Johanan ben Zakai

Johanan ben Zakai ( c. 30 - 90 CE), also known as Johanan B. Zakkai 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 Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time. His tomb is located in Tiberias, within the Maimonides burial compound.

Life

The Talmud reports that, in the mid first century, he was particularly active in opposing the Sadducees' interpretations of Jewish lawMenahot 65aBaba Batra 115b, and produced counter-arguments to the Sadducees' objection to the Pharisees.Yadayim 4:5 So dedicated was he to opposing the Sadducee view of Jewish law, that he prevented the Jewish high priest, who was a Sadducee, from following the Sadducee interpretation of the Red Heifer ritual.Parah (Tosefta) 3:8

His home, at this time, was in 'Arab, a location in the GalileeJewish Encyclopedia, Yochanan ben Zakai. However, although living among them, he found the secular attitude of Galileans to be objectionable, allegedly exclaiming that they hated the Torah and would therefore "fall into the hands of robbers."

During the siege of Jerusalem in the Great Jewish Revolt, he argued in favour of peace; according to talmudic legend, when he found the anger of the...
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