Sages and Scholars
Level: Intermediate |
These two great scholars born a generation or two before the beginning of
the Common Era are usually discussed together and contrasted with each other,
because they were contemporaries and the leaders of two opposing schools
of thought (known as "houses"). The Talmud
records over 300 differences of opinion between Beit Hillel (the House of
Hillel) and Beit Shammai (the House of Shammai). In almost every one of these
disputes, Hillel's view prevailed.
Rabbi Hillel was born to a wealthy family in Babylonia, but came to Jerusalem
without the financial support of his family and supported himself as a
woodcutter. It is said that he lived in such great poverty that he was sometimes
unable to pay the admission fee to study Torah,
and because of him that fee was abolished. He was known for his kindness,
his gentleness, and his concern for humanity. One of his most famous sayings,
recorded in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers, a tractate of the
Mishnah), is "If I am not for myself, then
who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not
now, when?" The Hillel organization, a network of Jewish college student
organizations, is named for him.
Rabbi Shammai was an engineer, known for the strictness of his views. The
Talmud tells that a gentile came to Shammai
saying that he would convert to Judaism if Shammai could teach him the whole
Torah in the time that he could stand on one
foot. Shammai drove him away with a builder's measuring stick! Hillel, on
the other hand, converted the gentile by telling him, "That which is hateful
to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is
commentary. Go and study it."
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was the youngest and most distinguished disciple
of Rabbi Hillel (see above). He has
been called the "father of wisdom and the father of generations (of scholars)"
because he ensured the continuation of Jewish scholarship after Jerusalem
fell to Rome in 70 C.E.
According to tradition, ben Zakkai was a pacifist in Jerusalem in 68 C.E.
when the city was under siege by General Vespasian. Jerusalem was controlled
by the Zealots, people who would rather die than surrender to Rome (these
are the same people who controlled Masada). Ben Zakkai urged surrender, but
the Zealots would not hear of it, so ben Zakkai faked his own death and had
his disciples smuggle him out of Jerusalem in a coffin. They carried the
coffin to Vespasian's tent, where ben Zakkai emerged from the coffin. He
told Vespasian that he had had a vision (some would say, a shrewd political
insight) that Vespasian would soon be emperor, and he asked Vespasian to
set aside a place in Yavneh (near modern Rehovot) where he could move his
yeshivah (school) and study Torah in peace. Vespasian promised that if the
prophecy came true, he would grant ben Zakkai's request. Vespasian became
Emperor and kept his word, allowing the school to be established after the
war was over. The yeshiva survived and was a center of Jewish learning for
centuries.
A poor, semi-literate shepherd, Rabbi Akiba became one of Judaism's greatest
scholars. He developed the exegetical method of the
Mishnah, linking each traditional practice
to a basis in the biblical text, and systematized the material that later
became the Mishnah.
Rabbi Akiba was active in the Bar Kokhba rebellion against Rome. He believed
that Bar Kokhba was the Moshiach (messiah),
though some other rabbis openly ridiculed him
for that belief (the Talmud records another
rabbi as saying, "Akiba, grass will grow in your cheeks and still the son
of David will not have come.") When the Bar Kokhba rebellion failed, Rabbi
Akiba was taken by the Roman authorities and tortured to death.
The Patriarch of the Jewish community, Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi was well-educated
in Greek thought as well as Jewish thought. He organized and compiled the
Mishnah, building upon Rabbi Akiba's work.
A grape grower living in Northern France, Rashi wrote the definitive commentaries
on the Babylonian Talmud and the Bible. Rashi
pulled together materials from a wide variety of sources, wrote them down
in the order of the Talmud and the Bible for easy reference, and wrote them
in such clear, concise and plain language that it can be appreciated by beginners
and experts alike. Almost every edition of the Talmud printed since the invention
of the printing press has included the text of Rashi's commentary side-by-side
with the Talmudic text. Many traditional Jews will not study the Bible without
a Rashi commentary beside it.
A physician born in Moorish Cordoba, Rambam lived in a variety of places
throughout the Moorish lands of Spain, the Middle East and North Africa,
often fleeing persecution. He was a leader of the Jewish community in Cairo.
He was heavily influenced by Greek thought, particularly that of Aristotle.
Rambam was the author of the Mishneh Torah, one of the greatest codes of
Jewish law, compiling every conceivable topic of Jewish law in subject matter
order and providing a simple statement of the prevailing view in plain language.
In his own time, he was widely condemned because he claimed that the Mishneh
Torah was a substitute for studying the Talmud.
Rambam is also responsible for several important theological works. He developed
the 13 Principles of Faith, the most widely accepted
list of Jewish beliefs. He also wrote the Guide for the Perplexed, a discussion
of difficult theological concepts written from the perspective of an Aristotelian
philosopher.
Ramban was the foremost halakhist of his
age. Like Rambam before him, Ramban was a Spaniard who was both a physician
and a great Torah scholar. However, unlike the rationalist Rambam, Ramban
had a strong mystical bent. His biblical commentaries are the first ones
to incorporate the mystical teachings of
kabbalah.
He was well-known for his aggressive refutations of Christianity, most notably,
his debate with Pablo Christiani, a converted Jew, before King Jaime I of
Spain in 1263.
Ramban could be described as one of history's first
Zionists, because he declared that it is a
mitzvah to take possession of
Israel and to live in it (relying on Num. 33:53).
He said, "So long as Israel occupies [the Holy Land], the earth is regarded
as subject to Him." Ramban fulfilled this commandment, moving to the Holy
Land during the Crusades after he was expelled from Spain for his polemics.
He found devastation in the Holy Land, "but even in this destruction," he
said, "it is a blessed land." He died there in 1270 C.E.
Do not confuse Ramban with Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (see
below).
The founder of Chasidic Judaism. Although
many books of his teachings exist, the Besht himself wrote no books, perhaps
because his teachings emphasized the fact that even a simple, uneducated
peasant could approach G-d (a radical idea in
its time, when Judaism emphasized that the way to approach G-d was through
study). He emphasized prayer, the observance of commandments, and ecstatic,
personal mystical experiences.
The great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov (see
above), Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (sometimes
called Bratzlav, Breslau or Bratislava) was the founder of the Breslover
Chasidic sect. Breslov is a town in the Ukraine
where Rabbi Nachman spent the end of his life, but some say the name Breslov
comes from the Hebrew bris lev, meaning "covenant of the heart." He emphasized
living life with joy and happiness. One of his best-known sayings is, "It
is a great mitzvah to be happy." Collections
of his Chasidic tales (or tales attributed to him) are widely available in
print.
Do not confuse Rabbi Nachman with Ramban (see
above).
© Copyright 5756-5760 (1995-1999), Tracey
R Rich
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