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Judah bar Ilai
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Judah bar Ilai
Judah beRabbi Ilai (Mishnaic Hebrew: יהודה בר' אלעאי), usually known as Rabbi Judah or Judah bar Ilai, was a rabbi of the 2nd century (fourth generation of Tannaim), and a disciple of Rabbi Akiva. Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he is the one referred to simply as "Rabbi Judah" and is the most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah. He is not to be confused with Judah bar Ma'arava (יהודה בר מערבא, lit. 'Judah of the West'), an amora.
Judah was born at Usha in the Galilee. His teachers were his father Rabbi Ilai I (himself a pupil of Eliezer ben Hurcanus), Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon. He studied under Tarfon in early youth, and was so closely associated with Tarfon that he even performed menial services for him.
He was ordained by Judah ben Bava at a time when the Roman Empire forbade ordination. Judah was forced to flee Hadrian's persecution.
Almost at the beginning of Hadrian's persecution, Judah was forced to flee from Usha and conceal himself, and he often related episodes of the "times of peril". When, after the revocation of Hadrian's edicts of persecution, the pupils of Akiba held their reunions and councils in Usha, Judah received the right to express his opinion before all others. He was then known as "Rosh ha-Medabbebrim" ("leader among the speakers") on the grounds that he was the best authority on Jewish traditions. He was intimately associated with the patriarch Simeon ben Gamaliel II, in whose house he is said to have been entrusted with the decision in matters pertaining to the religious law. He was also able to win the confidence of the Romans by his praise of their civilizing tendencies as shown in their construction of bridges, highways, and marketplaces.
Judah's personal piety was most rigid, and he observed many of the practises of the Hasideans and the Essenes. He drank no wine except on the days when Jewish law required, and recommended against eating expensive meats so as to avoid developing a taste for luxuries. On Friday, after he had bathed and clad himself in white to prepare for the Sabbath, he seemed to his pupils an angel. According to a later rule of interpretation, Judah is meant in all passages reading, "It once happened to a pious man".
Bar Ilai was naturally passionate and irascible, but such was his self-control that he seemed the reverse. He once showed exceptional mildness when he had an opportunity to reconcile a married couple. The study of Halakha was his chief and dearest occupation, and he lamented the fact that such a devotion was no longer widespread as in former times. Yet his interest in the joys and sorrows of his fellow men was keener still. Whenever a funeral or a wedding procession passed, he interrupted his study to join it.
Judah lived in poverty. His wife made a cloak that served them both in turn—his wife as she went to the market, and he on his way to the bet midrash. Nevertheless, he declined all assistance; he had accustomed himself to the simplest mode of life, and desired to have no delight in this world.
Judah is believed to have lived to an old age; surviving his teachers and all of his colleagues. Among his disciples who paid him the last honors was Judah ha-Nasi. His grave was found at Ein Zeitim beside the tomb of his father.
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Judah bar Ilai
Judah beRabbi Ilai (Mishnaic Hebrew: יהודה בר' אלעאי), usually known as Rabbi Judah or Judah bar Ilai, was a rabbi of the 2nd century (fourth generation of Tannaim), and a disciple of Rabbi Akiva. Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he is the one referred to simply as "Rabbi Judah" and is the most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah. He is not to be confused with Judah bar Ma'arava (יהודה בר מערבא, lit. 'Judah of the West'), an amora.
Judah was born at Usha in the Galilee. His teachers were his father Rabbi Ilai I (himself a pupil of Eliezer ben Hurcanus), Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon. He studied under Tarfon in early youth, and was so closely associated with Tarfon that he even performed menial services for him.
He was ordained by Judah ben Bava at a time when the Roman Empire forbade ordination. Judah was forced to flee Hadrian's persecution.
Almost at the beginning of Hadrian's persecution, Judah was forced to flee from Usha and conceal himself, and he often related episodes of the "times of peril". When, after the revocation of Hadrian's edicts of persecution, the pupils of Akiba held their reunions and councils in Usha, Judah received the right to express his opinion before all others. He was then known as "Rosh ha-Medabbebrim" ("leader among the speakers") on the grounds that he was the best authority on Jewish traditions. He was intimately associated with the patriarch Simeon ben Gamaliel II, in whose house he is said to have been entrusted with the decision in matters pertaining to the religious law. He was also able to win the confidence of the Romans by his praise of their civilizing tendencies as shown in their construction of bridges, highways, and marketplaces.
Judah's personal piety was most rigid, and he observed many of the practises of the Hasideans and the Essenes. He drank no wine except on the days when Jewish law required, and recommended against eating expensive meats so as to avoid developing a taste for luxuries. On Friday, after he had bathed and clad himself in white to prepare for the Sabbath, he seemed to his pupils an angel. According to a later rule of interpretation, Judah is meant in all passages reading, "It once happened to a pious man".
Bar Ilai was naturally passionate and irascible, but such was his self-control that he seemed the reverse. He once showed exceptional mildness when he had an opportunity to reconcile a married couple. The study of Halakha was his chief and dearest occupation, and he lamented the fact that such a devotion was no longer widespread as in former times. Yet his interest in the joys and sorrows of his fellow men was keener still. Whenever a funeral or a wedding procession passed, he interrupted his study to join it.
Judah lived in poverty. His wife made a cloak that served them both in turn—his wife as she went to the market, and he on his way to the bet midrash. Nevertheless, he declined all assistance; he had accustomed himself to the simplest mode of life, and desired to have no delight in this world.
Judah is believed to have lived to an old age; surviving his teachers and all of his colleagues. Among his disciples who paid him the last honors was Judah ha-Nasi. His grave was found at Ein Zeitim beside the tomb of his father.