Joshua ben Hananiah
Encyclopedia
Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna
of the first half-century following the destruction
of the Temple
. He was of Levitical descent (Ma'as. Sh. v. 9), and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers (Arakhin
11b). His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas, relates (Yer. Yeb. 3a), she carried the child in his cradle into 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 Johanan b. Zakkai thus expressed himself concerning Joshua ben Hananiah: "Hail to thee who gave him birth" (Pirkei Avot ii. 8). According to another tradition (Ab. R. N. xiv.) Johanan b. Zakkai praised him in the words from Eccl. iv. 12: "And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." Perhaps he meant that in Joshua the three branches of traditional learning, Midrash
, Halakah, and Aggadah
, were united in a firm whole; or possibly he used the passage in the sense in which it was employed later (Eccl. R. iv. 14; B. B.
59a), to show that Joshua belonged to a family of scholars even to the third generation. He is the tenth most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.
and the Hagiographa (Yer. Hagigah
77b). It was also Eliezer and Joshua who rescued Johanan ben Zakkai from the besieged city and brought him into the camp of Vespasian
.
Joshua opposed the exaggerated asceticism with which many wished to show their grief, e.g., in going without meat and wine because 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 (Joshua describes this festival in Yer. Suk. 55b) had been discontinued, and the showbread as well as the two loaves of the feast of first-fruits could no longer be sacrificed (Tosef., Sotah, end; B. B.
60b). 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.
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 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, "they have poured water into a vessel full of oil, thus causing the costly oil to run to waste" (Yer. Shab. 3c; comp. Shab. 153b). 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 (Ab. ii. 11) he recommends temperance and the love of mankind as a security for individual happiness. An evil eye (grudging), evil inclination (passion), and hatred of mankind, he says, bring people out of the world. In the same spirit he answers the question put by Johanan 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 (Ab. ii. 11). Various anecdotes illustrate 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 (Gen. R. lxx., beginning; Eccl. R. i. 8; Kid. 31a).
(Sanh. 32b), where he followed the trade of a needler (Yer. Ber.
7d). This occupation did not in any degree diminish the respect paid to him as one of the influential members of the academy at Jabneh. After the death of Johanan b. Zakkai (c.90CE), he was the heartiest supporter of Gamaliel II
's efforts to bring about the predominance of the views of Hillel
's followers over those of Shammai
's, and thus to end 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 (R. H. 25a; Yer. R. H. 58b). Joshua's pliant disposition did not shield him from humiliation by Gamaliel a second time, and the wrong done to this highly esteemed scholar was the cause of Gamaliel's removal from office. He soon obtained Joshua's forgiveness, and this opened the way for his reinstatement; but he was now obliged to share his office with Eleazar b. Azariah, who had originally been appointed his successor (Ber.
28a).
Joshua esteemed Eleazar very highly, and on one occasion called out in his emphatic manner: "Hail to thee, Father Abraham, for Eleazar b. Azariah came forth from thy loins!" (Tosef., Sotah, vii.; Hagigah
3a; Yer. Hag., beginning). When it became necessary to present the case of the Palestinian Jews at Rome
, the two presidents, Gamaliel and Eleazar, went as their representatives, and Joshua b. Hananiah and Akiba 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 b. Hananiah to give proofs from the Bible
of the resurrection of the dead and of the foreknowledge of God (Sanh. 90b). In another, Joshua comes to the aid of Gamaliel when the latter is unable to answer the question of a "philosopher" (Gen. R. xx.). In one 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 (Hor. 10a).
After Gamaliel's death (comp. Mo'ed Katan
27a; Yer. M. K. 83a), the first place among the scholars fell to Joshua, since Eliezer b. Hyrcanus 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 (Eruv
in 41a). Joshua stood by the death-bed of his colleague Eliezer b. 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" (Mek., Yitro, Bachodesh, 10; Sifre
, Deut. 32; comp. Sanh. 101a). When, after Eliezer's death, the other law scholars, Eleazar b. Azariah, Tarfon
, and Akiba, contested some of his opinions, Joshua said to them: "One should not oppose a lion after he is dead" (Gittin 83a; Yer. Git. 50a). Eleazar, also, seems to have died some time before Joshua.
'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 Æsop's concerning the lion and the crane (Gen. R. lxiv., end). 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 (Tosef., 'Eduy. iii. 13; Zeb. 113a). 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 and 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.
(Pesiḳ. R. 21). 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 (Ḥul. 59b, 60a). Joshua also rebukes the emperor's daughter when she mocks at the God of the Jews (ib. 60a); in another place she is made to repent for having mocked Joshua's appearance (Ta'an. on Ned. 50b). The emperor's question concerning the odor of Sabbath
food is a mocking one (Shab. 119a). Once Joshua told the emperor that he would dream of the Parthians (Ber.
56a). At another time he excused his own non-appearance at a meeting by cleverly describing the infirmities of his old age (Shab. 152a). In one conversation, preserved by a later authority (Adolf Jellinek
, B. H. v. 132), Joshua defended the justice of God, which was doubted by the emperor. Once a dispute in pantomime took place in the emperor's palace between Joshua and a Judæo-Christian ("Min"), in which Joshua maintained that God's protective hand was still stretched over Israel (Hagigah
5b). In another conversation Joshua defended the honor of Israel against a heretic
, who had attacked it, by quoting from Micah
vii. 4 (Er.
101a).
(Moritz Güdemann
, Religionsgeschichtliche Studien, pp. 89, 136 et seq.). The historical basis for this remarkable tradition is found in Hadrian
's association with Joshua b. 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 Danaides, and it 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 (Lam. R. i. 1, s.v. "Rabbati"). In one of these the pupils of Johanan b. Zakkai make sport of an Athenian. That the tradition contains in parts polemics against Christianity is explained by the fact that Joshua b. Hananiah fought the heresy of the Judæo-Christians. The same spirit is manifested in the story concerning his nephew Hananiah (Eccl. R. i. 25). 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 Jer. xlix. 7: "If counsel has been taken away from the children [of God, i.e.,Israel], the wisdom of these [the enemy] has also perished" (Ḥag. 5b).
After his death Joshua's importance was extolled in the words: "Since Rabbi Joshua died, good counsel has ceased in Israel" (Baraita
, Sotah
, end). Not long after Joshua's death the thinkers were superseded by the men of action, and Bar Kokba, enthusiastically greeted by Joshua's most influential pupil, Akiba b. Joseph, raised the flag of rebellion against Rome
. That this step had not been taken earlier was due to Joshua's influence.
, who belonged to the school of Jabneh and was especially known as the author of haggadic 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 future world and the resurrection
, and to the interpretation of various Biblical passages.
The controversies between Joshua b. Hananiah and Eleazar of Modi'im are found in the tannaitic midrash
to Exodus (the Mekhilta
), and they form at the same time a continuous double commentary on the sections concerning the stay of the Israelites at Marah
(Ex. xv. 22-27), the miracle of the manna
(ib. xvi.), the fight with Amalek
(ib. xvii.), and the visit of Jethro
(ib. xviii.). In these controversies Joshua, as a rule, stands for the literal meaning of the words and the historical interpretation of the contents, putting emphasis on the meaning demanded by the context.
The Alexandrian Jews addressed twelve questions to Joshua (Niddah
69b). 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 (Gen. R. xvii., end). Some of these with his answers are:
53b; comp. Lam. R. i. 1, section "Rabbati," end). Joshua explains the end of verse 18 of Ps.
ix. to mean that there are even among the Gentiles pious people who will have a share in the life everlasting (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 2; comp. Sanh. 105a). "The Psalms
," he also said, "do not refer to the personal affairs of David
, but to the affairs of all Israel" (Pes. 117b). If a man learns a halakic 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
(Mek., Beshallaḥ, Wayassa', 2). Holidays are intended to be employed one-half for worldly enjoyment, one-half for study (Pes. 68b; Betzah 15b). From Ruth
ii. 19 it may be concluded that the poor person who receives does more for the giver than the giver does for the recipient (Lev. R. xxxiv.; Ruth R. ad loc.).
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
of the first half-century following the destruction
Siege of Jerusalem (70)
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was the decisive event of the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in...
of the Temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
. He was of Levitical descent (Ma'as. Sh. v. 9), and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers (Arakhin
Arakhin
Arakhin is the fifth tractate in Seder Kodashim .Only chapters 1–6 based on Leviticus 27:1–8, deals with the vows of donating one's prescribed value as part of the dedication to the Temple, as well as other gifts to bedek habayis, or the treasury of the Temple...
11b). His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas, relates (Yer. Yeb. 3a), she carried the child in his cradle into the synagogue, so that his ears might become accustomed to the sounds of the words of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
. It was probably with reference to his pious mother that Johanan b. Zakkai thus expressed himself concerning Joshua ben Hananiah: "Hail to thee who gave him birth" (Pirkei Avot ii. 8). According to another tradition (Ab. R. N. xiv.) Johanan b. Zakkai praised him in the words from Eccl. iv. 12: "And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." Perhaps he meant that in Joshua the three branches of traditional learning, Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
, Halakah, and Aggadah
Aggadah
Aggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...
, were united in a firm whole; or possibly he used the passage in the sense in which it was employed later (Eccl. R. iv. 14; B. B.
Bava Batra
Bava Batra is the third of the three tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of property. It is part of Judaism's oral law...
59a), to show that Joshua belonged to a family of scholars even to the third generation. He is the tenth most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.
Pupil of Yokhanan ben Zakkai
Joshua ben Hananiah was one of the five who formed the inner circle of Johanan's pupils (Ab. ii. 8). In enumerating them tradition places him at the head together with Eliezer b. Hyrcanus. Tradition also frequently mentions these two together as upholders of opposite views. They were both present at the celebration of the circumcision of Elisha b. Abuyah (Acher), in Jerusalem, and diverted themselves by connecting passages in the Pentateuch with others in the ProphetsNevi'im
Nevi'im is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh. It falls between the Torah and Ketuvim .Nevi'im is traditionally divided into two parts:...
and the Hagiographa (Yer. Hagigah
Hagigah
Tractate Hagigah deals with the Three Pilgrimage Festivals and the pilgrimage offering that men were supposed to bring in Jerusalem. At the middle of the second chapter, the Talmud discusses topics of ritual purity.The tractate contain three chapters, spanning 27 pages in the Vilna edition,...
77b). It was also Eliezer and Joshua who rescued Johanan ben Zakkai from the besieged city and brought him into the camp of Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
.
An Opponent of Asceticism
After the destruction of the TempleTemple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
Joshua opposed the exaggerated asceticism with which many wished to show their grief, e.g., in going without meat and wine because 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 (Joshua describes this festival in Yer. Suk. 55b) had been discontinued, and the showbread as well as the two loaves of the feast of first-fruits could no longer be sacrificed (Tosef., Sotah, end; B. B.
Bava Batra
Bava Batra is the third of the three tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of property. It is part of Judaism's oral law...
60b). 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.
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 the school of Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
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, "they have poured water into a vessel full of oil, thus causing the costly oil to run to waste" (Yer. Shab. 3c; comp. Shab. 153b). Joshua saw the greatest danger to the community in the sickly offshoots of piety. The following he calls "enemies of general prosperity":
- the foolishly pious (pious at the wrong time)
- sly sinners
- the woman who shows an overpious bearing
- the hypocrites who pretend to be saints (SotahSotahSotah deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery as described and prescribed in the Book of Numbers in...
iii. 4, 21b; Yer. Sotah 21b).
In his motto of life (Ab. ii. 11) he recommends temperance and the love of mankind as a security for individual happiness. An evil eye (grudging), evil inclination (passion), and hatred of mankind, he says, bring people out of the world. In the same spirit he answers the question put by Johanan 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 (Ab. ii. 11). Various anecdotes illustrate the opposition between Joshua, who represented the teachings of Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
, 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 (Gen. R. lxx., beginning; Eccl. R. i. 8; Kid. 31a).
Livelihood
Joshua's permanent residence was in Beki'in, a place between Jabneh and LyddaLod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
(Sanh. 32b), where he followed the trade of a needler (Yer. Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
7d). This occupation did not in any degree diminish the respect paid to him as one of the influential members of the academy at Jabneh. After the death of Johanan b. Zakkai (c.90CE), he was the heartiest supporter of Gamaliel II
Gamaliel II
Rabban Gamaliel II was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as Nasi after the fall of the second temple, which occurred in 70 CE. Gamliel was appointed nasi approximately 10 years later. Gamaliel II was the son of Shimon ben Gamaliel, one of Jerusalem's foremost men in the war against the...
's efforts to bring about the predominance of the views of Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
's followers over those of Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
's, and thus to end 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 (R. H. 25a; Yer. R. H. 58b). Joshua's pliant disposition did not shield him from humiliation by Gamaliel a second time, and the wrong done to this highly esteemed scholar was the cause of Gamaliel's removal from office. He soon obtained Joshua's forgiveness, and this opened the way for his reinstatement; but he was now obliged to share his office with Eleazar b. Azariah, who had originally been appointed his successor (Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
28a).
Joshua esteemed Eleazar very highly, and on one occasion called out in his emphatic manner: "Hail to thee, Father Abraham, for Eleazar b. Azariah came forth from thy loins!" (Tosef., Sotah, vii.; Hagigah
Hagigah
Tractate Hagigah deals with the Three Pilgrimage Festivals and the pilgrimage offering that men were supposed to bring in Jerusalem. At the middle of the second chapter, the Talmud discusses topics of ritual purity.The tractate contain three chapters, spanning 27 pages in the Vilna edition,...
3a; Yer. Hag., beginning). When it became necessary to present the case of the Palestinian Jews at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, the two presidents, Gamaliel and Eleazar, went as their representatives, and Joshua b. Hananiah and Akiba 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 b. Hananiah to give proofs from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
of the resurrection of the dead and of the foreknowledge of God (Sanh. 90b). In another, Joshua comes to the aid of Gamaliel when the latter is unable to answer the question of a "philosopher" (Gen. R. xx.). In one 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 (Hor. 10a).
After Gamaliel's death (comp. Mo'ed Katan
Mo'ed Katan
Mo'ed Katan or Mo'edh Qatan is the eleventh tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and the Talmud. It is concerned with the laws of the days between the first and last days of Passover and Sukkot . These days are also known as "Chol HaMoed" days...
27a; Yer. M. K. 83a), the first place among the scholars fell to Joshua, since Eliezer b. Hyrcanus was under a ban
Cherem
Cherem , is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning, and is similar to excommunication in the Catholic Church...
. Joshua wished to do away with a regulation of Gamaliel's, but met with opposition on the part of the council (Eruv
Eruv (disambiguation)
Eruv , in Judaism, may refer to:* An eruv chatzeirot, a religious-legal enclosure which permits carrying in certain areas on Shabbat.** List of eruvin* "Eruvin", a tractate of the Moed...
in 41a). Joshua stood by the death-bed of his colleague Eliezer b. 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" (Mek., Yitro, Bachodesh, 10; Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Deut. 32; comp. Sanh. 101a). When, after Eliezer's death, the other law scholars, Eleazar b. Azariah, Tarfon
Tarfon
Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon, , a Kohen, a member of the third generation of the Mishnah sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Bethar .-Origins and character:...
, and Akiba, contested some of his opinions, Joshua said to them: "One should not oppose a lion after he is dead" (Gittin 83a; Yer. Git. 50a). Eleazar, also, seems to have died some time before Joshua.
Under Hadrian
In the beginning of HadrianHadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
'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
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
by a speech in which he skilfully made use of a fable of Æsop's concerning the lion and the crane (Gen. R. lxiv., end). 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 (Tosef., 'Eduy. iii. 13; Zeb. 113a). Joshua lived to witness Hadrian's visit to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, and he followed the emperor to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
(130). The conversations between Joshua and Hadrian, as they have been preserved in the Babylonian Talmud and the Palestinian Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
, 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
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
calls him.
Relations with the Emperor
In Palestinian sources Joshua answers various questions of the emperor: how God created the world (Gen. R. x.), concerning the angels (ib. lxxviii., beginning; Lam. R. iii. 21), as to the resurrection of the body (Gen. R. xxviii.; Eccl. R. xii. 5), and with reference to the DecalogueTen Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
(Pesiḳ. R. 21). 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 (Ḥul. 59b, 60a). Joshua also rebukes the emperor's daughter when she mocks at the God of the Jews (ib. 60a); in another place she is made to repent for having mocked Joshua's appearance (Ta'an. on Ned. 50b). The emperor's question concerning the odor of Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
food is a mocking one (Shab. 119a). Once Joshua told the emperor that he would dream of the Parthians (Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
56a). At another time he excused his own non-appearance at a meeting by cleverly describing the infirmities of his old age (Shab. 152a). In one conversation, preserved by a later authority (Adolf Jellinek
Adolf Jellinek
----Adolf Jellinek |Drslavice]], nearby Uherské Hradiště, Moravia - December 28, 1893, Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholar...
, B. H. v. 132), Joshua defended the justice of God, which was doubted by the emperor. Once a dispute in pantomime took place in the emperor's palace between Joshua and a Judæo-Christian ("Min"), in which Joshua maintained that God's protective hand was still stretched over Israel (Hagigah
Hagigah
Tractate Hagigah deals with the Three Pilgrimage Festivals and the pilgrimage offering that men were supposed to bring in Jerusalem. At the middle of the second chapter, the Talmud discusses topics of ritual purity.The tractate contain three chapters, spanning 27 pages in the Vilna edition,...
5b). In another conversation Joshua defended the honor of Israel against a heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
, who had attacked it, by quoting from Micah
Book of Micah
The Book of Micah is one of fifteen prophetic books in the Hebrew bible/Old Testament, and the sixth of the twelve minor prophets. It records the sayings of Mikayahu, meaning "Who is like Yahweh?", an 8th century prophet from the village of Moresheth in Judah...
vii. 4 (Er.
Moed
Moed is the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the Oral Torah of the Jewish people . Of the six orders of the Mishna, Moed is the third shortest. The order of Moed consists of 12 tractates:# Shabbat: or Shabbath deals with the 39 prohibitions of "work" on the Shabbat...
101a).
Opposes Judæo-Christians
Some of the questions addressed to Joshua by the Athenian wise men, found in a long story in the Babylonian Talmud (Bek. 8b et seq.), contain polemical expressions concerning ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
(Moritz Güdemann
Moritz Güdemann
- Life :He was educated at Breslau , and took his rabbinical diploma at the Jewish Theological Seminary of that city. In the latter year he was called to the rabbinate of Magdeburg; in 1866 he went to Vienna as preacher, where he became rabbi in 1868, and chief rabbi in 1890.- Works :Güdemann...
, Religionsgeschichtliche Studien, pp. 89, 136 et seq.). The historical basis for this remarkable tradition is found in Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
's association with Joshua b. Hananiah, in Joshua's visit to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, and in his intercourse with Athenian scholars and philosophers. Its conclusion is an echo of the myth of the Danaides, and it 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 (Lam. R. i. 1, s.v. "Rabbati"). In one of these the pupils of Johanan b. Zakkai make sport of an Athenian. That the tradition contains in parts polemics against Christianity is explained by the fact that Joshua b. Hananiah fought the heresy of the Judæo-Christians. The same spirit is manifested in the story concerning his nephew Hananiah (Eccl. R. i. 25). 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 Jer. xlix. 7: "If counsel has been taken away from the children [of God, i.e.,Israel], the wisdom of these [the enemy] has also perished" (Ḥag. 5b).
After his death Joshua's importance was extolled in the words: "Since Rabbi Joshua died, good counsel has ceased in Israel" (Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
, Sotah
Sotah
Sotah deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery as described and prescribed in the Book of Numbers in...
, end). Not long after Joshua's death the thinkers were superseded by the men of action, and Bar Kokba, enthusiastically greeted by Joshua's most influential pupil, Akiba b. Joseph, raised the flag of rebellion against Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. That this step had not been taken earlier was due to Joshua's influence.
His Exegesis
In the haggadic tradition Joshua b. Hananiah's exegetical controversies with two of his most prominent contemporaries occupy an important place. These two are his colleague Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, who is frequently mentioned in the Halakah also as holding an opposite opinion, and Eleazar of Modi'imEleazar of Modi'im
Eleazar of Modi'im was a Jewish scholar of the second tannaitic generation , disciple of Johanan ben Zakkai , and contemporary of Joshua ben Hananiah and Eliezer ben Hyrcanus . He was an expert haggadist, and frequently discussed exegetical topics with his distinguished contemporaries...
, who belonged to the school of Jabneh and was especially known as the author of haggadic expositions of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. The controversies between Eliezer and Joshua refer to cosmology, to eschatology, comprising views on the period as well as on the future world and the resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
, and to the interpretation of various Biblical passages.
The controversies between Joshua b. Hananiah and Eleazar of Modi'im are found in the tannaitic midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
to Exodus (the Mekhilta
Mekhilta
This article refers to the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. There is a separate article on the Mekhilta de-Rabbi ShimonMekhilta or Mekilta is a halakic midrash to the Book of Exodus...
), and they form at the same time a continuous double commentary on the sections concerning the stay of the Israelites at Marah
Marah (Bible)
Marah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus.The liberated Israelites set out on their journey in the desert, somewhere in the Sinai Peninsula...
(Ex. xv. 22-27), the miracle of the manna
Manna
Manna or Manna wa Salwa , sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is the name of an edible substance that God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert according to the Bible.It was said to be sweet to the taste, like honey....
(ib. xvi.), the fight with Amalek
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....
(ib. xvii.), and the visit of Jethro
Jethro
In the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible, Jethro |Shu-ayb]]) is Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite shepherd and priest of Midian. He is also revered as a prophet in his own right in the Druze religion, and considered an ancestor of the Druze.-In Exodus:...
(ib. xviii.). In these controversies Joshua, as a rule, stands for the literal meaning of the words and the historical interpretation of the contents, putting emphasis on the meaning demanded by the context.
The Alexandrian Jews addressed twelve questions to Joshua (Niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
69b). They fall into four groups:
- three halakic
- three haggadic
- three foolishly ignorant questions (a sort of parody on the questions of halakic casuistryCasuistryIn applied ethics, casuistry is case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning...
) - three questions taken from practical life.
Eleven questions also were addressed to him concerning the special position of woman in physical, spiritual, social, and religious matters (Gen. R. xvii., end). Some of these with his answers are:
- "Why is a man easy, a woman difficult, to persuade?"
-
- "Man was created out of earth, which easily dissolves in water; woman was created from bone, which is not affected by water."
- "Why does a man have his head uncovered while a woman has hers covered?"
- "Whoever has committed a sin is ashamed before people; thus woman is ashamed on account of Eve's sin, and consequently covers her head."
- "Why do women take precedence in funeral processions?"
- "Because they have brought death into the world."
- "Man was created out of earth, which easily dissolves in water; woman was created from bone, which is not affected by water."
Sayings
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 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" (Er.Moed
Moed is the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the Oral Torah of the Jewish people . Of the six orders of the Mishna, Moed is the third shortest. The order of Moed consists of 12 tractates:# Shabbat: or Shabbath deals with the 39 prohibitions of "work" on the Shabbat...
53b; comp. Lam. R. i. 1, section "Rabbati," end). Joshua explains the end of verse 18 of Ps.
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
ix. to mean that there are even among the Gentiles pious people who will have a share in the life everlasting (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 2; comp. Sanh. 105a). "The Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
," he also said, "do not refer to the personal affairs of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, but to the affairs of all Israel" (Pes. 117b). If a man learns a halakic 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
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
(Mek., Beshallaḥ, Wayassa', 2). Holidays are intended to be employed one-half for worldly enjoyment, one-half for study (Pes. 68b; Betzah 15b). From Ruth
Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament. In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is included in the third division, or the Writings . In the Christian canon the Book of Ruth is placed between Judges and 1 Samuel...
ii. 19 it may be concluded that the poor person who receives does more for the giver than the giver does for the recipient (Lev. R. xxxiv.; Ruth R. ad loc.).
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Frankel, Darke;
- Heinrich GraetzHeinrich GraetzHeinrich Graetz was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective....
; - Weiss, Dor;
- BrüllBrüllBrüll is a surname, and may refer to:*Ignaz Brüll, composer*Nehemiah Brüll, rabbi and scholarSee also* Brull...
, Einleitung; - Joseph DerenbourgJoseph DerenbourgJoseph Derenbourg, or Joseph Naftali Derenburg was a Franco-German orientalist.He was born in Mainz , as a youngest son of the lawyer Jacob Derenburg....
, Histoire; - Bacher, Agada der Tann. 2d ed., 123-187, 196-210;
- A. Lewysohn, Toledot R. Yehoshua' b. Hananiah, in Keller's Bikkurim, i. 26-35.