| Yohanan
ben Zakkai
Yohanan ben Zakkai or RiBaZ (1st century C.E.), was one of the leading
tannaim — the sages from the period
of Hillel to the compilation of the Mishnah, (first and second centuries
C.E) — at the end of the Second Temple period
and during the years following the destruction of the Temple. The Talmud
refers to Ben Zakkai as the student of Hillel the Elder, although there
is no direct evidence of any discussions between them. According to
tradition, Hillel said of Ben Zakkai: “Father of wisdom, father
for generations.”
During the years of the Great Revolt (66-73 CE) Ben Zakkai opposed
the zealots and the extremists, seeking reconciliation with the Romans,
a stance that was overridden. His expositions on establishing peace
"between nation and nation, between government and government,
between family and family" were designed to promote peace for everyone.
[1]
According to the Talmudic account, he succeeded in outwitting the extremists
by leaving the city in a coffin after despairing of saving the besieged
city of Jerusalem (probably in 68 CE), arriving at the Roman camp with
his request to save Yavne and its sages. [2]
 Following the destruction, he was responsible for establishing Yavne
as a religious and national center. The city is described as being situated
near a stream of water; its wheat market was well known and cattle and
poultry were raised in the vicinity. Yavne was given special and central
status; in some respects it was now regarded as the equal of Jerusalem:
there the year was intercalated and the shofar blown, and pilgrims from
Asia visited the city three times a year. [3]
Ben Zakkai
increased the number of sages there; between 70 and 132 CE, Yavne was
"the great city, the city of scholars and rabbis"; most of
the tannaim of this period taught there and Rabban Gamaliel
was buried there. He raised the prestige of the Great Sanhedrin
(supreme religious court of law) [4] that met in the upper story of
a house or in a vineyard near a pigeon house. [There is a yeshiva today
in Yavne known as Kerem B’Yavne —
Vineyard in Yavne.]
Ben Zakkai instituted several new ordinances —
some "in remembrance of the Temple," [5] others to ensure
the continuation of Jewish life. Among the most important decisions
made at Yavne was the definitive canonization of the Bible.
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