Shmuel ha-Katan (literally ''Samuel the Small'', or ''Samuel the Lesser'') was a

Babylonian Jew The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, kn ...

considered a great early

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 ...

. He was one of the second generation of

Tannaim ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים "repeaters", "teachers", singular ''tanna'' , borrowed from Aramaic) were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also refe ...

who served under the patriarch

Gamliel II Rabban Gamaliel II (also spelled Gamliel; ; before –) was a rabbi from the second generation of tannaim. He was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as ''nasi'' after the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE. He was the son of Shimon ben Gam ...

Yavneh Yavne () is a city in the 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 Jabneh), later the village of ...

during the last two decades of the 1st century CE. He is supposed to have established some of the standard prayers of the Jewish liturgy, the ''siddur''. He wrote the '' Birkat HaMinim'' benediction, the 19th blessing in the silent prayer said three times daily, the

Amidah The ''Amidah'' (, ''Tefilat HaAmidah'', 'The Standing Prayer'), also called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' ( 'eighteen'), is the central prayer of Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the ''Amidah'' during each of the three services prayed on week ...

. This prayer condemns heretics, most likely the

Jewish Christians Jewish Christians were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Roman Judea during the late Second Temple period, under the Herodian tetrarchy (1st century AD). These Jews believed that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah and t ...

. He is said to have said, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls".

References

External links

Jeffrey M. Cohen, "Shmuel HaKatan and the political background to Avot 4:19"
originally in ''Judaism'', Spring, 1995 Mishnah rabbis 1st-century rabbis {{MEast-rabbi-stub