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The Tannaim (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: , singular , Tanna) were the Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
nic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah
Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years. It came after the period of the Zugot
Zugot

Zugot ??????????)}}) refers to the period during the time of the Second Temple , in which the spiritual leadership of the Jewish people was in the hands of five successive generations of zugot of religious teachers....
 ("pairs"), and was immediately followed by the period of the Amora
Amora

Amora , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel....
im.

The root tanna is the Talmudic Aramaic
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic is the form of Aramaic language#Middle Aramaic employed by Jewish writers in Babylonia between the 4th century and the 11th century CE....
 equivalent for the Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 root shanah , which also is the root-word of Mishnah.






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The Tannaim (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: , singular , Tanna) were the Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
nic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah
Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years. It came after the period of the Zugot
Zugot

Zugot ??????????)}}) refers to the period during the time of the Second Temple , in which the spiritual leadership of the Jewish people was in the hands of five successive generations of zugot of religious teachers....
 ("pairs"), and was immediately followed by the period of the Amora
Amora

Amora , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel....
im.

The root tanna is the Talmudic Aramaic
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic is the form of Aramaic language#Middle Aramaic employed by Jewish writers in Babylonia between the 4th century and the 11th century CE....
 equivalent for the Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 root shanah , which also is the root-word of Mishnah. The verb shanah literally means "to repeat [what one was taught]" and is used to mean "to learn".

The Mishnaic period is commonly divided up into five periods according to generations. There are approximately 120 known Tannaim.

The Tannaim lived in several areas of the Land of Israel
Land of Israel

For other uses, see Israel The Land of Israel is the region which, according to the Hebrew Bible, was promised by God to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob, Abraham's grandson....
. The spiritual center of Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
 at that time was Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
, but after the destruction of the city and the Second Temple
Second Temple

The Second Temple was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem which stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE. During this time, it was the center of Judaism worship, which focused on the sacrifices known as the korbanot....
, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai
Yochanan ben Zakai

Yochanan ben Zakai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Judaism, the Mishnah....
 and his students founded a new religious center in Yavne
Council of Jamnia

The Council of Jamnia or Council of Yavne is a hypothetical 1st century council at which it is postulated the Development of the Jewish Bible canon was defined....
. Other places of Judaic learning were founded by his students in Lod
Lod

Lod is a mixed Arab-Jewish city about 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2007, its population was 67,000....
 and in Bnei Brak
Beneberak

Mentioned as one of the cities in the portion of the Tribe of Dan , Beneberak is famous in the Talmud as the seat of Rabbi Akiva's court, and in the Passover Haggadah as the site of the all-night Seder of Rabbi Akiva and his distinguished colleagues....
.

Many of the Tannaim worked as laborers (e.g., charcoal burners, cobblers) in addition to their positions as teachers and legislators. They were also leaders of the people and negotiators with the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.

The origin of the Tannaim


The Tannaim operated under the occupation of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. During this time, the Kohanim
Kohen

A kohen is a Jew who is a direct male descendant of the Bible Aaron, brother of Moses, with a separate status in Judaism. Another term for the descendants of Aaron are the Aaronites or Aaronids....
 (priests) of the Temple
Second Temple

The Second Temple was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem which stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE. During this time, it was the center of Judaism worship, which focused on the sacrifices known as the korbanot....
 became increasingly corrupt and were seen by the Jewish people as collaborators with the Romans, whose mismanagement of Iudaea province
Iudaea Province

Iudaea was a Roman province that extended over the former region of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel. It was named after the tetrarchy of Judea of which it was an expansion, the latter name deriving from the Kingdom of Judah of the 6th century BCE....
 (composed of Samaria
Samaria

Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for the mountainous region in northern Israel roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank....
, Idumea and Judea
Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
 proper) led to riots, revolts and general resentment. Throughout much of the period, the office of the Kohen Gadol
Kohen Gadol

Kohen Gadol or Kohen ha-Gadol is the title of wiktionary:High Priest of early Israelite religion and of Classical Age Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem....
 (High Priest) was rented out to the highest bidder, and the priests themselves extorted as much as they could from the pilgrims who came to sacrifice at the Temple.

The conflict between the high priesthood and the people led to the split between the Sadducees
Sadducees

The Sadducees were members of a Jewish sect and were rivals of the Pharisees , founded in the 2nd century BC. They ceased to exist sometime after the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem in 70AD....
 and the Pharisees
Pharisees

The word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew language ?????? perushim from ???? parush, meaning "separated" . The Pharisees were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era ....
. The elitist
Elitism

Elitism is the belief or attitude that those individuals who are considered members of the elite—a select group of people with outstanding personal abilities, intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes—are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most...
 Sadducees (who generally controlled the high priesthood) were supported by the Hasmonean
Hasmonean

The Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel , an independent Jewish state. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BCE....
 royal family and later by the Romans. The Pharisees were a more egalitarian sect; they accepted students from all the tribes
Israelite

According to the Tanakh, the Israelites were the descendants of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. They were divided into twelve tribes, each descended from one of twelve sons or grandsons of Jacob....
, not only the Levite
Levite

In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the tribes of Israel of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe who received cities but no tribal land "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their possession"....
s, and they also taught laws
Oral Torah

A term used to denote the legal and interpretative traditions which were transmitted Speech, and which were not written in the Torah. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the oral Torah, oral Law, or oral tradition was given by God orally to Moses in conjunction with the written Torah ....
 in addition to those set forth in the Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
. These laws make up the Mishnah
Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
, whose compilation marked the end of the period of the Tannaim.

Until the days 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 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.Shammai was the most eminent contemporary and the Halakha opponent of Hillel the Elder, and is almost invariably mentioned along with him....
 (the last generation of the Zugot
Zugot

Zugot ??????????)}}) refers to the period during the time of the Second Temple , in which the spiritual leadership of the Jewish people was in the hands of five successive generations of zugot of religious teachers....
), there were few disagreements among Rabbinic scholars. After this period, though, the "House of Hillel
House of Hillel

The House of Hillel , also known as the Academy of Hillel, founded by the famed Hillel the Elder, is a school of Jewish law and thought that thrived in first century Jerusalem....
" and the "House of Shammai
House of Shammai

The House of Shammai was the school of thought of Judaism founded by Shammai, a Jewish scholar of the 1st century. A non literal translation that perhaps gives a better flavour of the expression would be The Academy of Shammai....
" came to represent two distinct perspectives on Jewish law
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
, and disagreements between the two schools of thought are found throughout the Mishnah
Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
, see also Hillel and Shammai
Hillel and Shammai

Hillel and Shammai were two great rabbis of the early first century, the end of the period of the Zugot. They each founded a major school of Jewish thought, respectively known as the House of Hillel and House of Shammai, and they and their schools had ongoing debates on matters of ritual practice....
.

The Tannaim, as teachers of the Oral Law
Oral law

An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted....
, were direct transmitters of an oral tradition passed from teacher to student that was written and codified as the basis for the Mishnah, Tosefta
Tosefta

The Tosefta is a secondary compilation of the Oral Torah from the period of the Mishnah....
, and tannaitic teachings of the Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
. According to tradition, the Tannaim were the last generation in a long sequence of oral teachers that began with Moses
Moses

Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
.

Prominent Tannaim


Their titles

The Nasi
Nasi

Nasi? is a Hebrew language title meaning prince, in Biblical Hebrew, or president, in Hebrew_language#Modern_Israeli_Hebrew....
 (plural Nesi'im) was the highest ranking member and presided over the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel....
. Rabban was a higher title than Rabbi, and it was given to the Nasi starting with Rabban Gamaliel Hazaken
Gamaliel

Gamaliel the Elder , or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid first century. He was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before First Jewish-Roman War of the second temple in Jerusalem....
 (Gamaliel the Elder). The title Rabban was limited to the descendants of Hillel, the sole exception being Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai
Yochanan ben Zakai

Yochanan ben Zakai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Judaism, the Mishnah....
, the leader in Jerusalem during the siege
Siege of Jerusalem (70)

The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the Masada#History in 73 AD. The Roman Empire 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 defend...
, who safeguarded the future of the Jewish people after the Great Revolt
First Jewish-Roman War

The first Jewish-Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three Jewish-Roman wars by the Jews of Iudaea Province against the Roman Empire ....
 by pleading with Vespasian
Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah was a Mishnaic scholar of the second generation , junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b....
, who was also Nasi, was not given the title Rabban, perhaps because he only held the position of Nasi for a short while and it eventually reverted to the descendants of Hillel. Prior to Rabban Gamliel Hazaken, no titles were used before someone's name, based on the Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ic adage "Gadol miRabban shmo" ("Greater than the title Rabban is a person's own name"). For this reason Hillel has no title before his name: his name in itself is his title, just as Moses
Moses

Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
 and Abraham
Abraham

Abraham is a man featured in the Book of Genesis and an important figure in several monotheistic religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam traditions regard him as the founding Patriarchs of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples....
 have no titles before their names. (An addition is sometimes given after a name to denote significance or to differentiate between two people with the same name. Examples include Avraham Avinu (Abraham our father) and Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher).) Starting with Rabbi Judah haNasi
Judah haNasi

Rabbi Judah haNasi, , also known as "Rabbi" and "Rabeinu HaKadosh" , was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century CE, during the occupation by the Roman Empire....
 (Judah the Nasi), often referred to simply as "Rabbi", not even the Nasi is given the title Rabban, but instead, Judah haNasi is given the lofty title Rabbeinu HaKadosh ("Our holy rabbi [teacher]").

The Nesi'im

The following were Nesi'im, that is to say presidents of the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel....
.
  • 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....
  • Rabban Shimon ben Hillel
    Shimon ben Hillel

    About Shimon ben Hillel very little is known. He was the son of Hillel the Elder, and when Hillel died, Shimon took over his place as Nasi. It is assumed that Shimon did not live long, and was quickly succeeded by his son, Gamaliel I....
    , about whom very little is known
  • Rabban Gamaliel Hazaken
    Gamaliel

    Gamaliel the Elder , or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid first century. He was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before First Jewish-Roman War of the second temple in Jerusalem....
     (Gamaliel the Elder)
  • Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel
    Shimon ben Gamliel

    Shimon ben Gamliel was a Tannaim sage and leader of the Jewish people. He succeeded his father Gamliel I as the Nasi of the Sanhedrin after his father's death in 50 CE and just before the destruction of the Second Temple....
  • Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai
    Yochanan ben Zakai

    Yochanan ben Zakai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Judaism, the Mishnah....
  • Rabban Gamaliel
    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....
     of Yavne
    Yavne

    Yavne is a city in the Center District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 32,200....
  • Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah
    Eleazar ben Azariah

    Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah was a Mishnaic scholar of the second generation , junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b....
    , who was Nasi for a short time after Rabban Gamliel was removed from his position
  • Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel
    Shimon ben Gamliel II

    Shimon ben Gamliel II was a Tannaim of the third generation and president of the Great Sanhedrin. Shimon was a youth in Betar when the Bar Kokhba revolt broke out, but when that fortress was taken by the Romans he managed to escape the massacre ....
     of Yavne
  • Rabbi Judah haNasi
    Judah haNasi

    Rabbi Judah haNasi, , also known as "Rabbi" and "Rabeinu HaKadosh" , was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century CE, during the occupation by the Roman Empire....
     (Judah the Nasi), known simply as "Rabbi", who compiled the Mishnah


The generations of the Tannaim

The Mishnaic period is commonly divided into five periods according to generations of the Tannaim.

The generations of the Tannaim included:
  1. First Generation: Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai's generation (circa 40 BCE-80
    80

    Year 80 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar....
     CE).
  2. Second Generation: Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua
    Joshua ben Hananiah

    Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading Tannaim of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. He was of Levitical descent , and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers ....
    's generation, the teachers of Rabbi Akiva.
  3. Third Generation: The generation of Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues.
  4. Fourth Generation: The generation of Rabbi Meir
    Rabbi Meir

    Rabbi Meir or Reb Meir Baal Haneis was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the second generation....
    , Rabbi Yehuda
    Judah ben Ilai

    Rabbi Judah ben Ilai, also known as Rabbi Judah, was a Tannaim , who lived in the 2nd Century.Rabbi Judah ben Ilai was born at Usha , a city in Galilee....
     and their colleagues.
  5. Fifth Generation: Rabbi Judah haNasi
    Judah haNasi

    Rabbi Judah haNasi, , also known as "Rabbi" and "Rabeinu HaKadosh" , was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century CE, during the occupation by the Roman Empire....
    's generation.
  6. Sixth Generation: The interim generation between the Mishnah and the Talmud: Rabbis Shimon ben Judah HaNasi and Yehoshua ben Levi
    Joshua ben Levi

    Joshua ben Levi or Yehoshua ben Levi was an amora who lived in the land of Israel of the first half of the third century. He headed the school of Lod in the southern Land of Israel....
    , etc.


Before the destruction of the Temple

  • 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....
  • 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.Shammai was the most eminent contemporary and the Halakha opponent of Hillel the Elder, and is almost invariably mentioned along with him....
  • Rabban Gamaliel Hazaken
    Gamaliel

    Gamaliel the Elder , or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid first century. He was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before First Jewish-Roman War of the second temple in Jerusalem....
     (Gamaliel the Elder)
  • Elisha ben Abuyah
    Elisha ben Abuyah

    Elisha ben Abuyah was a rabbi and Judaism religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heresy by his fellow Tannaim and betrayed his people, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One" ....


The generation of the destruction

  • Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel
    Shimon ben Gamliel

    Shimon ben Gamliel was a Tannaim sage and leader of the Jewish people. He succeeded his father Gamliel I as the Nasi of the Sanhedrin after his father's death in 50 CE and just before the destruction of the Second Temple....
  • Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai
    Yochanan ben Zakai

    Yochanan ben Zakai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Judaism, the Mishnah....
  • Rabbi Yehuda ben Baba
    Judah ben Baba

    Rabbi Judah ben Baba was a rabbi in the second century who ordained a number of rabbis at a time when the Roman government forbade this ceremony....


Between the destruction of the Temple and Bar Kokhba's revolt
Bar Kokhba's revolt

The Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire was a second major rebellion by the Jews of Iudaea Province and the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars....

  • Rabbi Joshua ben Hannania
  • Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurcanus
    Eliezer ben Hurcanus

    Eliezer ben Hurcanus was one of the most prominent tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries, disciple of R. Johanan ben Zakkai and colleague of Gamaliel II, whose sister he married , and of Joshua ben Hananiah....
  • Rabban Gamaliel
    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....
     of Yavne
    Yavne

    Yavne is a city in the Center District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 32,200....
  • Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach
    Eleazar ben Arach

    Eleazar ben Arach was one of the tannaim of the second generation . Being first among the disciples of Yochanan ben Zakai , he delighted his master with his wisdom and penetration, so that the most extravagant encomiums were lavished upon him....


The generation of Bar Kokhba's revolt

  • Rabbi Akiba
  • Rabbi Tarfon
    Tarfon

    Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon, , a member of the Tannaim#The generations of the Tannaim of the Mishnah sages, who lived in the period between the Siege of Jerusalem and the fall of Betar ....
  • Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha
    Ishmael ben Elisha

    Ishmael ben Elisha was a Tannaim of the first and second centuries . A Tanna is a Jewish rabbinic sage whose views are recorded in the Mishnah....
  • Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah
    Eleazar ben Azariah

    Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah was a Mishnaic scholar of the second generation , junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b....
  • Rabbi Yose HaGelili
    Jose the Galilean

    Jose the Galilee was a Jew who lived in the first and second centuries of the common era. He was one of the Tannaim, the rabbis whose work was compiled in the Mishna....


After the revolt

  • Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel
    Shimon ben Gamliel II

    Shimon ben Gamliel II was a Tannaim of the third generation and president of the Great Sanhedrin. Shimon was a youth in Betar when the Bar Kokhba revolt broke out, but when that fortress was taken by the Romans he managed to escape the massacre ....
     of Yavne
  • Rabbi Meir
    Rabbi Meir

    Rabbi Meir or Reb Meir Baal Haneis was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the second generation....
  • Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who wrote the Zohar
    Zohar

    The Zohar is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah , written in medieval Aramaic language....
  • Rabbi Yose ben Halafta
    Jose ben Halafta

    Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a tannaim of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day....
  • Rabbi Yehuda ben Ilai
    Judah ben Ilai

    Rabbi Judah ben Ilai, also known as Rabbi Judah, was a Tannaim , who lived in the 2nd Century.Rabbi Judah ben Ilai was born at Usha , a city in Galilee....


Compilers of the Mishnah

  • Rabbi Yose
    Jose ben Halafta

    Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a tannaim of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day....
  • Rabbi Yishmael
    Ishmael ben Elisha

    Ishmael ben Elisha was a Tannaim of the first and second centuries . A Tanna is a Jewish rabbinic sage whose views are recorded in the Mishnah....
  • Rabbi Shimon
  • Rabbi Nathan
    Rabbi Nathan

    Rabbi Nathan was a Palestinian tannaim of the third generation , the son of a Jews of Babylonia exilarch. For unknown reasons he left Babylonia, and his bright prospects there, to settle in the land of Israel, where he was made chief of the school at Usha ....
  • Rabbi Hiyya
  • Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi
    Judah haNasi

    Rabbi Judah haNasi, , also known as "Rabbi" and "Rabeinu HaKadosh" , was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century CE, during the occupation by the Roman Empire....
     (known simply as Rabbi or Rebbi); compiled the Mishnah


Scholarly lineage of prominent tannaim


See also

  • Oral law
    Oral law

    An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted....
  • Amoraim
  • Pharisees
    Pharisees

    The word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew language ?????? perushim from ???? parush, meaning "separated" . The Pharisees were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era ....


External links

  • entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith