Yochanan ben Nuri (Hebrew:
יוחנן בן נורי) was a
TannaThe 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 and second centuries, studied under the watch of Rabban Gamaliel II(d'yavneh) and senior of
AkibaAkiba Also pronounced Akiva can refer to:*The Aramaic form of the name Jacob*Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School, a Jewish school in Hyde Park, Chicago*Akiva, a tannaitic Rabbi*Akiba Hebrew Academy, a Jewish school in Merion, Pennsylvania...
(
SifraSifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, Ḳedoshim, iv. 9; Ar. 16b; comp.
SifreSifre 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...
, Deut. 1). A great halakist, always provided with satisfactory answers to all questions, he was familiarly called "pedler's basket" or "bundle of halakot" (Ab. R. N. xviii.; Giṭ. 67a); the number and diversity of halakot cited under his name in the
MishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah" and the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
alone, about 40, justify those appellations.
Yochanan ben Nuri (Hebrew:
יוחנן בן נורי) was a
TannaThe 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 and second centuries, studied under the watch of Rabban Gamaliel II(d'yavneh) and senior of
AkibaAkiba Also pronounced Akiva can refer to:*The Aramaic form of the name Jacob*Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School, a Jewish school in Hyde Park, Chicago*Akiva, a tannaitic Rabbi*Akiba Hebrew Academy, a Jewish school in Merion, Pennsylvania...
(
SifraSifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, Ḳedoshim, iv. 9; Ar. 16b; comp.
SifreSifre 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...
, Deut. 1). A great halakist, always provided with satisfactory answers to all questions, he was familiarly called "pedler's basket" or "bundle of halakot" (Ab. R. N. xviii.; Giṭ. 67a); the number and diversity of halakot cited under his name in the
MishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah" and the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
alone, about 40, justify those appellations. Besides exhaustive rabbinical knowledge, he acquired familiarity with the general science of his time, especially
geometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers....
. It was said of him, as of his colleague Eleazar ben Ḥisma, that he could approximately state the number of drops contained in the sea; like Eleazar, also, he was very poor. Through the influence of
Joshua ben HananiahJoshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. 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 b. Harkinas,...
both were appointed by Gamaliel to remunerative offices (comp.
SifreSifre 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...
, Deut. 16).
Johanan showed himself grateful to Gamaliel. When, after that patriarch's death, Joshua proposed a change in a rule established by Gamaliel, Johanan opposed him: "I have observed that the head is always followed by the trunk; as long as Gamaliel lived we observed the rule laid down by him, and now you propose to veto his directions. Joshua, we shall not harken to thee" (Er. 41a). Between him and Ḥalafta also intimate scholarly relations existed (comp. Tosef., B. B. ii. 10 with B. B. 56b and parallels).
In his discussions of halakot Johanan considered expediency and economy as well as law and authority. When
ṬarfonRabbi Tarfon or Tarphon, , 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 chracter:...
declared that only olive-oil was appropriate for the
SabbathShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night...
-lamp, Johanan became impatient: "And what shall the Babylonians do where none but sesame-oil is to be had; and what shall the Medians do, who have nothing but nut-oil; and the Alexandrians, who have nothing but radish-oil; or the Cappadocians, who have only naphtha?" (Shab. 26a). On another occasion, when
AkibaAkiba Also pronounced Akiva can refer to:*The Aramaic form of the name Jacob*Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School, a Jewish school in Hyde Park, Chicago*Akiva, a tannaitic Rabbi*Akiba Hebrew Academy, a Jewish school in Merion, Pennsylvania...
suggested that a married woman who has become the common talk of the "spinsters by the moon" ought to be divorced, Johanan remarked, "In that case there is no chance for a daughter of Judah to live with a husband! Only where infidelity is fully established by legal evidence may a divorce be imposed" (Giṭ. 89a; see Deut. xix. 15, xxiv. 1). In the
AggadahAggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in classical rabbinic literature - particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...
he is not often cited. He was very pious, and therefore later rabbis said that when one dreams of Johanan b. Nuri one may hope to develop a wholesome fear of sin (Ab. R. N. xl. [ed. S. Schechter, p. 64b]).
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- W. Bacher, Ag. Tan. i. 372;
- Brüll
Brüll is a surname, and may refer to:*Ignaz Brüll, composer*Nehemiah Brüll, rabbi and scholar...
, Mebo ha-Mishnah, i. 122;
- Z. Frankel, Darke ha-Mishnah, p. 123;
- Hamburger, R. B. T.;
- Weiss, Dor, ii. 118.S
External links
- Jewish Encyclopedia article for Yochanan ben Nuri, by Solomon Schechter
Solomon Schechter was a Moldavian-born Romanian and English rabbi, academic scholar, and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and architect of the American Conservative Jewish...
and S. Mendelsohn.