Johanan ben Torta ( he, יוחנן בן תורתא, read as ''Yochanan ben Torta'') was a
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
of the early 2nd century (third generation of
tannaim
''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...
).
He was one of the main opponents of the
Bar Kokhba revolt:
:
Shimon bar Yochai
Shimon bar Yochai ( Zoharic Aramaic: שמעון בר יוחאי, ''Shim'on bar Yoḥai'') or Shimon ben Yochai (Mishnaic Hebrew: שמעון בן יוחאי, ''Shim'on ben Yoḥai''), also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century ''tannaiti ...
recounts: Rabbi Akiva would elucidate, "A star has came forth out of Jacob"
s'
ar Kozba' has came forth out of Jacob'. When Akiva would see 'Bar Kokhba', he would say: 'This is the King Messiah'.
nd thenR. Johanan ben Torta would tell him: "Akiva, Grass shall grow from your cheeks and yet the son of David shall not appear."
Name
His name translates to "Johanan, son of the cow", and he is associated with the story of the "cow which kept
Shabbat", in which a Jewish-owned cow was accustomed not to work on Shabbat (see
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
20:9). Upon being sold to a non-Jew, the cow refused to work on Shabbat, until the non-Jew complained about the defective animal he was sold. The Jew instructed the cow to work on Shabbat since it was no longer Jewish-owned, and the cow began to work. The non-Jew was so impressed by this that he decided to convert to Judaism. In different versions of the story, Johanan ben Torta was either the Jew who sold the cow, or the non-Jew who converted.
The Cow That Kept Shabbat
/ref>
References
Mishnah rabbis
2nd-century rabbis
{{MEast-rabbi-stub