Simeon ben Judah ha-Nasi also called Rabban b'Rabbi was a 3rd-century Tanna in the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

and the younger son of

Judah ha-Nasi Judah ha-Nasi (, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ‎''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince or Judah the President) or Judah I, known simply as Rebbi or Rabbi, was a second-century rabbi (a tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editor of ...

, who appointed Simeon as

hakham ''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 ...

of his

yeshivah A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The studyin ...

Beit She'arim (Roman-era Jewish village) Beit She'arim (; / Bet Sharei), also Besara (),Rogers (2021), p. 534 was a Jews, Jewish village located in the southwestern hills of the Lower Galilee, during the Roman Empire, Roman period, from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. At on ...

Biography

Judah ha-Nasi had always intended that Simeon only become the hakham of his yeshivah, while Simeon's elder brother

Gamaliel 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 a ...

was to be Judah's successor as Nasi. 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 ...

states that Simeon transmitted traditions to illustrious contemporary scholars such as Ḥiyya the Great with whom he learned

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

and

Bar Kappara Bar Kappara () was a Jewish scholar of the late second and early third century CE (i.e., during the period between the tannaim and amoraim). He was active in Caesarea Maritima, the capital of the Roman province of Syria Palaestina, from around 18 ...

, with whom he learned

halakic ''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 (''mitzv ...

midrashim ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

on Leviticus. Neither Hiyya or Bar Kappara recognized Simeon as their teacher and refused to honour him as such, which apparently upset Simeon. When his father was on his deathbed, he appointed Simeon as the hakham (similar to

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

) of his yeshivah in Beit She'arim (Roman-era Jewish village), previously stating that Simeon was "the light of Israel".

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 ...

traditionally claimed 37 generations between him and Simeon, although, this has remained unproven.

Teachings

Simeon introduced several explanations in the Talmud, which he claimed to have been passed on from his father. The Talmud states that he did not approve of the fact that his father and grandfather,

Simeon ben Gamaliel II Simeon (or Shimon) ben Gamaliel II (Hebrew: ) was a Tanna of the third generation and president of the Great Sanhedrin. He was the son of Gamaliel II and father of Judah I (Yehuda HaNasi). Biography Simeon was a youth in Betar when the Bar ...

cited sayings of

Rabbi Meir Rabbi Meir () was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was one of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139–163), and a disciple of Rabbi Akiva. He is the second most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah and is mentioned ...

without mentioning his name. One of his more famous teachings is about the later chapters of Re'eh, which states a man will be rewarded for not drinking the blood of an

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 ...

. In

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 ...

Makkot Makkot () is a tractate of the Mishnah and Talmud. It is the fifth volume of the order of ''Nezikin''. Makkot deals primarily with laws of the beth din ('' halakhic'' courts) and the punishments which they may administer and may be regarded as a ...

3:15, Simeon explains that because one is rewarded for resisting an unnatural urge, one is rewarded even more so for resisting a natural urge such as robbery or unnatural fornication.

References

{{Amoraim Mishnah rabbis 3rd-century rabbis