending in the study hall that they did not explain and arrive at a practical halakhic conclusion.
And even Rabban Gamliel did not avoid the study hall for even one moment, as he held no grudge against those who removed him from office and he participated in the halakhic discourse in the study hall as one of the Sages. As we learned in a mishna: On that day, Yehuda, the Ammonite convert, came before the students in the study hall and he said to them: What is my legal status in terms of entering into the congregation of Israel, i.e., to marry a Jewish woman? Rabban Gamliel said to him: You are forbidden to enter into the congregation. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: You are permitted to enter into the congregation. ...Rabbi Yehoshua said to Rabban Gamliel: Do Ammon and Moab reside in their place? Sennacherib already came and, through his policy of population transfer, scrambled all the nations and settled other nations in place of Ammon. ...Anything that parts from a group parts from the majority.... They immediately permitted him to enter the congregation.
It is important to make Rabban Gamliel and his Unity Party not the villains of this piece: to his credit, Gamliel ben Shimon ben Gamliel is a gracious loser, and when he sees how thoroughly the law accords with his longtime rival Rabbi Yehoshua--and when he sees with his own eyes that Rabbi Yehoshua was offered his job but clearly refused it--he humbly goes to beg forgiveness for his high-handed cruelty.
Well, at least he tries to be humble. Life in the drawing-room has left him without the skills to speak without offense in the working-class neighborhood where Rabbi Yehoshua lives. Thankfully, Rabban Gamliel can at least play politics when his attempted apology adds insult to injury.
אָמַר רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: הוֹאִיל וְהָכִי הֲוָה, אֵיזִיל וַאֲפַיְּיסֵיהּ לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. כִּי מְטָא לְבֵיתֵיהּ, חֲזִינְהוּ לְאַשְׁיָתָא דְבֵיתֵיהּ דְּמַשְׁחֲרָן. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִכּוֹתְלֵי בֵיתְךָ אַתָּה נִיכָּר שֶׁפֶּחָמִי אַתָּה. אָמַר לוֹ: אוֹי לוֹ לַדּוֹר שֶׁאַתָּה פַּרְנָסוֹ, שֶׁאִי אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ בְּצַעֲרָן שֶׁל תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים, בַּמֶּה הֵם מִתְפַּרְנְסִים וּבַמֶּה הֵם נִזּוֹנִים. אָמַר לוֹ: נַעֲנֵיתִי לְךָ מְחוֹל לִי. לָא אַשְׁגַּח בֵּיהּ: עֲשֵׂה בִּשְׁבִיל כְּבוֹד אַבָּא. פַּיֵּיס.
Rabban Gamliel said to himself: Since this is the situation, that the people are following Rabbi Yehoshua, apparently he was right. Therefore, it would be appropriate for me to go and appease Rabbi Yehoshua. When he reached Rabbi Yehoshua’s house, he saw that the walls of his house were black. Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua in wonderment: From the walls of your house it is apparent that you are a charcoal burner. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Woe unto a generation that you are its leader as you are unaware of the difficulties of Torah scholars, how they make a living and how they feed themselves. Rabban Gamliel said to him: I insulted you, forgive me. Rabbi Yehoshua paid him no attention. He asked him again: Do it in deference to my ancestor. He was appeased.
Yochi Brandes believes that Rabban Gamliel's plea for forgiveness does not allude to his own father, the former president, but to his great-grandfather, Hillel the Elder; the deposed prince has offered his offended colleague a deal he can scarcely refuse. While his high-handed ivory-tower attitude perpetually offends the plebian Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabban Gamliel promises the old sage, that if he is restored to his position, he will arrange for the permanent triumph of Beit Hillel in all matters of halacha. Rabbi Yehoshua, tempted by this vision, puts aside his personal feelings for the sake of this greater good and agrees to help Rabban Gamliel back to his high seat.
אֲמַרוּ: מַאן נֵיזִיל וְלֵימָא לְהוּ לְרַבָּנַן. אֲמַר לְהוּ הַהוּא כּוֹבֵס: אֲנָא אָזֵילְנָא. שְׁלַח לְהוּ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְבֵי מִדְרְשָׁא: מַאן דְּלָבֵישׁ מַדָּא — יִלְבַּשׁ מַדָּא, וּמַאן דְּלָא לָבֵישׁ מַדָּא יֵימַר לֵיהּ לְמַאן דְּלָבֵישׁ מַדָּא: שְׁלַח מַדָּךְ וַאֲנָא אֶלְבְּשֵׁיהּ?! אֲמַר לְהוּ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא לְרַבָּנַן: טְרוּקוּ גַּלֵּי דְּלָא לֵיתוּ עַבְדֵי דְרַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל וּלְצַעֲרוּ לְרַבָּנַן. אֲמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: מוּטָב דְּאֵיקוּם וְאֵיזִיל אֲנָא לְגַבַּיְיהוּ. אֲתָא טְרַף אַבָּבָא. אֲמַר לְהוּ: מַזֶּה בֶּן מַזֶּה יַזֶּה. וְשֶׁאֵינוֹ לֹא מַזֶּה וְלֹא בֶּן מַזֶּה יֹאמַר לְמַזֶּה בֶּן מַזֶּה מֵימֶיךָ מֵי מְעָרָה וְאֶפְרְךָ אֵפֶר מִקְלֶה. אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, נִתְפַּיַּיסְתָּ? כְּלוּם עָשִׂינוּ אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל כְּבוֹדְךָ, לְמָחָר אֲנִי וְאַתָּה נַשְׁכִּים לְפִתְחוֹ. אָמְרִי: הֵיכִי נַעֲבֵיד, נַעְבְּרֵיהּ — גְּמִירִי מַעֲלִין בַּקֹּדֶשׁ וְאֵין מוֹרִידִין. נִדְרוֹשׁ מָר חֲדָא שַׁבְּתָא וּמַר חֲדָא שַׁבְּתָא — אָתֵי לְקַנּאוֹיֵי. אֶלָּא: לִדְרוֹשׁ רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל תְּלָתָא שַׁבָּתֵי וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה חֲדָא שַׁבְּתָא. וְהַיְינוּ דְּאָמַר מָר שַׁבָּת שֶׁל מִי הָיְתָה — שֶׁל רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה הָיְתָה. וְאוֹתוֹ תַּלְמִיד רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַאי הֲוָה.
Now that Rabbi Yehoshua was at peace and had put the matter behind him, it was only natural that Rabban Gamliel would be restored to his position. They said: Who will go and inform the Sages? Apparently, they were not eager to carry out the mission that would undo the previous actions and remove Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya from his position as Nasi--exactly as the Nasi's wife had said they would! That particular launderer said to them: I will go.
Rabbi Yehoshua sent to to the beit midrash, so that as the washerman returned the cleaned clothes to their owners, he made a great show of trying to return the splendid robes of the Nasi to the absent Rabban Gamliel, saying: The one who always wears the uniform will continue to wear this uniform! Will the one who did not wear the uniform say to the one who wears the uniform, remove your uniform and I will wear it? Rabbi Akiva said to the Sages: Lock the gates so that Rabban Gamliel’s servants will not come and disturb the Sages.
When he heard what happened, Rabbi Yehoshua said: It is best if I go to them myself. He came and knocked on the door. He said to them in much the same language: One who sprinkles pure water on those who are ritually impure, son of one who sprinkles water shall continue to sprinkle water. And it is inappropriate that he who is neither one who sprinkles nor son of one who sprinkles will say to one who sprinkles son of one who sprinkles: Your water is cave water and not the running water required to purify one exposed to ritual impurity imparted by a corpse and your ashes are burnt ashes and not the ashes of a red heifer. Rabbi Akiva said to him: Rabbi Yehoshua, have you been appeased?!? Everything we did was to defend your honor! Early tomorrow you and I will go to Rabban Gamliel’s doorway and offer to restore him to his position as Nasi.
The question arose what to do with Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya? They said: What shall we do? Remove him from his position?!? We learned: One elevates to a higher level of sanctity and does not downgrade. Well then, let one Sage lecture one week and the other Sage one week, they will come to be jealous one of another. Rather, Rabban Gamliel will lecture three weeks and Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya will lecture as head of the yeshiva one week. That arrangement was adopted and that is the explanation of the exchange in tractate Ḥagiga: Whose week was it? It was the week of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya. (Later sources indicate that this system was also untenable, and in the end, Rabban Gamliel became the head of state, acting prince of Judaea, and liason to the Roman governor, while Elazar ben Azaria became Av Beit Din, head of the court and acting head of government.)
One final detail: That student who asked the original question that sparked this entire incident was Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai.
The reinstated Nasi soon makes good on his promise. The vote is cast and the results are spectacular: Jewish law hereafter will follow Beit Hillel, prescribing moderation in all things, peace at home and abroad, and a companionable, accessible model of humble rabbis who are not above their peers. The venerable Rabbi Yehoshua can celebrate a thrilling victory for his previously downtrodden political party of moderates. However, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, his most formidable opponent, suddenly finds himself a member of the losing side, his supporters won over by the irresistible personality of Rabbi Akiva.
The differences between Rabbi Eliezer's methods and Rabbi Yehoshua's methods now come to a head. Rabbi Eliezer knows what the right answer ought to be because he remembers learning it from a reliable master whose judgement ought not to be questioned. He is as strict as the law must require: he prefers to err on the side of intensity rather than risking being too lax. Rabbi Yehoshua believes one ought not to burden the nation of Israel with laws that are too burdensome for them to observe in safety and joy; when presented with an impossibly painful situation, he uses midrash to interpret the law so as to uphold the Torah while reducing the burden on as many people as possible. Rabbi Eliezer cannot accept how Rabban Gamliel's unity platform and Rabbi Yehoshua's drive for moderation and interpretation have forced the actual correct answer to the edges of the field. He is baffled and frustrated by the implication that halacha is susceptible to the laws of a popularity contest, a contest which, with his fierce temper and his noble attitude of distant worshipfulness, he is unlikely to win.
Yochi Brandes also notes these two great rivals' differing attitudes towards the supernatural. Rabbi Yehoshua, man of the people, believes that halacha should be moderated and developed to enhance the Jewish people's experience of love for God and Torah. Rabbi Eliezer, whose memory is legendary, believes that halacha represents divine truth and must be remembered from earlier sources.
What if no one alive can remember the true phrasing of the halacha? Rabbi Eliezer is also well versed in rabbinic magic: he intends to use his arcane knowledge to summon the power of prophecy, to divine what the truth must be by supernatural means. Rabbi Yehoshua, on the other hand, is also well versed in the arcane (Chagigah 14b:5-7), but deliberately avoids using his knowledge (Chagigah 15a:3). He believes that true prophecy, like Temple sacrifice, is most meaningful when left in our glorious past and that interpretation and midrash, like prayer and study, is the way forward for living, breathing Judaism. The nature of their disagreement is really about time: Rabbi Yehoshua believes that the voice of present-day Judaism has an equal say with the voice of the past.
The Oven of Akhnai
The irony here is that Rabbi Eliezer is bringing the moderate position here, allowing the oven to be kosher so that the cook can move on and bake the bread, while Rabbi Yehoshua supports the Sages in cries of, "Asur and pasul!" Unfortunately for Rabbi Eliezer, the Sages are united in their political attempts to establish Beit Hillel as ascendant in all matters, even when Shammai is both moderate and upheld by tradition. For his part, Rabbi Yehoshua formally objects to Rabbi Eliezer's methods--regardless of how pleasant his answer makes life for the Jewish people. Rabbi Yehoshua upholds a process by which any learned Jewish group can come to an appropriate and livable conclusion about halachic matters, whether or not they have access to a wonder-worker or merit the intervention of a Bat Kol.
תנן התם חתכו חוליות ונתן חול בין חוליא לחוליא ר"א מטהר וחכמים מטמאין וזה הוא תנור של עכנאי מאי עכנאי אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל שהקיפו דברים כעכנא זו וטמאוהו תנא באותו היום השיב רבי אליעזר כל תשובות שבעולם ולא קיבלו הימנו
* אמר להם אם הלכה כמותי חרוב זה יוכיח נעקר חרוב ממקומו מאה אמה ואמרי לה ארבע מאות אמה אמרו לו אין מביאין ראיה מן החרוב
* חזר ואמר להם אם הלכה כמותי אמת המים יוכיחו חזרו אמת המים לאחוריהם אמרו לו אין מביאין ראיה מאמת המים
* חזר ואמר להם אם הלכה כמותי כותלי בית המדרש יוכיחו הטו כותלי בית המדרש ליפול גער בהם רבי יהושע אמר להם אם תלמידי חכמים מנצחים זה את זה בהלכה אתם מה טיבכם לא נפלו מפני כבודו של רבי יהושע ולא זקפו מפני כבודו של ר"א
* ועדיין מטין ועומדין חזר ואמר להם אם הלכה כמותי מן השמים יוכיחו יצאתה בת קול ואמרה מה לכם אצל ר"א שהלכה כמותו בכ"מ עמד רבי יהושע על רגליו ואמר (דברים ל, יב) לא בשמים היא
מאי לא בשמים היא אמר רבי ירמיה שכבר נתנה תורה מהר סיני אין אנו משגיחין בבת קול שכבר כתבת בהר סיני בתורה (שמות כג, ב) אחרי רבים להטות אשכחיה רבי נתן לאליהו א"ל מאי עביד קוב"ה בההיא שעתא א"ל קא חייך ואמר נצחוני בני נצחוני בני
We learned in a mishna there (Kelim 5:10): If one cut an earthenware oven widthwise into segments, and placed sand between each and every segment, Rabbi Eliezer deems it ritually pure. Because of the sand, its legal status is not that of a complete vessel, and therefore it is not susceptible to ritual impurity. And the Rabbis deem it ritually impure, as it is functionally a complete oven. And this is known as the oven of akhnai. The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of akhnai, a snake, in this context? Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: It is characterized in that manner due to the fact that the Rabbis surrounded it with their statements like this snake, which often forms a coil when at rest, and deemed it impure.
The Sages taught: On that day, when they discussed this matter, Rabbi Eliezer answered all possible answers in the world to support his opinion, but the Rabbis did not accept his explanations from him.
* After failing to convince the Rabbis logically, Rabbi Eliezer said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, this carob tree will prove it. The carob tree was uprooted from its place one hundred cubits, and some say four hundred cubits. The Rabbis said to him: One does not cite halakhic proof from the carob tree.
* Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, the stream will prove it. The water in the stream turned backward and began flowing in the opposite direction. They said to him: One does not cite halakhic proof from a stream.
* Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, the walls of the study hall will prove it. The walls of the study hall leaned inward and began to fall, bringing the roof down upon the heads of the terrified students, scholars, and custodial staff alike. Rabbi Yehoshua scolded the walls and said to them: If Torah scholars are contending with each other in matters of halakha, what is the nature of your interruption? The Gemara relates: The walls did not fall because of the deference due Rabbi Yehoshua, but they did not straighten because of the deference due Rabbi Eliezer, and they still remain leaning to this very day.
* Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, Heaven will prove it. A Divine Voice emerged from Heaven and said: Why are you differing with Rabbi Eliezer, as the halakha is in accordance with his opinion in every place that he expresses an opinion? Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet to formally object and said: It is written: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12).
What is the relevance of the phrase “It is not in heaven” in this context? Rabbi Yirmeya says: Since the Torah was already given at Mount Sinai, we do not regard a Divine Voice, as You already wrote at Mount Sinai, in the Torah: “After a majority to incline” (Exodus 23:2). Since the majority of Rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion, the halakha is not ruled in accordance with his opinion.
Years after, Rabbi Natan encountered Elijah the prophet and said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do at that time, when Rabbi Yehoshua issued his declaration? Elijah said to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me; My children have triumphed over Me.
Beit Hillel Ascendant
אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים נֶחְלְקוּ בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵית הִלֵּל, הַלָּלוּ אוֹמְרִים: הֲלָכָה כְּמוֹתֵנוּ, וְהַלָּלוּ אוֹמְרִים: הֲלָכָה כְּמוֹתֵנוּ. יָצְאָה בַּת קוֹל וְאָמְרָה: אֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ דִּבְרֵי אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים הֵן, וַהֲלָכָה כְּבֵית הִלֵּל. וְכִי מֵאַחַר שֶׁאֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ דִּבְרֵי אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים, מִפְּנֵי מָה זָכוּ בֵּית הִלֵּל לִקְבּוֹעַ הֲלָכָה כְּמוֹתָן? מִפְּנֵי שֶׁנּוֹחִין וַעֲלוּבִין הָיוּ, וְשׁוֹנִין דִּבְרֵיהֶן וְדִבְרֵי בֵּית שַׁמַּאי, וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָּא שֶׁמַּקְדִּימִין דִּבְרֵי בֵּית שַׁמַּאי לְדִבְרֵיהֶן.
Rabbi Abba said that Shmuel said: For three years Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagreed. These said: The halakha is in accordance with our opinion, and these said: The halakha is in accordance with our opinion. Ultimately, a Divine Voice emerged and proclaimed: Both these and those are the words of the living God. However, the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel. The Gemara asks: Since both these and those are the words of the living God, why were Beit Hillel privileged to have the halakha established in accordance with their opinion? The reason is that they were agreeable and forbearing, showing restraint when affronted, and when they taught the halakha they would teach both their own statements and the statements of Beit Shammai. Moreover, when they formulated their teachings and cited a dispute, they prioritized the statements of Beit Shammai to their own statements, in deference to Beit Shammai.
תַּנְיָא, אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: בּוֹשַׁנִי מִדִּבְרֵיכֶם, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי! אֶפְשָׁר אִשָּׁה לָשָׁה בַּעֲרֵיבָה — אִשָּׁה וַעֲרֵיבָה טְמֵאִין שִׁבְעָה, וּבָצֵק טָהוֹר? לוֹגִין מָלֵא מַשְׁקִין — לוֹגִין טָמֵא טוּמְאַת שִׁבְעָה, וּמַשְׁקִין טְהוֹרִין?! נִטְפַּל לוֹ תַּלְמִיד אֶחָד מִתַּלְמִידֵי בֵּית שַׁמַּאי, אָמַר לוֹ: אוֹמַר לְךָ טַעְמָן שֶׁל בֵּית שַׁמַּאי. אָמַר לוֹ: אֱמוֹר. אָמַר לוֹ: כְּלִי טָמֵא — חוֹצֵץ אוֹ אֵינוֹ חוֹצֵץ? אָמַר לוֹ: אֵינוֹ חוֹצֵץ. כְּלִי שֶׁל עַם הָאָרֶץ — טָמֵא אוֹ טָהוֹר? אָמַר לוֹ: טָמֵא. וְאִם אַתָּה אוֹמֵר לוֹ ״טָמֵא״, כְּלוּם מַשְׁגִּיחַ עָלֶיךָ? וְלֹא עוֹד, אֶלָּא שֶׁאִם אַתָּה אוֹמֵר לוֹ ״טָמֵא״, אוֹמֵר לְךָ: ״שֶׁלִּי טָהוֹר וְשֶׁלְּךָ טָמֵא״. וְזֶהוּ טַעְמָן שֶׁל בֵּית שַׁמַּאי. מִיָּד הָלַךְ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְנִשְׁתַּטַּח עַל קִבְרֵי בֵּית שַׁמַּאי, אָמַר: נַעֲנֵיתִי לָכֶם עַצְמוֹת בֵּית שַׁמַּאי! וּמָה סְתוּמוֹת שֶׁלָּכֶם כָּךְ, מְפוֹרָשׁוֹת — עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה. אָמְרוּ: כׇּל יָמָיו הוּשְׁחֲרוּ שִׁינָּיו מִפְּנֵי תַּעֲנִיּוֹתָיו. קָתָנֵי מִיהַת ״לְךָ וָלוֹ״, אַלְמָא שָׁאֲלִינַן מִינַּיְיהוּ! כִּי שָׁיְילִינַן מִינַּיְיהוּ מַטְבְּלִינַן לְהוּ.
It is taught in a baraita with regard to this debate between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel: Rabbi Yehoshua said: I am ashamed of your words, Beit Shammai, for they are nonsensical. Is it possible that there should be a corpse on the first floor, with an earthenware vessel blocking the opening to the second story, and a woman is standing upstairs kneading dough in a metal bowl, and the woman and the bowl are impure for seven days owing to the impurity of the corpse, while the dough inside the trough is pure? Is it possible that there is a metal pitcher [login] full of liquid in the second story, and the pitcher should be impure with impurity of seven days, while the liquids remain pure?
One student from among the students of Beit Shammai approached him and said to him: I will tell you Beit Shammai’s reasoning. He said to him: Speak. He said to him: Does an impure vessel serve as a barrier to corpse contamination or does it not serve as a barrier? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: It does not serve as a barrier. The student asked further: And is a vessel of an am ha’aretz pure or impure? He said to him: Impure. The student responded: And if you tell him that his vessel is impure, will he pay attention to you at all? What is more, if you say to him that it is impure, he will say to you: On the contrary, my vessel is pure and yours is impure. And that is Beit Shammai’s reasoning: Food, drink, and earthenware vessels inside a sealed earthenware vessel remain pure, as, since they belong to an am ha’aretz, a ḥaver will not eat the food or borrow the earthenware vessel. Vessels of metal or similar materials may one day be borrowed by a ḥaver, however, and therefore Beit Shammai declared these to be impure.
Rabbi Yehoshua immediately went and prostrated himself on the graves of the great educators of Beit Shammai, and said: I humble myself before you, bones of Beit Shammai. If such clarity and wisdom is found in your rulings that you stated and left unexplained, all the more so must this be the case in your rulings when they were stated and explained. People said of Rabbi Yehoshua: Throughout his days his teeth darkened because of all his fasts that he undertook to atone for having spoken dismissively of Beit Shammai.
וְתַנְיָא: לְאַחַר פְּטִירָתוֹ שֶׁל רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, נִכְנַס רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְהָפֵר אֶת דְּבָרָיו. עָמַד רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן נוּרִי עַל רַגְלָיו וְאָמַר: חָזֵי אֲנָא דְּבָתַר רֵישָׁא גּוּפָא אָזֵיל. כׇּל יָמָיו שֶׁל רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל קָבַעְנוּ הֲלָכָה כְּמוֹתוֹ, עַכְשָׁיו אַתָּה מְבַקֵּשׁ לְבַטֵּל דְּבָרָיו?! יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, אֵין שׁוֹמְעִין לְךָ, שֶׁכְּבָר נִקְבְּעָה הֲלָכָה כְּרַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, וְלֹא הָיָה אָדָם שֶׁעִרְעֵר בַּדָּבָר כְּלוּם.
And it was taught in a related baraita: Following the death of Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Yehoshua entered the study hall to annul Rabban Gamliel’s statement with regard to fasts. Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri stood on his feet and said: As I see it, the "body" must follow the "head." All of Rabban Gamliel’s life we established the halakha in accordance with his opinion, and now you seek to annul his statement? Yehoshua, no one should listen to you, as the halakha has already been established in accordance with Rabban Gamliel. And there was no one who disputed this statement in any way.
Rabbi Yehoshua Takes His Leave
Unlike the fiction in As A Driven Leaf, where he sorrows to associated with a prospective ban on Greek philoshophy (Sotah 49b:8-13), Rabbi Yehoshua passes away peacefully and unremarkably, leaving no visible regrets and a mighty legacy untarnished behind him.
מִשֶּׁמֵּת רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בָּטְלָה הַחׇכְמָה. תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מִשֶּׁמֵּת רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר נִגְנַז סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה. מִשֶּׁמֵּת רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בָּטְלָה עֵצָה וּמַחְשָׁבָה, מִשֶּׁמֵּת רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא בָּטְלוּ זְרוֹעֵי תוֹרָה וְנִסְתַּתְּמוּ מַעְיְינוֹת הַחׇכְמָה.
A deliberately depressing mishna about the transient nature of normative Jewish practice taught that from the time when Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai died, wisdom ceased. The Sages taught: From the time when Rabbi Eliezer died, it was as if the Torah scroll had been interred, as he had memorized many secrets of the Torah. From the time when Rabbi Yehoshua died, council and deliberate thought ceased, as he had the sharpest mind in Israel. From the time when Rabbi Akiva died, the powerful arm of Torah, meaning the exposition of all the details of Torah scripture, ceased, and the fountains of wisdom were sealed.
(יא) רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, עַיִן הָרָע, וְיֵצֶר הָרָע, וְשִׂנְאַת הַבְּרִיּוֹת, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאָדָם מִן הָעוֹלָם:
Rabbi Joshua said: a begrudging eye, an evil inclination, and hatred for humanity put a person out of the world.