Jose ben Halafta

Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta (Hebrew: רבי יוסי בן חלפתא) was a Tanna of the fourth generation (2nd century CE). Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day. He was a teacher and mentor to, among other notables, Judah ha-Nasi and thus is prominently mentioned in the Mishnah.

Biography

Of Jose's life only the following details are known: He was born at Sepphoris; but his family was of Babylonian-Jewish origin. ["Yoma", 66b.] According to a genealogical chart found at Jerusalem, he was a descendant of Jonadab ben Rechab. ["Yerushalmi Ta'anit", iv. 2; "Genesis Rabba", xcviii. 13.] He was one of Akiba's five principal pupils, called "the restorers of the Law," ["Yevamot", 63b.] who were afterward ordained by Judah ben Baba. ["Sanhedrin", 14a.] He was, besides, a pupil of Johanan ben Nuri, whose halakhot he transmitted [Tosefta, Kelim, "Bava Kamma", lxxxii. 7; "Bava Batra", lxxxvii.] and of Eutolemus. ["Eruvin", 35a; "Rosh Hashanah", 15a.] It is very likely that he studied much under his father, Halafta, whose authority he invokes in several instances. ["Bava Kamma", 70a; "Megillah", 17b.] But his principal teacher was Akiba, whose system he followed in his interpretation of the Law. ["Pesahim", 18a; "Yevamot", 62b.] After having been ordained in violation of a Roman edict, ["Sanhedrin", l.c.] Jose fled to Asia Minor, ["Bava Metzia", 84b.] where he stayed till the edict was abrogated. Later he settled at Usha, then the seat of the Sanhedrin. As he remained silent when his fellow pupil Simeon bar Yohai once attacked the Roman government in his presence, he was forced by the Romans to return to Sepphoris, ["Shabbat", 33b.] which he found in a decaying state. ["Bava Batra", 75b.] He established there a flourishing school; and it seems that he died there. ["Sanhedrin", 109a; compare "Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah", iii. 1.] Jose's great learning attracted so many pupils that the words "that which is altogether just shalt thou follow" ["Deuteronomy", xvi. 20.] were interpreted to mean in part "follow Jose to Sepphoris". ["Sanhedrin", 32b.] He was highly extolled after his death. His pupil Judah ha-Nasi said: "The difference between Jose's generation and ours is like the difference between the Holy of Holies and the most profane." ["Yerushalmi Gittin", vi. 9.]

Halakha

His halakot are mentioned throughout the greater part of the Mishnah, as well as in the Baraita and Sifra. His teaching was very systematic. He was opposed to controversy, declaring that the antagonism between the schools of Shammai and Hillel made it seem as if there were two Torahs. ["Sanhedrin", 88b.] For the most part, Jose adopted a compromise between two contending halakhists. [Compare "Terumot", x. 3; "Eruvin", viii. 5 (86a); "Yoma", iv. 3 (43b).] Like his master Akiba, Jose occupied himself with the dots which sometimes accompany the words in the Bible, occasionally basing his halakot on such dots. ["Pesahim", ix. 2 (93b); "Menahot", 87b.] He was generally liberal in his halakic decisions, especially in interpreting the laws concerning fasts ["Ta'anit", 22b.] and vows. ["Nedarim", 21b, 23a.] In those cases where there was a difference of opinion between Jose and his contemporaries, it was Jose's decision that was adopted as the norm for the practise. ["Yerushalmi Terumot", iii. 1; "Eruvin", 51a.]

Bible Chronology

Jose was also a prominent haggadist; and the conversation which he had with a Roman matron, resulting in her conviction of the superiority of the Jewish religion, ["Genesis Rabba", lxviii. 4.] shows his great skill in interpreting Biblical verses. Jose is considered to be the author of the Seder Olam Rabba, a chronicle from the creation to the time of Hadrian, for which reason it is called also known as "Baraita di Rabbi Jose ben Halafta." ["Yevamot", 82b; "Niddah", 46b; compare "Shabbat", 88a.] This work, though incomplete and too concise, shows Jose's system of arranging material in chronological order.

Jose is known for his ethical dicta, which are characteristic, and in which he laid special stress on the study of the Torah. [Compare "Avot", iv. 6.] He exemplified Abtalion's dictum, "Love the handicrafts"; ["Ibidem", i. 9.] for he was a tanner by trade, ["Shabbot", 49a] and followed a craft then commonly held in contempt. ["Pesahim", 65a.] A series of Jose's ethical sayings in "Shabbot" (118b) shows his tendency toward Essenism. As has been said above, Jose was opposed to disputation. When his companion Judah desired to exclude Meïr's disciples from his school, Jose dissuaded him. ["Kiddushin", 52a; "Nazir", 50a.] One of his characteristic sayings is, "He who indicates the coming of the Messiah, he who hates scholars and their disciples, and the false prophet and the slanderer, will have no part in the future world." ["Derekh Eretz", R. xi.] According to Bacher ["Monatsschrift", xlii. 505-507] this was directed against the Hebrew Christians.

Owing to Jose's fame as a saint, legend describes him as having met Elijah. ["Talmud", "Berakhot", 3a; "Sanhedrin", 113b.] Jose, complying with the Law, married the wife of his brother who had died childless; she bore him five sons: Ishmael, Eleazar, Menahem, Halafta (who died in his lifetime), and Eudemus. ["Yerushalmi Yevamot", i. 1.]

References

Resources

[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=427&letter=J&search=Jose Schechter, Solomon and M. Seligsohn.] "Jose ben Ḥalafta." "Jewish Encyclopedia". Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906; which cites::*Bacher, "Ag. Tan." ii. 150-190;::*idem, "Ag. Pal. Amor." ii. 158 et passim;:*Brüll, "Mebo ha-Mishnah," pp. 156-160, 178-185, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1876;:*Frankel, "Darke ha-Mishnah," pp. 164-168;::*"idem," in "Monatsschrift," iv. 206-209;:*Joël, "ib." vi. 81-91;:*Weiss, "Dor," ii. 161-164.