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Responsa literature
(in Hebrew She'elot U'Tshuvot — SHOOT for short) refers
to the vast body of legal literature which is composed of questions
asked of religious leaders about disputed or unknown points of
Jewish law or procedure, and the answers received. [more about
response literature]
Responsa first emerged in the early Middle Ages when far-flung
Jewish communities throughout the Islamic world sent their questions
to the Geonim, heads of the Babylonian rabbinic academies
and the undisputed spiritual authority of world Jewry. When new
centers of Jewish scholarship emerged in Europe and North Africa
towards the end of the tenth century, communities in these regions
began to turn to local religious authorities with their questions.
This tradition continues in Jewish communities even today.
We at JHOM.com can not take on the role of legal arbiter or spiritual
advisors. However, to continue the tradition of She'elot U'Tshuvot
and to further the goals of this magazine, we draw upon the resources
available to us to provide answers to general questions regarding
Jewish history, customs, and culture. |
View original Hebrew text below |
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 Who was 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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