See Rabbi Yochanan (disambiguation)

Rabbi Yochanan (disambiguation)

Yochanan is a Jewish given name which may refer to:* Yochanan bar Nafcha , a rabbi in the early era of the Talmud* Yochanan ben Nuri, tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries* Yochanan Afek , Israeli chess player...

 for more rabbis by this name.

Rabbi Yochanan (Biblical Hebrew transliteration: Yoḥanan bar Nafḥa); (also known as Rabbi Yochanan bar Nafcha "Rabbi Yochanan son [of the] blacksmith," Hebrew: יוחנן בר נפחא)
(died c. 279) was a rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 in the early era of the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

. He was born in Tzippori

Tzippori

Tzippori , also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya is located in the central Galilee region, north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel...

 in the Land of Israel

Land of Israel

The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

. His father, a blacksmith, died prior to his birth, and his mother died soon after; he was raised by his grandfather in Tzippori

Tzippori

Tzippori , also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya is located in the central Galilee region, north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel...

.

Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi

Judah haNasi

Judah the Prince, or Judah I, also known as Rebbi or Rabbeinu HaKadosh , was a 2nd-century CE rabbi and chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah. He was a key leader of the Jewish community during the Roman occupation of Judea . He was of the Davidic line, the royal line of King David, hence the...

 took the boy under his wing and taught him Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

. Due to the disparity in ages, though — Yochanan was only fifteen years old when Rabbi Yehuda died — Yochanan was not one of Rabbi Yehuda's prime students; rather, he studied more under Rabbi Yehuda's students. He studied Torah diligently all his life, even selling what he had inherited from his parents in order to be able to devote his time to study; after that was spent, he lived a life of poverty.

When the time came to start teaching Torah, Rabbi Yochanan decided to move from Tzippori to Tiberias, so as not to show disrespect to great rabbis in Tzippori who did not have their own centers of Torah study. He was considered, however, the greatest rabbi in the Land of Israel

Land of Israel

The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

, and was even esteemed in the other center of Torah Jewry, Babylonia

Babylonia

Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...

 — so much so that after the deaths of Rav

Abba Arika

Abba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...

 and Shmuel in Babylonia, Rabbi Yochanan was considered by Babylonian Jews as the greatest rabbi of the generation. He started a school in Tiberias, and let anybody in if they wanted to learn, a controversial move at the time. He laid the foundations for the Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud). He sites many traditions relating to the destruction of the Second Temple

Second Temple

The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...

.

His colleague, Simeon ben Lakish, was also his brother-in-law. He was the first person to disagree with some of the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

 and want it changed. He was a very independent man and a creative thinker.

Rabbi Yochanan's method in deciding halakha

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 was to establish broad rules that apply in many cases; for example, he held that the halakha always follows a s'tam mishna (an undisputed anonymous

Anonymity

Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...

 mishna), and he had rules for which tanna

Tannaim

The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...

("Mishnah teacher") to follow in cases of dispute.

He is believed to have never left Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

 in all his life, a rare feat for rabbis in those days, who frequently visited Babylonia

Babylonia

Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...

. Rabbi Yochanan was known for being fat and beautiful and reportedly lived more than one hundred years. A Talmudic story about him relates that R. Yochanan was accustomed to go and sit at the gates of the bathing place. He said: "When the daughters of Israel come up from bathing they look at me and they have children as handsome as I am."

Eleazar ben Pedat

Eleazar ben Pedat

Eleazar ben Pedat was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, in the Land of Israel, of the 4th generation . He was his father's pupil and the assistant lecturer of R. Assi...

succeeded R' Yochanan as head of the Tiberias school.