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65-569: He was a descendant of a wealthy priestly family in Upper Galilee. His year of birth was 90 CE. He was captured by the Romans as a young boy, but redeemed by R' Joshua ben Hananiah . R' Nehunya ben HaKanah became his teacher, and he remained a close colleague of Rabbi Joshua . He is likely the grandson of the high priest of the same name . He lived in Kfar Aziz , south of Hebron . Some suppose that he

130-402: A man learns a halakhic sentence in the morning and two sentences in the evening, and he is busy the whole day at his trade, it will be accounted to him as though he had fulfilled the whole Torah . Holidays are intended to be employed half for worldly enjoyment, half for study. From Ruth 2:19 it may be concluded that the poor person who receives does more for the giver than the giver does for

195-576: A reputation for greatness in aggadah . Yishmael laid the foundation for the halakhic midrash on Exodus , the Mekhilta ; and a considerable portion of the similar midrash, the Sifre on Numbers , appears also to have originated with him or in his school, known as "Bei R. Ishmael". Regarding the question of whether future punishment will be limited to the spirit or to the body, or whether either one in fact merits punishment (since neither can sin when separated from

260-455: A sentence of death, or even a fine, to a crime or misdemeanor on the strength of a mere inference , however logical , where no such punishment is clearly stated in Scripture or to draw a rule from a law itself based on an inference. His rules were universally adopted by his successors, tannaim , as well as amoraim , although occasionally he himself was forced to deviate from them. He had

325-693: Is Rabbi Yehoshua is buried there and he is Tana, and the people were mistaken and called him Hosea" Other notable rabbis also buried in HaRambam compound / complex: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Singer, Isidore ; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Joshua b. Hananiah" . The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Aggadah Aggadah ( Hebrew : אַגָּדָה , romanized :  Aggāḏā , or הַגָּדָה Haggāḏā ; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic : אֲגַדְתָּא , romanized:  Aggāḏṯā ; 'tales', 'fairytale', 'lore')

390-456: Is considered the more logical of the two. Indeed, Yishmael established the principles of the logical method by which laws may be deduced from laws and important decisions founded on the plain phraseology of the Scriptures. Like Akiva, he opened up a wide field for halakhic induction , but, unlike Akiva, he required more than a mere jot or a letter as a basis for making important rulings. Yishmael

455-768: Is devoid of understanding, it is the reader" ( Shnei Luchos HaBris , introduction). See also the Maharal's approach . The Aggadah is today recorded in the Midrash and the Talmud . In the Midrash, the aggadic and halakhic material are compiled as two distinct collections: Many of the Torah commentaries , as well as the Targumim , interpret the Torah text in the light of Aggadic statements, particularly those in

520-768: Is found in the Apocrypha , the Pseudepigrapha , the works of Josephus and Philo , and the remaining Judæo-Hellenistic literature; but aggadic exegesis reached its highest development in the great epoch of the Mishnaic-Talmudic period , between 100 and 550 CE. The Aggadah of the Amoraim (sages of the Talmud) is the continuation of that of the Tannaim (sages of the Mishna). The final edition of

585-475: Is made to repent for having mocked Joshua's appearance. The emperor's question concerning the odor of Sabbath food is a mocking one. Once, Joshua told the emperor that he would dream of the Parthians . At another time, he excused his own non-appearance at a meeting by cleverly describing the infirmities of his old age. In one conversation, preserved by a later authority, Joshua defended the justice of God, which

650-478: Is supposed to demonstrate the superiority of the "wise men of the Jews" over the "elders of Athens". Embodied in this tradition are the stories in which the wit of Athens is conquered by the cleverness of the men of Jerusalem . In one of these, the pupils of Yohanan ben Zakkai make sport of an Athenian. That the tradition contains in parts polemics against Christianity is explained by the fact that Joshua ben Hananiah fought

715-514: Is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism , particularly the Talmud and Midrash . In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres, from business to medicine. The Hebrew word haggadah (הַגָּדָה) is derived from the Hebrew root נגד, meaning "declare, make known, expound", also known from

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780-662: The Athenian wise men, found in a long story in the Babylonian Talmud, contain polemical expressions concerning Christianity . The historical basis for this remarkable tradition is found in Hadrian's association with Joshua ben Hananiah, in Joshua's visit to Athens , and in his intercourse with Athenian scholars and philosophers . Its conclusion is an echo of the myth of the Danaïdes , and it

845-737: The Babylonian Talmud is also presented separately in Ein Yaakov , a compilation of the Aggadah together with commentaries. Well-known works interpreting the Aggadot in the Talmud include: The Aggadah has been preserved in a series of different works, which, like all works of traditional literature, have come to their present form through previous collections and revisions. Their original forms existed long before they were reduced to writing. The first traces of

910-460: The Mekhilta on Exodus , and they form at the same time a continuous double commentary on the sections concerning the stay of the Israelites at Marah , the miracle of the manna , the fight with Amalek , and the visit of Jethro . In these controversies Joshua, as a rule, stands for the naturalistic, literal meaning of the words and the historical interpretation of the contents, putting emphasis on

975-581: The Torah with others in the Prophets and the Hagiographa . It was also Eliezer and Joshua who rescued Yohanan ben Zakkai from the besieged city and brought him into the camp of Vespasian . After the death of Yohanan ben Zakkai c. 80 CE, Joshua was the heartiest supporter of Gamaliel II 's efforts to bring about the predominance of the views of Hillel the Elder 's followers over those of Shammai 's, and thus to end

1040-437: The Aggadah as containing a hidden, allegorical dimension, in addition to its overt, literal sense. In general, where a literal interpretation contradicts rationality, the rabbis seek an allegorical explanation: "We are told to use our common sense to decide whether an aggada is to be taken literally or not" (Carmell, 2005). Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746), discusses this two-tiered, literal-allegorical mode of transmission of

1105-666: The Aggadah in his Discourse on the Haggadot . He explains that the Oral Law, in fact, comprises two components: the legal component ( חלק המצוות ‎), discussing the mitzvot and halakha ; and "the secret" component ( חלק הסודות ‎), discussing the deeper teachings. The Aggadah, along with the Kabbalah , falls under the latter. The rabbis of the Mishnaic era ( c. 10 to c.  220 CE) believed that it would be dangerous to record

1170-428: The Hebrew root משך or נטה). According to the latter etymology, aggadah may be seen as "the part of the Torah which draws man towards its teachings", or the teachings which strengthen one's religious experience and spiritual connections, in addition to explaining texts. (See similar re Masorah – in the sense of "tradition" – at Masoretic Text § Etymology .) The Aggadah is part of Judaism 's Oral Torah ,

1235-484: The Midrash, and hence contain much material on Aggadah interpretation. Throughout the Talmud, aggadic and halakhic material are interwoven—legal material comprises around 90%. (Tractate Avoth , which has no gemara , deals exclusively with non-halakhic material, though it is not regarded as aggadic in that it focuses largely on character development.) The Talmudic Aggadah, generally, convey the "deeper teachings"—though in concealed mode, as discussed. The aggadic material in

1300-502: The Mishnah, which was of such signal importance for the Halakah, is of less significance for the Aggadah, which, in form as well as in content, shows the same characteristics in both periods. It is important to emphasize the fundamental difference in plan between the midrashim forming a running commentary (מאמרים ביאוריים) to the Scripture text, and the homiletic midrashim (מאמרים לימודיים). When

1365-468: The Palestinian Midrash , have been greatly modified and exaggerated by tradition, but they nevertheless present in general a just picture of the intercourse between the witty Jewish scholar and the active, inquisitive emperor, the "curiositatum omnium explorator", as Tertullian calls him. In Palestinian sources Joshua answers various questions of the emperor: how God created the world, concerning

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1430-464: The Roman sway. Even under the conditions then existing, he recommended early marriage. He said, "The Scripture tells us, 'Thou shalt teach them [the things thou hast seen at Horeb ] to thy sons and to thy sons' sons;' and how may one live to teach his sons' sons unless one marries early?" Yishmael gradually developed a system of halakhic exegesis which, while running parallel with that of Rabbi Akiva ,

1495-434: The aid of Gamaliel when the latter is unable to answer the question of a "philosopher". In tractate Horayot , in an anecdote concerning a sea voyage undertaken by Gamaliel and Joshua, the astronomical knowledge of the latter is put to use. He is said to have calculated that a comet would appear in the course of the voyage. After Gamaliel's death, the first place among the scholars fell to Joshua, since Eliezer ben Hyrcanus

1560-407: The altar on which they had sacrificed animals and poured libations of wine had been destroyed. He represented to them that to be consistent they ought to eat no figs or grapes, since no more first-fruits were offered, and that they ought even to refrain from bread and water, since the festival of drawing water ( nisukh hammayim ) had been discontinued, and the showbread as well as the two loaves of

1625-627: The angels, as to the resurrection of the body, and with reference to the Decalogue . In the Babylonian Talmud, three conversations are related, which resemble that on the Decalogue, in that Joshua silences the emperor's mockery of the Jewish conception of God by proving to him God's incomparable greatness and majesty. Joshua also rebukes the emperor's daughter when she mocks at the God of the Jews; in another place she

1690-485: The black-haired [the young]; and meet every man with a friendly countenance". What he taught he practised. Even toward strangers, he acted considerately. When a non-Jew greeted him, he answered kindly, "Your reward has been predicted"; when another abused him, he repeated coolly, "Your reward has been predicted." This apparent inconsistency, he explained to his puzzled disciples by quoting Genesis 27:29 : "Cursed be one who curses you, and blessed be one who blesses you". He

1755-455: The burial of Rabbi Yehoshua in the ancient Jewish cemetery in Safed : "In the state of Safed , 1922 there is a Jewish cemetery with one house inside it, and a high circular dome building in the middle of its roof like a kind of a cave, and in the north of that house there is a small hole open to one cave, and in that cave the world says that Hosea ben Bari is buried there, and it is not, although it

1820-453: The children [of God, i.e. Israel], the wisdom of these [the enemy] has also perished". After his death Joshua's importance was extolled in the words: "Since Rabbi Joshua died, good counsel has ceased in Israel." Not long after Joshua's death the thinkers were superseded by the men of action, and Simon bar Kokhba , enthusiastically greeted by Joshua's most influential pupil, Rabbi Akiva , raised

1885-410: The common Hebrew verb להגיד. The majority scholarly opinion is that the Hebrew word aggadah (אַגָּדָה) and corresponding Aramaic aggadta (אֲגַדְתָּא) are variants of haggadah based on a common linguistic shift from haphalah to aphalah forms. However, a minority of scholars believe that these words derive from a separate Aramaic root נגד meaning "draw, pull, spread, stretch" (corresponding to

1950-448: The deeper teachings in an explicit, mishnah-like, medium. Rather, they would be conveyed in a "concealed mode" and via "paradoxes". (Due to their value, these teachings should not become accessible to those "of bad character"; and due to their depth they should not be made available to those "not schooled in the ways of analysis".) This mode of transmission nevertheless depended on consistent rules and principles such that those "equipped with

2015-409: The discord which had so long existed between the schools. But he was the very one whom Gamaliel humiliated on a certain occasion when the authority of the president was in question. Joshua's pliant disposition did not shield him from humiliation by Gamaliel a second time, and the wrong done to Yehoshua was the cause of Gamaliel's removal from office. He soon obtained Joshua's forgiveness, and this opened

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2080-610: The feast of first-fruits could no longer be sacrificed. With such arguments Joshua supported the efforts of his teacher to make the grief at the loss of the Temple, which until then had been the center of religious life, less bitter. One time, when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai was walking in Jerusalem with Rebbi Yehoshua, they arrived at where the Temple in Jerusalem now stood in ruins. "Woe to us" cried Rabbi Yehoshua, "for this house where atonement

2145-404: The flag of rebellion against Rome . That this step had not been taken earlier was due to Joshua's influence. In the beginning of Hadrian 's rule, Joshua appears as a leader of the Jewish people. When the permission to rebuild the Temple was again refused, he turned the excited people from thoughts of revolt against Rome by a speech in which he skilfully made use of a fable of Aesop concerning

2210-637: The fruit. When the king came, noticing that some fruit had disappeared, he inquired of them which was the thief. Vehemently asserting his innocence, each pointed to the defect which made it impossible for him to have committed the theft. But the king guessed the truth, and, placing the lame man on the shoulders of the other, punished them together as if the two formed one complete body. Thus, added Ishmael, will it be hereafter: soul and body will be reunited and punished together. Joshua ben Hananiah Joshua ben Hananiah ( Hebrew : יהושע בן חנניה Yəhōšuaʿ ben Ḥánanyāh ; d. 131 CE), also known as Rabbi Yehoshua ,

2275-543: The heresy of the Judeo-Christians. The same spirit is manifested in the story concerning his nephew Hananiah . Joshua ben Hananiah's exegetical controversies with two of his most prominent contemporaries occupy an important place in the aggadic tradition. These two are his colleague Eliezer ben Hurcanus , who is frequently also mentioned in the Halakha as holding an opposite opinion, and Eleazar of Modi'im , who belonged to

2340-470: The keys" would be able to unlock their meaning; to others they would appear as non-rational or fantastic. In line with the above, Samuel ibn Naghrillah (993–1056), in his "Introduction to the Talmud", states that "Aggadah comprises any comment occurring in the Talmud on any topic which is not a commandment (i.e. which is not halachic ) and one should derive from it only that which is reasonable." As regards this, Maimonides (1138–1204), in his preface to

2405-415: The lion and the crane. About the same time, Joshua by his eloquence prevented the whole area of the Temple from being pronounced unclean because one human bone had been found in it. Joshua lived to witness Hadrian's visit to Palestine , and he followed the emperor to Alexandria (130). The conversations between Joshua and Hadrian, as they have been preserved in the Babylonian Talmud ( Hullin 59b) and

2470-410: The love of mankind as a security for individual happiness. An evil eye (grudging), evil inclination (passion), and hatred of mankind, he says, remove people from the world. In the same spirit he answers the question put by Yohanan ben Zakkai to his pupils as to the best standard of conduct. He declares that one should seek association with a good companion and avoid a bad one. Various anecdotes illustrate

2535-542: The meaning demanded by the context. The Alexandrian Jews addressed twelve questions to Joshua. They fall into four groups: Eleven questions also were addressed to him concerning the special position of woman in physical, spiritual, social, and religious matters. Some of these with his answers are: After the destruction of the Second Temple , Joshua opposed the exaggerated asceticism with which many wished to show their grief, e.g., in going without meat and wine because

2600-574: The midrashic exegesis are found in the Bible itself; while in the time of the Soferim the development of the Midrash Aggadah received a mighty impetus, and the foundations were laid for public services which were soon to offer the chief medium for the cultivation of Bible exegesis. Abtalion and Shemaiah are the first to bear the title darshan , and it was probably by no mere chance that their pupil Hillel

2665-566: The only safe guide. To consistently carry out his views in this direction, Ishmael formalized a set of 13 hermeneutic rules by which halakha was derived from the Torah . As a basis for these rules he took the seven rules of Hillel , and on them built up his own system, which he elaborated and strengthened by illustrating them with examples taken from the Scriptures. Even these rules, he would not permit to apply to important questions, such as capital cases in which no express Scriptural warrant for punishment existed; he would not consent to attach

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2730-533: The opposition between Joshua, who represented the teachings of Hillel , and his colleague Eliezer, who represented the teachings of Shammai, much in the same way as the opposition between Hillel and Shammai is depicted elsewhere. Joshua ben Hananiah was regarded by posterity as a man always ready with an answer, and as the victorious representative of Jewish wit and wisdom. This is shown in the accounts of his conversations with heathens and in other narratives. He himself tells of three encounters in which he had to yield

2795-499: The other law scholars, Eleazar ben Azariah , Tarfon , and Akiva , contested some of his opinions, Joshua said to them: "One should not oppose a lion after he is dead". Eleazar, also, seems to have died some time before Joshua. It is related that when Joshua ben Hananiah was about to die, the scholars standing round his bed mourned, saying: "How shall we maintain ourselves against the unbelievers?" Joshua comforted them with words from Jeremiah 49:7: "If counsel has been taken away from

2860-471: The other), Ishmael draws the following parallel: A king, owning a beautiful orchard of luscious fruit, and not knowing whom to trust in it, appointed two invalids—one lame, and the other blind. The lame one, however, tempted by the precious fruit, suggested to his blind companion that he ascend a tree and pluck some; but the latter pointed to his sightless eyes. At last the blind man raised his lame companion on his shoulders, and thus enabled him to pluck some of

2925-464: The palm to the wit of a woman and a child. He introduces the story in these words: "No one ever overcame me except a woman, a boy, and a maid". Joshua explains the end of Psalms 9:18 to mean that there are even among the Gentiles pious people who will have a share in the life everlasting. "The Psalms ", he also said, "do not refer to the personal affairs of David , but to the affairs of all Israel." If

2990-458: The recipient. The evil eye and the evil inclination and hatred of one's fellow man put a man out of this world. More than what the Good Man of the house does for the poor, the poor man does for the Good Man of the house. There is no House of Study without its novellae. Rabbi Chaim Vital (circa 1570) mentions for the first time in his book " Shaar HaGilgulim ", in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua,

3055-510: The respect paid to him as one of the influential members of the academy at Yavne. Joshua ben Hananiah was one of the five who formed the inner circle of Yohanan's pupils. In enumerating them, tradition places him at the head together with Eliezer ben Hurcanus . Tradition also frequently mentions these two together as upholders of opposite views. They were both present at the celebration of the circumcision of Elisha ben Abuyah (Acher), in Jerusalem, and diverted themselves by connecting passages in

3120-551: The scholars undertook to edit, revise, and collect into individual midrashim the immense array of haggadot, they followed the method employed in the collections and revisions of the halakhot and the halakhic discussions. The form which suggested itself was to arrange in textual sequence the exegetical interpretations of the Biblical text as taught in the schools, or the occasional interpretations introduced into public discourses, etc., and which were in any way connected with Scripture. Since

3185-491: The school of Shammai shortly before the destruction of the sanctuary: "On that day they overstepped the boundary." As he declared in a dispute on this subject with his colleague Eliezer ben Hurcanus, "they have poured water into a vessel full of oil, thus causing the costly oil to run to waste". Joshua saw the greatest danger to the community in the sickly offshoots of piety. The following he calls "enemies of general prosperity": In his motto of life he recommends temperance and

3250-456: The school of Yavne and was especially known as the author of aggadic expositions of the Bible . The controversies between Eliezer and Joshua refer to cosmology, to eschatology, comprising views on the period as well as on the world to come and the resurrection , and to the interpretation of various Biblical passages. The controversies between Joshua ben Hananiah and Eleazar of Modi'im are found in

3315-446: The synagogue, so that his ears might become accustomed to the sounds of the words of the Torah . It was probably with reference to his pious mother that Yohanan ben Zakkai thus expressed himself concerning Joshua ben Hananiah: "Hail to thee who gave him birth". According to another tradition Yohanan ben Zakkai praised him in the words of Ecclesiastes (4:12), "And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." Perhaps he meant that in Joshua

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3380-469: The tenth chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin ( Perek Chelek ), describes three possible approaches to the interpretation of the Aggadah: Maimonides' approach is also widely held amongst the non-rationalistic, mystical streams of Judaism—thus, for example, Isaiah Horowitz ( c.  1555 -1630) holds that "none of these sometimes mind-boggling 'stories' are devoid of profound meaning; if anyone

3445-491: The three branches of traditional learning, Midrash , Halakha , and Aggadah , were united in a firm whole; or possibly he used the passage in the sense in which it was employed later, to show that Joshua belonged to a family of scholars even to the third generation. Joshua's permanent residence was in Peki'in, a place between Yavne and Lydda , where he followed the trade of a tailor . This occupation did not in any degree diminish

3510-535: The traditions providing the authoritative interpretation of the Written Torah . In this context, the widely-held view in rabbinic literature is that the Aggadah is in fact a medium for the transmission of fundamental teachings (Homiletic Sayings— מאמרים לימודיים ‎) or for explanations of verses in the Hebrew Bible ( Exegetic Sayings— מאמרים ביאוריים ‎). Rabbinic thought, therefore, understands much of

3575-478: The two presidents, Gamaliel and Eleazar, went as their representatives, and Joshua ben Hananiah and Akiva accompanied them. This journey of the "elders" to Rome, and their stay in the Imperial City, furnished material for many narratives. In one of these the Romans call on Joshua ben Hananiah to give proofs from the Bible of the resurrection of the dead and of the foreknowledge of God. In another, Joshua comes to

3640-469: The way for his reinstatement; but he was now obliged to share his office with Eleazar ben Azariah , who had originally been appointed his successor. Joshua esteemed Eleazar very highly, and on one occasion called out in his emphatic manner: "Hail to thee, Father Abraham, for Eleazar ben Azariah came forth from thy loins!" When it became necessary to present the case of the Palestinian Jews at Rome ,

3705-460: The work of the editor was often merely that of compilation, the existing midrashim show in many passages the character of the sources from which they were taken. This was the genesis of the midrashim which are in the nature of running haggadic commentaries to single books of the Bible, as Bereshit Rabbah, Eikah Rabbati, the midrashim to the other Megillot, etc. See Midrash for more details. Ein Yaakov

3770-519: Was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Second Temple . He is the seventh-most-frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah . He was of Levitical descent, and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers. His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa ben Harkinas , relates, she carried the child in his cradle into

3835-498: Was among the martyrs of Betar . The more generally received opinion, however, is that one of the martyrs was a namesake (Rabbi Ishmael's death is mentioned in Nedarim 9:10 ). According to tradition, his burial place is at Parod in the Galilee. Yishmael's teachings were calculated to promote peace and goodwill among all: "Be indulgent with the hoary head;" he would say, "and be kind to

3900-403: Was doubted by the emperor. Once a dispute in pantomime took place in the emperor's palace between Joshua and a Judeo-Christian ("Min"), in which Joshua maintained that God's protective hand was still stretched over Israel. In another conversation Joshua defended the honor of Israel against a heretic , who had attacked it, by quoting from Micah 7:4. Some of the questions addressed to Joshua by

3965-489: Was fatherly to the indigent, particularly to poor and plain maidens, whom he clothed attractively and provided with means, so that they might obtain husbands. One Friday night, while absorbed in the study of the Bible , he inadvertently turned the wick of a lamp; and he vowed that when the Temple was rebuilt, he would offer there an expiatory sacrifice . Yishmael opposed the refusal of the ultra-patriotic to beget children under

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4030-417: Was made for Israel's sins now lies in ruins!" Answered Rabban Yochanan, "We have another, equally important source of atonement, the practice of gemilut hasadim (loving kindness), as it is stated 'I desire loving kindness and not sacrifice.' His opposition to asceticism, however, was due also to his mild and temperate nature, which caused him to say in regard to the severe regulations which had been adopted by

4095-464: Was of opinion that the Torah was conveyed in the language of man, and that therefore a seemingly superfluous word or syllable cannot be used as a basis for new deductions. In discussing a hypothetical case with Akiva, he once exclaimed, "Wilt thou indeed decree death by fire on the strength of a single letter?" He considered the plain sense of the Scriptural text, irrespective of its verbal figures, to be

4160-558: Was the first to lay down hermeneutic rules for the interpretation of the Midrash ; he may have been indebted to his teachers for the tendency toward aggadic interpretation. These two scholars are the first whose sayings are recorded in the aggadah . The new method of derush (Biblical interpretation) introduced by Abtalion and Shemaiah seems to have evoked opposition among the Pharisees. Much Aggadah, often mixed with foreign elements,

4225-436: Was under a ban . Joshua wished to do away with a regulation of Gamaliel's, but met with opposition on the part of the council. Joshua stood by the death-bed of his colleague Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and called to him: "O master, thou art of more value to Israel than God's gift of the rain; since the rain gives life in this world only, whereas thou givest life both in this world and in the world to come". When, after Eliezer's death,

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