Are you From Joseph? Prominent Author of the Talmud was from Joseph!
Contents:
1. Joseph in Judah
2. Early Judaism. Who Preceded Rabbi Yohanan?
3. The Importance of Rabbi Yohanan
4. Biography of Rabbi Yohanan
5. Rabbi Yohanan as a Model for some Characteristic of Joseph especially Ephraim.
A. Positive Points
Natural Inherited Talent. Respect for Others
B. Negativity
Hierarchy, Snobbishness, Excessive Regret for Past Mistakes.
=============
1. Joseph in Judah
The Bible tells us that all the Ten Tribes were exiled. We learn elsewhere in Scripture that a small minoirty from them in one way or other escaped the Assyrian yoke and came to Judah.
They were assimilated among the Jewish People. Nachmanides ("Book of Redemption") says that the Bible does not emphasize their presence (though it is indicated) since their Tribal Expression was to take place with the main body of their Tribes who were in Exile.
Midrash Seder Olam says that descendants of the Ten Tribes at the Return of the Jews from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah comprised about 20% of the total population.
According to tradition descendants of Joseph, i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh, were a major component of this 20%.
A prominent personage among those few Jews who were descended from Joseph was Johanan bar Nappaha usually known simply as Rabbi Yochanan, ca. 180-279 CE).
[The name "Yochanan" in Hebrew is pronounced more like an "h" than anything else. Henceforth we shall write it as "Yohanan."]
=============
2. Early Judaism. Who Preceded Rabbi Yohanan?
After the death of King Solomon the Kingdom of Israel divided into two. The Northern Kingdom of Israel comprised Ten Tribes who were all exiled by Assyria and were lost.
Later the remaining inhabitants of Judah were also exiled by the Babylonians but they retained consciousness of their ancestry. They returned from Babylon and rebuilt the Temple and Jerusalem. This was in the period of Ezra and Nehemia following the Decree of Cyrus in ca. 538 BCE. An assembly of 120 members was established to make decisions binding on all the Jews. This is know as the "Kenesset HaGadolah" i.e. the Great Assembly. From the time of Moses there had been a Supreme Court known later as the "Sanhedrin" and numbering 70 members (Exodus 24:1, 9, Numbers 11:16, 24, 25). The Great Assembly was an expanded version of this and was to revert to it by gradually reducing its numbers to 70. Up until the Great Assembly even though religious decision had been made by the courts of law (Deuteronomy 17:8-13) but the overriding authority had centered on Prophets. The Great Assembly consisted of both Prophets (e.g. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) and Sages. From this time onwards Prophecy was to peter out and the Sages would take over.
The first rulers were Zerubabel who was appointed as Governor (ca. 538-520 BCE) by the Persians and the High Priest who ruled alongside of him. The Province of Judah was part of the Persian Empire which was conquered by the Macedonians and Greeks under Alexander the Great. The Revolt of the Maccabees began in 167 BCE and the Hasmonean Dynasty came to power. In 63 BCE Pompey conquered Judah and Roman rule began.
At the internal level concerning the development of Judaism, the initial stage permuted into the Period of the Pairs ("Zugot") 170 BCE- 30 CE. This consisted of a series of two (i.e. "paired") rulers one of whom was the Head of the Sanhedrin, while the other known as the Prince (Hebrew: "Nasi"), ruled alongside him. They were followed by the "Teachers" (in Hebrew "Tannaim") ca. 10 -220 CE. Due to a combination of causes a need had arisen to collate the Oral Traditions that had accumulated alongside the Written Scripture. These traditions consisted of explanations as to how the Laws of Scripture were to be applied as well as related enactments and rulings. This eventually gave rise to the Mishnah whose sayings were those of the Tannaim. Following the Tannaim came the Amoraim i.e. "Spokesmen," ca. 200 - 500 CE. They expounded on the Mishnah, explained it, and added discussions of their own. Their deliberations are known as "Gemora." The Mishnah and Gemora together comprise the Talmud. There is the Talmud Yerushalmi from the Land of Israel and the Talmud Babli from Babylon which was finished somewhat later, was more comprehensive, and more authoritative. Nevertheless the Talmud Yerushalmi is also of great importance. Rabbi Yohanan (180-279 CE) compiled much of it.
=============
3. The Importance of Rabbi Yohanan
The opinion of Rabbi Yohanan is quoted thousands of times in both the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Talmud Babli.
Through the Talmud Rabbi Yohanan therefore played a major role in determining the course of Jewish Jurisprudence and Guiding Philosophy. The Talmud is the Constitution and Guiding Light of the Jewish People.
Rabbi Yohanan said he was descended from Joseph (Talmud Beracot 20;a). He was a great man. Great Men often epitomize characteristics of the Tribe and People in ways that show us aspects of the Tribe as a whole.
=============
4. Biography of Rabbi Yohanan
Rabbi Yohanan son of Nafha may have been the son of a blacksmith. At a relatively early age he became a student of Rabbi Yehudah the Prince ("HaNasi"). Apart from being skilled in medicine he dedicated his life solely to the Torah, spent all his fortune on it, and becoming proficient in its study. He was considered the greatest authority in the Land of Israel and eventually in the whole world. This does not mean his decisions were unanimously accepted. One of his foremost opponents in debate was Rabbi Simeon Ben Lakish who was also his study partner.
Rabbi Yohanan treated his servants with great kindness: "Did not He that made me in the womb make him?"
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8719-johanan-b-nappaha-ha-nappah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanan_bar_Nappaha
Extracts:
He was blessed with many children, but lost ten sons. The last one is said to have died by falling into a caldron of boiling water. The bereft father preserved a joint of the victim's little finger, which he exhibited to mourners in order to inspire resignation. "This is a bone from the body of my tenth son," he would say.
It is said that Johanan had an agreeable presence and a pleasing disposition; he was considered kind and considerate to the stranger as well as to his brethren; to the non-observant as to the pious; to the am ha'aretz [unlearned person] as to the haver [religious scholar of standing]; for this he was beloved by his teachers and honored by all.
He was known for being healthy and beautiful, and reportedly lived more than one hundred years.
On his death-bed he ordered that he should be dressed neither in white nor in black, but in scarlet, so that on awaking after death he would not feel out of place in the company either of the pious or of the wicked.
The book "Sefer Ha-Dorot" (d. 1725, Rabbi Jehiel Heilprin) draws parallels between Joseph and Rabbi Yohanan. Both were clean-shaven and in the case of Rabbi Yohanan this was evidently a natural phenomenon. Joseph reigned over Egypt for 80 years just as Rabbi Yehonan was in authority for 80 years. Both were extremely handsome.
Rabbi Yohanan said that since he was descended from Joseph the evil eye would not have an effect on him.
His religious decisions are considered to have been comparatively liberal.
He established broad rules of learning, searching for a common denominator and general principles. When something did not fit he expounded on the matter and found solutions for it.
Johanan opened an academy in Tiberias, and let anybody in if they wanted to learn, a controversial move at the time.
His study partner and opponent in numerous discussion was Rabbi Shimeon ben Lakish, also often referred to as "Raish Lekish."
Raish Lakish is described as having been a gladiator and bandit. The accounts are not clear but it appears he had begun to learn, then left his learning for the banditry profession, and later returned to learning.
It happened that he came across Rabbi Yohanan bathing in the Jordan River. He mistook him for a woman and leapt in the water besides him. Upon Raish Lakish discovering his mistake Rabbi Yohanan informed him that the had a sister more beautiful than himself. He also said that the obvious strenth and vigor of Raish Lakish should be dedicated to Torah Learning. Raish Lakish was very strong and also corpulent. He married the sister of Rabbi Yohanan.
Wikipedia tells us:
# According to the Babylonian Talmud, he was supposed to have been in his early youth a bandit and a gladiator. Under the stress of unfavorable circumstances he gave up the study of the Torah and sought to support himself by a worldly calling. He sold himself to the managers of a gladiator circus, where he could make use of his great bodily strength. He worked as a gladiator, where he was compelled to risk his life continually in combats with wild beasts. According to other sources, Reish Lakish lived for a time in the wilderness where he made his livelihood as a bandit. From this low estate he was brought back to his studies by Rabbi Yochanan.
The early commentators speculate that he was a Torah scholar before his life of crime.
His criminal career is strictly a Babylonian tradition, as it is not found in any of the sources of the land of Israel; according to the Jerusalem Talmud Shimon spent his entire life immersed in Torah study and his criminal past is completely absent. #
Rabbi Yonanan was the greater scholar of the two but Rabbi Yohanan was often prepared to give way in the face of the logical argumentation of Rabbi Shimon
Eventually there was a disagreement and the two study partners fell out with each other.
Talmud Baba Metsia 84;a
# This happened as follows: Once there was a dispute over when different kinds of knives and weapons are susceptible to ritual impurity. The opinion of Shimon ben Lakish differed from that of Yochanan, whereupon Yochanan remarked, "A robber knows his own tools". Yochanan alluded to Shimon's life as a bandit, in which a knowledge of sharp weapons was a matter of course. Reish Lakish responded by supposedly denying any benefit he had received from Yochanan; "When I was a bandit they called me 'master', and now they call me 'master.'" Yochanan retorted angrily that he had brought him under the wings of the Shekhinah [i.e. Divine Presence]. The Talmud relates that due to Yochanan becoming so upset, Reish Lakish became ill and prematurely died. #
The sister of Rabbi Yohanan blamed him for the death of her husband.
Rabbi Yohanan could not find any other scholar to adequately learn with. Stricken by grief and regret he either lost his mind for 3 and a half years and then recovered, or he died.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_ben_Lakish
=============
5. Rabbi Yohanan as a Model for some Characteristic of Joseph especially Ephraim.
=============
A. Positive Points
Natural Inherited Talent.
Rabbi Yohanan had a natural beauty and good health and obvious mental stamina.
Respect for Others
His behavior showed a respect for what we would call Natural Democracy, and Basic Egalitarianism while Maintaining his own Status. He obviously believed in Social Justice, and in Giving Others a Chance.
The way he dealt with Resh Lakish in persuading him to return to a life of Torah shows tact, and a belief in the basic good of one's fellow man.
=============
B. Negativity
Hierarchy, Snobbishness, Excessive Regret for Past Mistakes.
The final incident with Raish Lakish reveals another darker aspect to the character of Rabbi Yohanan.
As we have pointed out in our other studies, descendants of Ephraim often try and stratify those they deal with, to get some edge over them, set them in their place before getting down to the subject at hand.
The name "Ephrathite" means both someone from Ephraim and/or a nobleman, an aristocrat. Ephraim respects others and believes in basic human rights but he also holds that some kind of natural pyramid of inherited (or acquired) preference should exists giving those higher on the rung the right to expect deference from others.
They were arguing a point. Raish Lakish had an edge over Rabbi Yohanan. Raish Lakish had the edge and Rabbi Yohanan did not like it. He reminded Raish Lakish of his murky past and the debt of gratitude Raish Lakish should have towards him. When Raish Lakish did not accept this he caused such a bad feeling to erupt between them that Raish Lakish got sick and died from it.
One finds people who disagree with others and then bring up the past blemishes that the others have as if they who were not so impaired (I.e. themselves) deserve deferential treatment.
Rabbi Yohanan apparently allowed the incident to gradually take over his personality until it left him deranged.
People from Joseph sometimes seem easy-going, superficially forgiving but harboring grudges until it all comes to the surface.