Yohanan ben Zakkai (; 1st century CE), sometimes abbreviated as for Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, was a tanna, an important

Jewish sage ''Hakham'' (or ''Chakam(i), Haham(i), Hacham(i), Hach''; ) is a term in Judaism meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He who says a wise th ...

during the late

Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

during the transformative post-destruction era. He was a primary contributor to the core text of

Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...

, the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

. His name is often preceded by the honorific title '' Rabban''. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time, and his escape from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem (which allowed him to continue teaching) may have been instrumental in Rabbinic Judaism's survival post-Temple. His tomb is located in

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

within the Maimonides burial compound. Yohanan was the first Jewish sage attributed the title of

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 t ...

in the Mishnah.

Life

The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

reports that, in the mid-first century, he was particularly active in opposing the interpretations of

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

(''Halakha'') by the

Sadducees The Sadducees (; ) were a sect of Jews active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to ...

and produced counter-arguments to their objections to the interpretations of the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

. So dedicated was he to opposing the Sadducean view of Jewish law that he prevented the Jewish

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious organisation. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many god ...

of his time, a Sadducee, from following the Sadducaic interpretation of the

Red Heifer The red heifer () was a reddish brown Cattle, cow sacrificed by Temple priests as a ritual purification, purification ritual in biblical times. Ritual in the Torah The red heifer offering is described in Book of Numbers, Numbers 19. The Tora ...

ritual. His home at this time was in Arraba, a village in the Galilee, where he spent eighteen years.''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'', ''Yochanan ben Zakai'' Although living among them, he found the attitude of Galileans to be objectionable, allegedly exclaiming that they hated the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

and would therefore "fall into the hands of robbers." During the outbreak of hostilities, he settled in Jerusalem.

Escape from Jerusalem (Gittin 56a)

During the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE in the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 CE), also known as the Great Jewish Revolt, the First Jewish Revolt, the War of Destruction, or the Jewish War, was the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. Fought in the prov ...

, he argued in favour of peace: according to the Talmud (''

Gittin Gittin (Hebrew: ) is a tractate of the Mishnah and the Talmud, and is part of the order of Nashim. The content of the tractate primarily deals with the legal provisions related to halakhic divorce, in particular, the laws relating to the ''Get ...

'' 56a), when he found the anger of the besieged populace to be intolerable, he arranged a secret escape from the city inside a coffin—helped by his nephew and

Zealot The Zealots were members of a Jewish political movement during the Second Temple period who sought to incite the people of Judaea to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Land of Israel by force of arms, most notably during the ...

leader Ben Batiach—so he could negotiate with

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

(who, at this time, was still just a military commander). Ben Zakkai correctly predicted that Vespasian would become Emperor and that the Temple would soon be destroyed. In return, Vespasian granted Yochanan three wishes: the salvation of

Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...

and its sages and the descendants of

Rabban Gamliel Gamaliel the Elder (; also spelled Gamliel; ''Rabban Gamlīʾēl hazZāqēn''; ''Gamaliēl ho Presbýteros''), or Rabban Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the early first century CE. He was the son of Simeon ben Hillel an ...

, who was of the

Davidic line The Davidic line refers to the descendants of David, who established the House of David ( ) in the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. In Judaism, the lineage is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible ...

, and a physician to treat Rabbi Zadok, who had fasted for 40 years to stave off the destruction of Jerusalem.

Yavne and afterwards

Upon the destruction of Jerusalem, Yochanan converted his school at

into the Jewish religious centre, insisting that certain privileges given by Jewish law uniquely to Jerusalem should be transferred to Yavne. His school functioned as a re-establishment of the

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

so that

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

could decide how to deal with the loss of the sacrificial altars of the

temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

and other pertinent questions. Referring to a passage in the

Book of Hosea The Book of Hosea () is collected as one of the Twelve Minor Prophets, twelve minor prophets of the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Tanakh, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament where it has fourteen chapters. According to the ...

("I desired mercy, and not sacrifice"), he helped persuade the Sanhedrin to—as the temple had been destroyed—replace

animal sacrifice Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spread of Chris ...

with prayer, a practice that remains the basis of Jewish worship. Eventually,

emerged from the council's conclusions. In his last years, he taught at Bror Hayil, near Yavne. His habit was to wear his

Tefillin Tefillin (Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ; Modern Israeli Hebrew, Modern Hebrew pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls o ...

(phylacteries) all day, both in summer and winter. (reprinted from 1880 edition) However, during the hot summer months, he only wore his arm phylactery (''shel yad''). His students were present at his deathbed and were requested by him, in his penultimate words according to the Talmudic record, to reduce their risk of ritual contamination conveyed by a corpse: More enigmatic were the Talmud's record of his last words, which seem to relate to

Jewish messianism The Messiah in Judaism () is a savior and liberator figure in Jewish eschatology who is believed to be the future redeemer of the Jews. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible a messiah is a king or High Pries ...

: According to the Talmud, Yochanan ben Zakkai lived 120 years. Upon his death, his students returned to Yavneh, and he was buried in the city of

; eleven centuries later,

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

was buried nearby. As leader of the Sanhedrin, he was succeeded by Gamliel II.

Yochanan's encounter with Vespasian

The following story is told in the Jewish classic '' Avoth deRabbi Nathan'' (version B) 4:5, about the war with Rome.

Enactments

Jewish tradition records Yohanan ben Zakkai as being extremely dedicated to religious study, claiming that ''no one ever found him engaged in anything but study''. He is considered to be someone who passed on the teachings of his predecessors; on the other hand, numerous homiletic and exegetical sayings are attributed to him''Jewish Encyclopedia'', "Johanan ben Zakkai" and he is known for establishing a number of edicts in the post-destruction era: # After the destruction of Jerusalem, the '' shofar'' shall be blown in '' beit din'' when '' Rosh HaShana'' falls on ''

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

'' (prior to the destruction, it was only blown in Jerusalem and its environs on ''Shabbat'') # After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Four Species shall be taken in the hand for the entire ''

Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...

'' (prior to the destruction, it was only taken for the entire holiday in Jerusalem and on the first of the holiday elsewhere) # After the destruction of Jerusalem, eating of '' chadash'' (new grain harvest) shall be prohibited for the entire Day of Waving or ''yom haneif'' (i.e. the day that the ''omer'' sacrifice was traditionally offered, on the sixteenth of

Nisan Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...

). Prior to the destruction, the new grain harvest could be eaten on the 16th day of the lunar month Nisan, immediately after the ''omer'' was offered in the Temple. # After the destruction of Jerusalem, witnesses for the

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

shall be accepted all day (prior to the destruction, witnesses were only accepted until the afternoon '' tamid'' offering) # After the destruction of Jerusalem, witnesses for the new moon shall only go to the place of assembly, and not follow the ''Nasi'' or "prince" (prior to the destruction, witnesses were only accepted at the location of the ''Nasi'' in Jerusalem) # ''

Kohanim Kohen (, ; , ، Arabic كاهن , Kahen) is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakhically required, to be of direct patriline ...

'' (those of the priestly caste) may not go up to bless the people while wearing footwear # After the destruction of Jerusalem, witnesses for the new moon may not violate the ''Shabbat'' except for the months of ''

'' and ''

Tishrei Tishrei () or Tishri (; ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year (wh ...

'' (prior to the destruction, witnesses were allowed to violate the Sabbath for all months) # After the destruction of Jerusalem, converts no longer separate monies for their conversion sacrifice (prior to the destruction, part of the conversion process was to bring a sacrifice in the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

) # The identity of the ninth edict is disputed: ## After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Second Tithe was permitted to be exchanged for money within a

day's journey A day's journey in pre-modern literature, including the Bible and ancient geographers and ethnographers such as Herodotus, is a measurement of distance. In the Bible, it is not as precisely defined as other Biblical measurements of distance; the ...

of Jerusalem (prior to the destruction, exchanges were only permitted for those living farther than a day's journey) ## After the destruction of Jerusalem, the red string associated with the ''chatas'' of ''

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

'' was sent with the ''ish iti'' (designee) to ''

Azazel In the Hebrew Bible, the name Azazel (; ''ʿĂzāʾzēl'') represents a desolate place where a scapegoat bearing the Jewish views on sin, sins of the Jews was sent during Yom Kippur. During the late Second Temple period (after the Development ...

'' (prior to the destruction, the red string was maintained on the premises of the Temple)

Quotes

If you are holding a sapling in your hand and someone tells you, 'Come quickly, the Messiah is here!', first finish planting the tree and then go to greet the Messiah.

If you have been studious in learning the Torah, do not take credit to yourself, since it is to this end that you were created.

Some of Rabbi Yohanan's comments were of an

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

nature. On one occasion he advises that mankind should seek to understand the infinity of God, by imagining the heavens being extended to unthinkable distances. He argued that

Job Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

's piety was not based on the love of God, but on the fear of Him. He was challenged to resolve several biblical curiosities by a Roman commander, who was familiar with the Torah, but whose name has been lost in confusion. Among the issues were the fact that the numbers in the

Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...

didn't add up to their totals, and the reasoning behind the ritual of the

red heifer The red heifer () was a reddish brown Cattle, cow sacrificed by Temple priests as a ritual purification, purification ritual in biblical times. Ritual in the Torah The red heifer offering is described in Book of Numbers, Numbers 19. The Tora ...

; on this latter question the answer he gave didn't satisfy his own students, so he decreed that the ritual was one that shouldn't be questioned.''Bemidbar Rabbah'' 19:8

Burial place

He is buried in HaRambam compound / complex in

/ Tveria. Other notable rabbis also buried in HaRambam compound / complex: * Shelah HaKadosh *

Eliezer ben Hurcanus Eliezer ben Hurcanus (or Hyrcanus) () was one of the most prominent Judean ''tannaitic'' Sages of 1st- and 2nd-century Judaism, a disciple of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, Avot of Rabbi Natan 14:5 and a colleague of Gamaliel II (whose sister, ...

Joshua ben Hananiah Joshua ben Hananiah ( ''Yəhōšūaʿ ben Ḥănanyā''; d. 131 CE), also known as Rabbi Yehoshua, was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Second Temple. He is the eighth-most-frequently mentioned sage in t ...

Notes

References

External links

Video Lecture
on Yohanan ben Zakkai by Dr. Henry Abramson
JOHANAN B. ZACCAI
Jewish Encyclopedia

Israel Guide

Orthodox Union
Was Yohanan ben Zakkai a Priest?
by Daniel R. Schwartz (translated from Hebrew at WholeStones.org) {{DEFAULTSORT:Yohanan ben Zakkai Mishnah rabbis 1st-century rabbis Pirkei Avot rabbis Sanhedrin Yavne