Daf Ditty Shabbes 127 Reb Yehoshua Ben Chananya

Roman Catacombs
Tombstone of three Jewish freedmen

1
During the time of Rabbi Yehoshua and his colleagues, in the years preceding and following the
destruction of the Temple, many women from the Roman upper classes expressed strong interest
in Judaism. Several actually converted.

Those who remained gentiles attempted to provide assistance to the Jewish Sages. It is related on
several occasions that the Sages took advantage of the counsel of these women and of their ability
to serve as intermediaries between them and the Roman authorities.1

Reb Yehoshua ben Chananya is one of the five disciples of *Johanan b. Zakkai's inner circle
(Avot 2:8), and the primary teacher of Rabbi Akiva.

Reb Joshua (together with Eliezer ben Hyrcanus) served as the bridge between the earlier (pre-
destruction) and later (post-destruction) periods of tannaitic tradition.

1
Steinzaltz Shabbes 127

2
Hundreds of statements in halacha and Aggadah are ascribed to him in both the Mishnah and
the Tosefta, distributed fairly evenly over five of the six sedarim, with a slightly smaller presence
of his teachings in Seder Nezikin.

In the case of heroic figures, like Reb Joshua, this process of literary expansion is in midrash and
is inevitable. Since the narrative traditions in which Reb Joshua eventually played a leading role
developed over a period of centuries, it is essential to distinguish between the earlier forms of these
traditions, found in the tannaitic sources themselves, and later developments found only in
the Talmudim and the amoraic Midrashim.

His students

Rabbi Akiva‫רבי עקיבא‬Rabbi Yishmael b. Elisha‫רבי ישמעאל‬Shimon haTimni‫[שמעון התימני‬Shimon] b.

Azzai‫בן עזאי‬Aquilas‫עקילס‬Rabbi Nehorai‫[רבי נהוראי‬Shimon] b. Zoma‫בן זומא‬

His Teachers‫מורים‬

Rabban Yochanan b. Zakkai.

In the beginning of Hadrian's rule, Reb Joshua appears as a leader of the Jewish people. When the
permission to rebuild the Temple was again refused, he turned the people from thoughts of revolt
against Rome by a speech in which he skillfully made use of a fable of Aesop concerning the lion
and the crane/heron.

3
Aesop’s Fable:
A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came
upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose.
Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.
"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and someday I will surely repay you."
The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and
finally let the Mouse go.
Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a
hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew
the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that
bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.
"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse
can help a Lion."

A detail of the 13th-century Fontana Maggiore in Perugia, Italy, with the fables of The
Wolf and the Crane and The Wolf and the Lamb

Gen Rabba 64 :10

‫שַׁﬠ ֶבּן ֲחַנ ְנָיה ָגְּז ָרה ַמְלכוּת ָה ְרָשָׁﬠה ֶשׁ ִיָּבֶּנה‬

ֻ ‫ ִבּיֵמי ַרִבּי ְיהוֹ‬.‫ ַרק ִמעוּט ֶשׁל ֹא ָﬠשׂוּ ִﬠמּוֹ טוָֹבה ְשֵׁלָמה‬,'‫ְּתִהי ָנא ָאָלה ִאם ַתֲּﬠֵשׂה ִﬠָמּנוּ וגו‬
‫ ֲאַזִלּין ִאֵלּין‬.‫ הוִֹשׁיבוּ ַפּפּוּס ְולוְּלָיאנוּס ְט ַרִפּיִזין ֵמַﬠכּוֹ ַﬠד ַא ְנטוְֹכָיא ְוָהיוּ ְמַסְפִּקין ְלעוֵֹלי גוָֹלה ֶכֶּסף ְוָזָהב ְוָכל ָצ ְרָכּם‬,‫ֵבּית ַהִמְּקָדּשׁ‬
‫ יב( 'כּוָּתֵאי ְוָאְמ ִרין ]עי‬,‫])יג עזרא ד‬: ‫ ָלא‬X‫ְיִדיַﬠ ֶלֱהֵוי ְלַמְלָכּא ְדָּהֵדין ַק ְרָתּא ָמ ָרְדָתּא ִתְּתְבֵּנא ְושׁוּ ַרָיּא ִיְשַׁתְּכְללוּן ִמ ְנָדה ְבלוֹ ַוֲהָל‬
‫ ָאְמ ִרין ֵליהּ ְשַׁלח ַוֲאַמר ְלהוֹן אוֹ‬,‫ ַוֲאַמר ְלהוֹן ַמה ַנֲּﬠֵביד וְּגָז ִרית‬.‫ ַא ְנְגּרוִֹטיָנה‬,X‫ ַוֲהָל‬.‫ זוֹ ְפּרוָֹבִגירוֹן‬,‫ ְבּלוֹ‬.‫ זוֹ ִמַדּת ָהָא ֶרץ‬,‫ ִמ ְנָדה‬.‫ִיְתּנוּן‬
‫ ַוֲהָון ְקָהַלָיּא ְמַצִתין‬.‫ ִמן ַגּ ְרֵמיהוֹן ִאינוּן ָחְז ִרין ְבּהוֹן‬,‫ אוֹ ִיְבְצרוּן ִמֵנּיהּ ֲחֵמשׁ ַאִמּין‬,‫ אוֹ יוְֹספוּן ֲﬠֵליהּ ֲחֵמשׁ ַאִמּין‬,‫ְיַשׁנּוּן ָיֵתיהּ ֵמַאְת ֵריהּ‬
X‫ ָאְמ ִרין ֵיעוֹל ַחד ַבּר ַנשׁ ַחִכּיָמא ִויַשֵׁדּ‬,‫ ָבֲּﬠ ִיין ְלִמְמ ַרד ַﬠל ַמְלכוָּתא‬.‫ ֵכּיָון ַדֲּאתוֹן ְכִּתיָבא ְשׁרוֹן ָבְּכ ִיין‬,‫ַבֲּהָדא ִבְּקֲﬠָתא ְדֵּבית ִרמּוֹן‬
‫ ֲאַמר ָכּל‬,‫ ָﬠאל ְוָד ַרשׁ ֲא ִרי ָט ַרף ֶט ֶרף ְוָﬠַמד ֶﬠֶצם ִבְּגרוֹנוֹ‬.‫שַׁﬠ ֶבּן ֲחַנ ְנָיא ְדּהוּא ַאְסכּוֹלוְֹסַטְקָיא ְדאוָֹר ְייָתא‬
ֻ ‫ ָאְמ ִרין ֵיעוֹל ַרִבּי ְיהוֹ‬,‫ִצבּוּ ָרא‬

4
‫ ֲאַמר‬,‫ ֲאַמר ֵליהּ ַהב ִלי ַאְג ִרי‬,‫ ְיֵהיב ַמקּוֹ ֵריהּ ְוַאְפֵקיהּ‬,X‫ ֲאָתא ָהֵדין קוֹ ֵרא ִמְצ ָרָאה ְדַּמקּוֹ ֵריהּ ָא ִרי‬,‫ַדֲּאֵתי ַמֵפּיק ֵליהּ ֲאָנא ְיֵהיב ֵליהּ ַאְג ֵריהּ‬
‫ ַדֵּיּינוּ ֶשׁ ִנְּכַנְסנוּ ְלֻאָמּה זוֹ ְבָּשׁלוֹם ְוָיָצאנוּ ְבָּשׁלוֹם‬X‫ ָכּ‬,‫ֵליהּ ִזיל ְתֵּהא ְמַלְגֵלג ְואוֵֹמר ְדַּﬠ ְיַלת ְלפוָּמא ְדַא ְרֵיה ִבְּשָׁלם וּ ְנָפַקת ִבְּשָׁלם‬

... In the days of R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah the evil kingdom (Rome) decreed to rebuild the
Temple. Papos and Lulianos (two brothers who were later martyred in Lod) set up tables from
Akko to Antioch and supplied the pilgrims from the diaspora with silver, gold and all of their
needs.

Some Kuthites went [to the emperor] and said, "The king should know that if this rebellious city is
built and its walls fortified, 'they will not pay tribute, poll-tax, or land-tax.'" He said to them, "What
should I do, I have already made the decree?"

They said to him, "Send to say to them [that] they either change the place of the Temple or add or
remove five ells from it and they will recant on their own."

And all of the [Jewish] people were gathered in Beit Rimon. When the king's edict arrived, they
began to cry. They sought to rebel against the king.

[The sages] said, "Let a wise man go up to quiet the assembled."

They said, "Let R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah go up, as he is learned in the Torah."

R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah went up and expounded, "A lion was devouring prey [and] a bone
got stuck in its throat. It said, 'I will give a reward to anyone who comes and removes it.' An
Egyptian heron2 with a long beak puts his beak into the mouth of the lion and extracted the bone.
It said to the lion, 'Give me my reward.' The lion said to it, 'Go and praise yourself, "I went into
the mouth of the lion in peace and I came out in peace" - and there is no greater reward than that.'

So too, it is enough for us that we entered into this nation in peace and came out in peace"...

5
 Aesop
Αἴσωπος (Aisōpos)

Was Aesop’s fables known to the Rabbis?

It would appear, from references in the Talmud, that the Talmudic sages knew of the fables, both
in their separate and in their collected forms.

It is said of Johanan ben Zakkai (about the year 80), "He did not leave out of the circle of his
studies . . . . . . the speech of angels, of demons, and of trees, the Mishlot Shu'alim and the Mishlot
Kobsim" (Suk. 28a). 3

‫אמרו עליו על רבן יוחנן בן זכאי שלא הניח מקרא ומשנה גמרא הלכות ואגדות דקדוקי תורה ודקדוקי סופרים קלים‬
‫וחמורים וגזרות שוות תקופות וגימטריאות שיחת מלאכי השרת ושיחת שדים ושיחת דקלים משלות כובסין משלות‬
‫שועלים דבר גדול ודבר קטן‬

The Gemara relates: The Sages said about Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai that he did not neglect
Bible; Mishna; Gemara; halakhot and Haggadot; minutiae of the Torah and minutiae of the
scribes; the hermeneutical principles of the Torah with regard to a fortiori inferences and verbal

3
Joseph Jacobs http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/874-aesop-s-fables-among-the-jews

6
analogies; the calculation of the calendrical seasons; and numerology [gimmatreyaot]. In
addition, he did not neglect esoteric matters, including the conversation of ministering angels; the
conversation of demons, and the conversation of palm trees; parables of launderers, which are
folk tales that can be used to explain the Torah; parables of foxes; and more generally, a great
matter and a small matter.

Joseph Jacobs suggested that, as the phrase "Mishlot Kobsim" has no meaning except "fables of
the washermen," the word Kobsim. For a different interpretation of the word, see Fable. is a
misreading for Kubsis ( for ); and interprets the passage as stating that Johanan
was acquainted with Æsop's Fables and with the Fables of Kybises, the latter of which had just
been introduced from Ceylon to the Greek-speaking world.

In the next century it is stated (Sanh. 38b) that "R. Meir had three hundred Fox-Fables," which
statement is interpreted as a reference to the collection of Nicostratus.

The latest reference to fables in the Talmud is in the Mishnah (Soṭah, ix. 15), "With the death of
R. Meir [about 190] fabulists ceased to be."

The importance of the Talmudic references in the critical history of the Æsopic fables is the
evidence it affords of a separate collection under the name of Kybises.

Reb Yehoshua ben Chananya lived to witness Hadrian's visit to Palestine, and he followed the
emperor to Alexandria (130). The conversations between Reb Yehoshua and Hadrian, as they have
been preserved in the Babylonian Talmud (Hullin 59b) and in Palestinian Midrash, present in
general a picture of the intercourse between the witty Jewish scholar and the active, inquisitive
emperor, the "curiositatum omnium explorator", as Tertullian calls him.

Below I collected a number of references to him from Talmudic sources to provide a picture of the
complexity of his literary personality.

1. His Mother’s devotion to his development:

Mishna Avot 2:8-9

x‫ ִכּי ְלָכ‬,v‫ ַאל ַתֲּחִזיק טוָֹבה ְלַﬠְצְמ‬,‫ ִאם ָלַמְדָתּ תוֹ ָרה ַה ְרֵבּה‬,‫ הוּא ָהָיה אוֵֹמר‬.‫ַרָבּן יוָֹחָנן ֶבּן ַזַכּאי ִקֵבּל ֵמִהֵלּל וִּמַשָּׁמּאי‬
,‫שַׁﬠ ֶבּן ֲחַנ ְנָיה‬
ֻ ‫ ְו ַרִבּי ְיהוֹ‬,‫ ַרִבּי ֱאִליֶﬠֶזר ֶבּן הוֹ ְרְקנוֹס‬,‫ ְוֵאלּוּ ֵהן‬,‫שּׁה ַתְלִמיִדים ָהיוּ לוֹ ְל ַרָבּן יוָֹחָנן ֶבּן ַזַכּאי‬ ָ ‫ ֲחִמ‬.‫נוָֹצ ְרָתּ‬
‫ בּוֹר‬,‫ ַרִבּי ֱאִליֶﬠֶזר ֶבּן הוֹ ְרְקנוֹס‬.‫ הוּא ָהָיה מוֶֹנה ִשְׁבָחן‬.x‫ ְו ַרִבּי ֶאְלָﬠָזר ֶבּן ֲﬠ ָר‬,‫ ְו ַרִבּי ִשְׁמעוֹן ֶבּן ְנַת ְנֵאל‬,‫ְו ַרִבּי יוֵֹסי ַהֹכֵּהן‬
‫ ָחִסיד‬,‫ ַרִבּי יוֵֹסי ַהֹכֵּהן‬.‫ ַאְשׁ ֵרי יוַֹלְדתּוֹ‬,‫שַׁﬠ ֶבּן ֲחַנ ְנָיה‬
ֻ ‫ ַרִבּי ְיהוֹ‬.‫שֵׁאינוֹ ְמַאֵבּד ִטָפּה‬ ֶ ‫…ס וּ ד‬

Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai received [the oral tradition] from Hillel and Shammai.

He used to say: if you have learned much Torah, do not claim credit for yourself, because for such
a purpose where you created. Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had five disciples and they were these:

7
Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, Rabbi Yose, the priest, Rabbi Shimon
ben Nethaneel and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach.

He [Rabbi Johanan] used to list their outstanding virtues: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is a plastered
cistern which loses not a drop… Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah happy is the woman that gave birth
to him;

Bartenura

"happy is the one who gave birth to him":

Rendered happy by good character traits is one who the whole world says about him, "happy is the
one who gave birth to him."

And some say, because she caused him to be a sage. For she would go out to all of the study halls
in her town and say to them, "I request from you that you should seek mercy (pray) for this embryo
that is in my innards, that he should be a sage."

And from the day that he was born, she did not remove his crib from the study hall, so that only
words of Torah would enter his ears.

8
 2. His interaction with Other dominant cultures:

I am interested in his interactions with noble women either known as Bas Kaisar, daughter of
Caesar, or Matrona/Matronisa. Tal Ilan4 has looked at this genre of Talmudic stories specifically
applied to another Tanna but bears on our study.

4
Journal for the Study of Judaism, XXV, 1, © E. J. Brill, Leiden MATRONA AND RABBI JOSE: AN ALTERNATIVE
INTERPRETATION BY TAL ILAN

9
Interactions between rabbis and Roman Noblewomen

Jewish Rome

Archeological Evidence5

In Rome, at least four distinct Jewish catacombs were found. These yield an enormous repository
of at least 600 inscriptions.

In order to understand the magnitude of this find, it is worthwhile noting that from all of western
Europe, outside of Rome, only 192 Jewish inscriptions are attested, of which 64 come from another
Jewish catacomb in Venosa, southern Italy.

The catacombs are not open to the public. Copies of some of the inscriptions can be seen in the
stair house of the modern synagogue at the Lungotevere dei Cenci; a few originals in Oxford's
Ashmolean Museum.

The following Jewish catacombs have been identified.

1. on the Via Nomentana near the Villa Torlonia,

2. on the Via Labicana outside the Porta Maggiore,
3. on the Via Appia Pignatelli (beyond the second milestone, closer to the city than the
Christian catacombs),
4. on the Via Appia (Via Cimarra),

5
18 See D. Noy, Jewish Inscriptions of Western Europe 2: The City of Rome (Cambridge 1995)

10
 5. on the Via Ostiensis, at Monteverde.

The tombstones offer us a map of the Jewish community in Rome. For example, the inscriptions
mention the names of the Roman synagogues, and it is possible to establish where they were,
because people would bury their dead in the nearest catacomb.

The synagogue of Osti

Synagogue of the "Agger"

Via Nomentana Synagogue of the Subura
Via Labicana Unknown synagogue
Via Appia Pignatelli Synagogue of the Field of Mars
Via Appia Synagogue of Elaias
Synagogue of the Agrippaeans
Synagogue of the Augustiales
Synagogue of the Hebrews
Vernacular synagogue
Synagogue of Volumnius
Synagogue of the Tripolitans
Via Ostiensis Synagogue of the Calcaresians

§ Most of the 534 names on the inscription are Greek: 405 (76%). 123 people (23%) had a
Latin name, whereas the remaining 5 inscriptions show Hebrew, Aramaic and hybrid
names

§ This confirms that most Roman Jews were culturally Greek, not Latins.

§ Synagogue of the "Agger": also known as the synagogue of the Secenians (from Zekenim,
"elders").

11
 § Synagogue of the Subura: no inscriptions before 70 CE. It may have been founded by
(freed) prisoners of war. The location suggests that they had been involved in the urban
renewal projects of Vespasian (Colosseum, temple of Peace).

§ Synagogue of the Field of Mars and Synagogue of the Calcaresians: both on the Field of
Mars. Maybe, these places of worship are the ancestors of the medieval "cinque scuole" in
the Ghetto and the modern synagogue.

§ Synagogue of the Agrippaeans and Synagogue of the Augustiales: the names may honor
the emperor Augustus and his close friend Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. However, the
second name may also refer to the Jewish king Herod Agrippa.

§ Synagogue of the Hebrews and Vernacular synagogue: the name of the first one suggests
that it was the first synagogue in Rome, or that it maintained the Hebrew liturgical
language; the second name suggest that Latin was spoken.

§ Synagogue of Volumnius and Synagogue of Elaias: called after otherwise unknown people.
As we will see below, in the latter synagogue, many people had Latin names - we do not
know why.

§ Synagogue of the Tripolitans: probably called after the "three cities" in Africa, and
therefore believed to be the place where African rites were performed.6

§ Three synagogues are known only by name and cannot be localized; a fourth synagogue
was at Ostia, the Roman port.7

Unlike comments from the works of Roman writers, these inscriptions should certainly count as
internal evidence, produced by the Jews themselves about themselves. However, they are not the
products of a literary circle of Jews, who reflect on their Jewish identity and culture (as are the
writings of Josephus, Philo, numerous Hellenistic Jews or the rabbis).

Rather, they reflect what the living Jews of Rome wanted their contemporaries to know and think
about their dead relatives. They were not written down for posterity, and were certainly not very
deep or original.8

6
H.J. Leon, The Jews of Ancient Rome (1960 Philadelphia). More recent is J.G. Westenholz, The Jewish Presence in Ancient
Rome (1994). An overview of recent publications can be found in M. Williams (ed.), The Jews among the Greeks and Romans. A
Diasporan Sourcebook (1998 Baltimore), which contains - next to the bibliography - many translated texts on the Jews in the
Diaspora. On the fourth century, one may consult L.V. Rutgers, The Jews in Late Ancient Rome. Evidence of Cultural
Interaction in the Roman Diaspora (1995 Leiden).
7
Jonah Lendering https://www.livius.org/articles/concept/diaspora/jewish-rome/
8
The Torah of the Jews of Ancient Rome Author(s): Tal Ilan Source: Jewish Studies Quarterly, 2009, Vol. 16, No. 4 (2009), pp.
363-395

12
We do not know the backstory to the encounter between Reb Joshua and the government. Clearly
he volunteered, and clearly he was sufficiently articulate to represent the interests of the
community.

Detail of a menorah found on a column at the Synagogue at Ostia Antica

Textual Evidence

While many scholars have rejected rabbinic literature as an historical source, citing the difficulty
of dating and locating its component parts and lamenting the

13
unreliability of rabbinic attributions of sayings and acts to specific individuals, Tal
Ilan believes reading these texts in new ways can retrieve historical information
that expands knowledge about women.9

Whereas I diverge from our story of Reb Joshua’s interaction with the daughter of Caesar I needed
to set a framework for arguing that the mere lack of archeological evidence does not detract from
our literary tradition.

Ilam chooses as her methodological case study the story of Rabbi Aqiva and his wife, versions of
which appear in six different places in rabbinic writings.

All of these accounts retain two common themes: R. Aqiva's wife helped her husband during his
years of study, and R. Aqiva bought his wife an expensive gold headdress.

While previous analyses have assumed the story is legendary, Ilan interrogates each narrative
element to determine whether it belongs to the original tradition and whether it has significance
historically.

Ilan establishes three sets of criteria, beginning with the need to establish a reliable text. Arguing
that women are always anomalous in ancient literatures, Ilan believes editors, redactors, and
scribes of rabbinic literature, at any of a number of later stages, excised female references as
superfluous unless they were absolutely essential to the tradition; where women remain, their
presence should be taken seriously.

However, care must be taken. Ilan cautions that later commentators sometimes filled in textual
lacunae with their own interpretations, many of which then became incorporated into later
versions of the respective rabbinic passages.

Here, Ilan cites Rashi's medieval adumbrations of obscure rabbinic references to events in the
life of Beruriah, wife of Rabbi Meir.

Although there is no evidence that Rashi's contention that Beruriah was seduced by one of her hu
sband's students and later committed suicide has a rabbinic origin, his addition to Beruriah's story
has long been assumed to derive from earlier Aggadah.

Ilan also uses chronological and geographical criteria to measure the historical reliability of
specific rabbinic traditions. Rabbinic literature has a tendency to link wellknown individuals by
establishing fictitious relationships of kinship or propinquity which are often impossible
chronologically.

Thus, Rabbi Aqiva's wife is said to be the daughter of a famous plutocrat, Kalba Savua, even
though the texts themselves indicate they lived in different centuries.

14
In contrast, Ilan cites a reference in the Mishnah to an ornate headdress known as a
"City of Gold"; discussing this passage, both the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds refer to an
ornament Rabbi Aqiva made for his wife. In each case the transmitters of this tradition are early
amoraim who flourished directly after the Mishnah was compiled, within a few generations of
Rabbi Aqiva's time. Assuming the accuracy of these attributions and the Palestinian provenance
of the tradition of the "City of Gold,"

Ilan argues on chronological and geographical grounds that it forms the earliest and probably
most historically accurate stratum of the story about Rabbi Aqiva and his wife.10

In a brilliant, brief conclusion, Ilan rereads the material about R. Akiba and Rachel from the
perspective of her methods for writing women's history.

It is daunting to discover how much of the cherished fable she deems non-historical.

But enough is left to be able to say that a woman played a key role in the life of R. Akiba.11

10
In the second part of her book, Ilan discusses the important role played by external sources in supporting the historicity of some
rabbinic references to women. Mention of women weaving in the Temple, for example, is validated in pseudepigraphical writin
gs, while discoveries in the Judean Desert of secondcentury deeds of gifts to women support rabbinic discussions of such bequest
s.
11
Mine and Yours Are Hers: Retrieving Women's History from Rabbinic Literature by Tal Ilan Review by: Judith Hauptman
Source: The Jewish Quarterly

15
 3. As to his Physical appearance: Inner vs outer

Nedarim 50b

‫אמרה ליה בת קיסר לרבי יהושע בן חנניה תורה מפוארה בכלי מכוער א"ל למדי מבית אבוך במה מניחין יין אמרה ליה‬
‫במאני דפחרא אמר לה כולי עלמא בפחרא ואתון במאני דפחרא אתון אחיתון במאני דכספא ודהבא‬

The daughter of the emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya:

You are the epitome of magnificent Torah, but it is stored in an ugly vessel, as Rabbi Yehoshua
ben Chananya was an unattractive man.

He said to her: You may learn the answer to your statement from your father’s house. In what
container do you place wine?

She said to him: In earthenware vessels.

He said to her: Is it conceivable that everyone stores their wine in earthenware vessels, and you
also store it in earthenware vessels?

Is there no distinction between the emperor and ordinary people?

You should place your wine in vessels of silver and gold.

‫אזלת ורמת חמרא במאני דכספא ודהבא וסרי אמר לה אף אורייתא כן והאיכא שפירין וגמירין אמר לה אי הוו‬
‫סנו הוו גמירין טפי‬

She went and placed the wine in vessels of silver and gold, and it spoiled.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to her: The same is also true of the Torah. It spoils if it is contained in a
handsome person.

She asked him: But are there not people who are both good looking and learned in Torah?

He said to her: If they were ugly, they would be even more learned.

A simple reading of Rabbi Yehoshua's statement gives the impression that some connection exists
between the physical appearance of a scholar and his level of learning.

Maharsha, however, calls attention to the fact that while the princess used the term "ugly" in
regard to him, Rabbi Yehoshua used the term "hateful".

16
The sage was not making any connection between looks and wisdom but rather stressing the
importance of a scholar having a hateful attitude to physical beauty (a point made by Tosafos
in Mesechta Ta’anit 7a), for one who is obsessed with appearances will find this attitude an
obstacle to his development as a Torah scholar.

The story seeks to comment upon a social issue, namely the attitude toward people who are not
blessed with beauty as determined by prevailing cultural standards.

The priorities of Rabbi Yehoshua represent the priorities of his people’s sages: wisdom is the most
prized pursuit. Caesar’s daughter, who was born to power and wealth, feels free to insult an old
wise man.

Rabbi Yehoshua, the spiritual hero of this story, conveyed to her a different evaluation. Through
their exchange, she learned that the outer appearance of the “ugly” pottery vessels (“ugly” persons)
possessed an inner beauty, they are the best vessels to preserve wine (wisdom), while the wine
(wisdom) was ruined in the beautiful gold and silver vessels (so-called good-looking persons).

The story concludes with a preference for the wise person even if that person lacks beauty. The
end of the legend is in the “victory” of the wise person and in a message that is supposed to
comforts and encourage readers.12

12
Lev Hakak, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/can-beauty-be-a-detriment_b_8986172

17
Shimona Tzukernik writes sensitively:13

In some sense, whether or not we are beautiful is irrelevant. The real issue is our attitude to our
beauty – whether of the body or of our life story.
When Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya replies to the noblewoman's challenge that there are
handsome men who are learned, he says, "If they were plain, they would be even more learned."

On the words Iy'havu sanu, "if they were homely," Tosfos understands the words to mean "if they
would hate."

In other words, if these scholars would be dismissive of their own beauty, they would be even more
learned.

We cannot remain attached to reality being a particular way. Once we label "what is" as ugly, we
lose access to the fact that this too is from God Who directs everything and Who is the essence of
good.

And the same applies when we label "what is" as beautiful. At that moment, we reveal that we are
attached to having the universe run on our terms and that we pride ourselves on the beauty.

It's not that there aren't beauties and beasts. It's how I relate to and frame it that makes all the
difference.

4. His involvement with Ransoming Captives

Eicha Rabba 4:4 and Gittin 58a14

‫ ָשׁם‬x‫ ָהַל‬,‫ ָגּדוֹל ֶשְׁבּרוִֹמי ָאְמרוּ לוֹ ִתּינוֹק ֶאָחד ֵישׁ ְבֵּבית ָהֲאסוּ ִרין ַבָּקּלוֹן‬x‫ ִלְכ ַר‬x‫שַׁﬠ ֶבּן ֲחַנ ְנָיה ֶשָׁהַל‬ ֻ ‫ַמֲﬠֶשׂה ְבּ ַרִבּי ְיהוֹ‬
‫ ְוָק ָרא ָﬠָליו ַהָפּסוּק‬,‫ ָﬠַמד ַﬠל ִפְּתחוֹ ְלָבְדקוֹ‬.‫ָרָאה ִתּינוֹק ֶאָחד ְיֵפה ֵﬠיַנ ִים ְוטוֹב ֹרִאי וְּקווּצוָֹתיו ְסדוּרוֹת לוֹ עוֵֹמד ַבָּקּלוֹן‬
‫ כד(ַהֶזּה‬,‫)ישעיה מב‬: ‫ ֲהלוֹא ה' זוּ ָחָטאנוּ לוֹ ְול ֹא ָאבוּ‬:‫ ָﬠָנה ַהִתּינוֹק ַאֲח ָריו‬.‫ִמי ָנַתן ִלְמִשָׁסּה ַיֲﬠֹקב ְו ִיְשׂ ָרֵאל ְלֹבְזִזים‬
‫ ְוָזְלגוּ ֵﬠיָניו‬.‫ ְבֵּני ִציּוֹן ַה ְיָק ִרים ַהְמֻסָלִּאים ַבָּפּז‬:‫שַׁﬠ ָק ָרא ָﬠָליו‬ֻ ‫שַּׁמע ַרִבּי ְיהוֹ‬ ָ ‫שׁ‬ֶ ‫ ֵכּיָון‬,‫שְׁמעוּ ְבּתוֹ ָרתוֹ‬ָ ‫ ְול ֹא‬x‫ִבְד ָרָכיו ָהלוֹ‬
‫ ְוָהֲﬠבוָֹדה ֶשֵׁאי ִני ָזז ִמָכּאן ַﬠד‬,‫ְדָּמעוֹת ְוָאַמר ֵמִﬠיד ֲא ִני ָשַׁמ ִים ָוָא ֶרץ ֶשֻׁמְּבָטח ֲא ִני ָבֶּזה ֶשׁמּוֹ ֶרה הוֹ ָרָאה ְבּ ִיְשׂ ָרֵאל‬
‫שׁהוֹ ָרה‬ ֶ ‫ ְול ֹא ָהיוּ ָיִמים מוָּﬠִטים ַﬠד‬,‫שְׁפָּדאוֹ ְבָּממוֹן ַה ְרֵבּה‬ ֶ ‫ ָאְמרוּ ל ֹא ָזז ִמָשּׁם ַﬠד‬.‫ֶשֶׁאְפֶדנּוּ ְבָּכל ָממוֹן ֶשׁ ִיְּפְסקוּ ָﬠָליו‬
‫שׁע‬ ָ ‫ וַּמנּוּ ַרִבּי ִיְשָׁמֵﬠאל ֶבּן ֱאִלי‬,‫הוֹ ָרָאה ְבּ ִיְשׂ ָרֵאל‬.

There is a story about Rabbi Yehoshua son of Chananya who once went to the great city of Rome,
where they said to him: There is a child in prison with beautiful eyes and an attractive appearance,
and his curly hair is arranged in locks.

13
https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/654577/jewish/Beauty-of-the-Beast.htm#footnote3a654577
14
The Mishnah in Gittin had ruled that one may not redeem captives for more than their value, and this law was codified by all
the standard codes of Jewish law. But in practice, many Talmudic Sages including Reb Joshua as well as medieval rabbis found
ways to circumvent that Mishnah by interpretation or by creating exceptions to the rule.

18
Rabbi Yehoshua went and stood by the entrance to the prison. He said, as if speaking to himself:
“Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? (Isaiah 42:24)". That child answered by
reciting the continuation of the verse: “Did not the Lord, He against Whom we have sinned, and
in Whose ways, they would not walk, neither were they obedient to His law?”

When Rabbi Yehoshua heard that he called to him:

--‫ ַהְמֻסָלִּאים ַבָּפּז‬,‫ְבֵּני ִציּוֹן ַה ְיָק ִרים‬ 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how
‫ ַמֲﬠֵשׂה ְיֵדי‬,‫ֶחֶרשׂ‬-‫ֵאיָכה ֶנְחְשׁבוּ ְל ִנְבֵלי‬ are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands
{‫ }ס‬.‫יוֵֹצר‬ of the potter! {S}

Rabbi Yehoshua said: I am certain that, if given the opportunity, this child will issue halakhic
rulings in Israel, as he is already exceedingly wise. He said: "I take an oath by heaven and earth
that I will not move from here until I ransom him for whatever sum of money, they set for him".

They said that he did not move from there until he ransomed him for a great sum of money, and
not even a few days had passed when this child then issued halakhic rulings in Israel. And who
was this child? This was Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha.!!

Tosafos derives from this story that when there is sakkanat nefashot (mortal danger), one may pay
more than the captive is worth.

Another opinion in Tosafos (ibid. and to 45a) says that we derive from this story about the young
scholar that one may redeem a Sage for more than he is worth.

A third opinion in Tosafos (45a) says that we derive from this story that after the destruction of
the Temple, Jews are targets in any case and paying a high ransom will not cause more or less
kidnapping.15

15
Although this is the subject of another discussion I saw the following responsa from R. David ibn Zimra–the Radbaz (Egypt and
Israel, 1479-1573)– “all Jews are already accustomed to redeem their captives more than their value in the marketplace, for an old
man or minor are only worth 20 dinars and yet they are redeemed for 100 dinars or more. This is because the reason for the Mishnah
is that they should not seize more captives, but we see in our day that the kidnappers do not set out in the first place to capture
Jews, but rather whoever they can find.” He further says that even if Jews pay more ransom for Jews than non-Jews do, that is
because the captive is a Sage or because there is a danger that the captive will be forced to convert (this latter argument is his own
invention). In other words, the Radbaz goes to great lengths to justify the custom in his time of ignoring the Mishnah in Gittin.

19
 5. His humility

Reb Yehoshua is taught by a woman (hostess) that halacha and moral values
are not automatically derivative

Most compelling is the way Tova Hartman in her Bruria study16 uses the narrative of Reb
Yehoshua to expose the way women might affect the way Torah would be viewed by men.17

The study of Torah is presented as functioning as a check against the abuse of power by those most
strongly identified with it, communal leaders. When those entrusted with communal authority fail
to internalize the values imparted through Torah study, they are in danger of losing their moral
compass.

When their teaching and learning become lax in a way that compromises a full integration of
traditional values and ideals, they put themselves at risk for more far-reaching forms of ethical
compromise. They risk becoming corrupt.

The theme of embodied knowledge and its importance first appears in a rabbinic discussion about
the populations of Judea and the Galilee, who with regard to this theme, the Talmud says, are
polar opposites.

The former, known for their extreme concern for precision and clarity in language, are contrasted
favorably over the latter, whose laxness, according to the Talmud, caused a hemorrhaging of
Torah knowledge from among them and turned them into a source of some ridicule, the butt of a
cultural joke.

A hapless salesman from Galilee is represented as having such muddled speech that he cannot
effectively convey the fact that he is selling, much less describe the nature of his goods. For this
he is met with derision, heckled by bystanders as a “Foolish Galilean”—an epithet that seems to
connote a disconnect between what is known and what is expressed, and which recurs in one of
the subsequent Berurah tales analyzed below.

The theme of embodying, and its failure, is illustrated with a provocative declaration by a great
rabbinic leader. “R. Yehoshua ben Chananya said: In all my days no one ever defeated me
[nitzkhani], except for a woman, a little boy, and a little girl.”

16
“Beruriah Said Well”: The Many Lives (and Deaths) of a Talmudic Social Critic TOVA HARTMAN AND CHARLIE
BUCKHOLTZ, PROOFTEXTS 31 (2011): 181–209. 2011

17
Her article revisits the iconic Talmudic figure Beruriah. We examine both her representation in the Talmud and several significant
appropriations in the medieval and modern periods, focusing on her depiction in Rashi’s disturbing gloss on the “Beruriah Incident.”
One of the only women represented in rabbinic literature as a Torah scholar on par with the rabbis themselves, dominant modern
readings of Beruriah have tended to present her as a kind of proto-liberal feminist, a woman who can function competently and
successfully in the male-dominated spheres of intellectual achievement and cultural power. The modern Orthodox Jewish
community has appropriated her as a traditional precedent for the legitimacy of women’s Torah study. We argue that approaches
limiting Beruriah’s significance to her status as a “woman who is like a man” has overlooked the words attributed to her, and
missed what we claim is a more radical social-critical voice.

20
Eruvin 53b

‫אמר רבי יהושע בן חנניה מימי לא נצחני אדם חוץ מאשה תינוק ותינוקת אשה מאי היא פעם אחת נתארחתי אצל‬
‫אכסניא אחת עשתה לי פולין ביום ראשון אכלתים ולא שיירתי מהן כלום שנייה ולא שיירתי מהן כלום ביום‬
‫שלישי הקדיחתן במלח כיון שטעמתי משכתי ידי מהן‬

Having discussed the clever speech of various Sages, the Gemara relates that Rabbi Yehoshua
ben Chananya said as follows: In all my days, no person defeated me in a verbal encounter
except for a woman, a young boy, and a young girl. What is the encounter in which a woman
got the better of me?

One time I was staying at a certain inn and the hostess prepared me beans. On the first day I ate
them and left nothing over, although proper etiquette dictates that one should leave over
something on his plate. On the second day I again ate and left nothing over. On the third day she
over-salted them so that they were inedible. As soon as I tasted them, I withdrew my hands from
them.

‫אמרה לי רבי מפני מה אינך סועד אמרתי לה כבר סעדתי מבעוד יום אמרה לי היה לך למשוך ידיך מן הפת‬

She said to me: My Rabbi, why aren’t you eating beans as on the previous days? Not wishing
to offend her, I said to her: I have already eaten during the daytime. She said to me: You should
have withdrawn your hand from bread and left room for some beans.

‫אמרה לי רבי שמא לא הנחת פאה בראשונים ולא כך אמרו חכמים אין משיירין פאה באלפס אבל משיירין פאה‬
‫בקערה‬
She then said to me: My Rabbi, perhaps you did not leave a remainder of food on your plate on
the first days, which is why you are leaving over food today. Isn’t this what the Sages said: One
need not leave a remainder in the pot [ilpas], but one must leave a remainder on the plate as an
expression of etiquette (Tosafos).

The three stories R. Yehoshua narrates in support of this claim all entail his being colorfully and
sharply called to task in verbal contests with profound moral implications, by those considered
well beneath him in both standing and understanding.

Variations on a theme, for our purposes it will suffice to quote and discuss just one of these
vignettes. What was the incident with the woman?

Once I was staying at a certain inn, and the hostess made me beans. On the first day I ate them
and did not leave over any of them. The second day [she served me beans and] I did not leave over
any of them. On the third day she “burned” them with too much salt. As soon as I tasted them, I
pulled my hands away. She asked me, “Rabbi, why aren’t you eating?” I said to her, “I already
ate during the daytime.” She said to me, “If so, you should have refrained from eating the bread.”
She said to me, “Rabbi, perhaps you did not leave over a portion of beans from the first [servings,
i.e., and that is why you are leaving over the beans now]. For did not the Sages say that we do not
leave a portion over in the serving pot, but we do leave a portion over on the plate?”

21
By the anonymous innkeeper’s response, we are given to understand that during his first two days
at the inn, R. Yehoshua cleared his plate, failing to leave anything over for the food server.

When the server would pour the evening stew from the pot into the individual bowls, he would not
leave anything over in the pot for his own needs. It was the responsibility of the diners to leave
over an unfinished portion on their plates, which he then would collect and combine into one
complete portion, his supper. Moreover, this custom was, according to the innkeeper, instituted by
the rabbis themselves.

After witnessing one of the greatest living exemplars of this exclusive fellowship clear his plate for
two days in a row, she takes him to task, quoting his own authoritative canon against him. How
can a rabbi fail to uphold the standards he has taken it upon himself to embody?

Moreover, it is noteworthy that R. Yehoshua’s first response is evasion. While his conscious intent
seems initially to be polite—he does not want to give the impression that the food is bad—this itself
implies how remote is the possibility in his mind that a female innkeeper could possibly be
questioning his ethical integrity.

There is a disturbing glibness in his amiable attempt to save her feelings while systematically
cheating the help. The ease and facility with which he comes up with small deceptions to deflect
her inquiry also give one pause. The powerful rabbinic intellect, the Talmud quietly suggests,
trained for agility and quickness, is ethically neutral.

It can just as easily be enlisted in the service of justifying lapses of integrity as it can in clarifying
the will of God. The three stories end with a summary declaration by R. Yehoshua expressing a
humbling new sense of inclusiveness (“ . . . for all of you are wise . . . ”) that contrasts sharply
with his initial elitist condescension toward these three social and intellectual inferiors.

He now understands that it is possible to learn from anyone, and that to presume otherwise is to
place oneself in significant moral danger. What he learns over the course of these interactions is
that his mastery of halakhic language is not synonymous with the embodiment of its values.

To the contrary: it can lead to a sense of complacency and smugness that leaves one vulnerable to
various forms of corruption. Only when exposed to the perceptions and judgments of people
operating outside the Talmudic framework, unimpressed by title or verbal dexterity, does he
become vulnerable to verbal battles he cannot win, based on ethical critiques he cannot answer.

22
 Thomas Merton 1915-1968

I come back to the notion of beauty and Reb Joshua’s interaction with the noblewoman of
Rome/Matrona/Daughter of Caesar.

I am reminded of Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social
activist, and scholar of comparative religion.18:

Merton’s thoughts on beauty can’t be repeated often enough – especially in our culture where
beauty is often thought to be had by some people, but certainly not by all.

It is often considered a function of having the right makeup and clothes. Merton charges into this
perception, leveling it by reminding us that beauty is a transcendental property of being:

“beauty is being,” and when we encounter ugliness, he says that it is a “lack of being due to a
being.”

18
Finding True Meaning and Beauty by Thomas Merton 2 CDs Rockville, MD: Now You Know Media, 20

23
As always, Merton fosters the growth of the individual person such that his or her beauty manifests
itself in this full presence.

What do we do to obtain more beauty? He says it is grace19 that “brings beauty into your life.”
“Art restores beauty,” and so we are “constantly using art against decay and falling apart.” 20

He tells a story of a man who did everything he was supposed to do, and when he gets to heaven,
God throws him out because he did not delight in life itself.21

19
I read this word as chesed
20
Mary Murray McDonald: http://merton.org/ITMS/Seasonal/38/38-3McDonaldRevTMFindingTrueMeaning.pdf
21
Sound familiar? ‫ה"ט‬/ ‫תלמוד ירושלמי מסכת קידושין פרק ד דף סו טור ב‬
‫ ר' חזקיה ר' כהן בשם רב עתיד אדם ליתן דין וחשבון על כל מה שראת עינו ולא אכל‬R. Chizkiyah said in the name of Rav: You will one day
give reckoning for everything your eyes saw which, although permissible, you did not enjoy.

24