Judah ben Bathyra or simply Judah Bathyra (also Beseira,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: יהודה בן בתירא) was an eminent tanna. The

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

quotes 17 laws by R. Judah, and the

Baraita ''Baraita'' (Aramaic: "external" or "outside"; pl. ''Barayata'' or ''Baraitot''; also Baraitha, Beraita; Ashkenazi: Beraisa) designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. ''Baraita'' thus refers to teachings "ou ...

about 40; he was also a prolific

aggadist Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...

. He was a member of the

Bnei Bathyra Bnei Bathyra ( he, בני בתירא, lit. ''"The Sons of Bathyra"''; Also referred to in the Jerusalem Talmud as זקני בתירא, lit. ''"The Elders of Bathyra"'') were a family of Jewish sages who were religious leaders around the period of t ...

family.

Biography

He must have lived before the destruction of the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, since he prevented a

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

from partaking of the

Paschal offering The Passover sacrifice ( he, קרבן פסח, translit=Qorban Pesaḥ), also known as the Paschal lamb or the Passover lamb, is the sacrifice that the Torah mandates the Israelites to ritually slaughter on the evening of Passover, and eat on th ...

. Thereupon he received the message: "Hail to thee, Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra! You live in

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

, but your net is spread in Jerusalem". Since R. Judah was not present himself at the Passover in Jerusalem, it may be concluded that he was far advanced in years, although as a citizen of a foreign land he was not bound by the law which demanded the celebration of the Passover at Jerusalem. At

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

he had a famous college, which is expressly recommended together with other famous schools.

Personal interactions

* R. Eleazer ben Shammua and R. Johanan the sandal-maker started on a journey to

in order to study under Judah ben Bathyra, but turned back when they reflected that they were giving preference to an alien country over

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. * R. Judah b. Bathyra himself undertook a journey to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with some colleagues. No sooner had they landed at

Puteoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

than they returned home weeping. * R. Judah once arrived at Nisibis just before the beginning of the fast of the

Ninth of Ab Tisha B'Av ( he, תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב ''Tīšʿā Bəʾāv''; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism, on which a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian E ...

, and although he had already eaten, he was obliged to partake of a sumptuous banquet at the house of the chief of the synagogue. But, most probably, the story is about another R. Judah ben Bathyra, since R. Hiyya (maybe R.

Hiyya the Great Hiyya, or Hiyya the Great, (ca. 180–230 CE) (Hebrew: רבי חייא, or רבי חייא הגדול) was a Jewish Sage (philosophy), sage in the Land of Israel during the transitional generation between the Tannaim, Tannaic and Amoraim, Amoraic ...

) is cited among him in the story.

Ambiguity of identity

Since controversies between him and

Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Yosef (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''ʿĂqīvāʾ ben Yōsēf''; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second c ...

are frequently mentioned, these being chronologically impossible, the existence of a second R. Judah b. Bathyra must be assumed, who was probably a grandson of the former, and therefore Akiva's contemporary. It is possible that there existed even a third R. Judah b. Bathyra, who was a contemporary of R. Josiah or of R.

Judah I Judah ha-Nasi ( he, יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא‎, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ‎''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince) or Judah I, was a second-century rabbi (a tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editor of the ''Mi ...

; he also seems to have lived at Nisibis. It is evident from the cases quoted in the

Tosefta The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

that R. Judah b. Bathyra (probably the earliest one by that name) did not quite keep pace with the

halakhah ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

as it was formulated in Israel, and represented rather the earlier standpoint. This R. Judah is probably also the one who now and again is mentioned simply as "Ben Bathyra". In Mishnah, Pesachim 3:3, the editions have "R. Judah ben Bathyra," while the Yerushalmi has only "ben Bathyra." There is one passage, however, where R. Judah b. Bathyra and b. Bathyra are reported as entertaining different opinions;

Ta'anit A ta'anit or ta'anis (Mishnaic Hebrew: תענית) is a Fasting, fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water. Purposes A Jewish fast may have one or more purposes, including: * Atonement for sins: Fasting is n ...

3a hence

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

takes "ben Bathyra" to be identical with R. Joshua ben Bathyra.

References

* {{Tannaim Mishnah rabbis Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown

Biography

Personal interactions

Ambiguity of identity

See also

References