Jesus and the Hasidim

How to cite this article: Shmuel Safrai, “Jesus and the Hasidim,” Jerusalem Perspective 42/43/44 (1994): 3-22 [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2685/].

Josephus relates that there were three schools of thought among the people of Israel: Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes.^[132] The Dead Sea sect likewise divided Israel into these three groups.^[133] Rabbinic literature, however, mentions only Pharisees and Sadducees, referring obliquely at best to the existence of the Essenes.^[134]

Jesus was closer to the world of the Pharisees than to that of the Sadducees or Essenes. He certainly did not share beliefs, religious outlook or social views with the Sadducees, and he would have had little in common with the isolationist views of the Essenes and their overt hostility toward anyone who did not accept their stringent views on ritual purity. Even if one accepts the premises of certain modern scholars regarding similarities between various sayings in the synoptic Gospels and the literature of the Dead Sea sect, there is an enormous distance between Jesus and the Essenes. Jesus made this clear with his statement that the “sons of this world” are superior to the “sons of light” (Luke 16:8).

Jesus and the Pharisees

Jesus’ education and understanding of Torah was in agreement with the Pharisees’ norms, based on both the Written and Oral Torah (Luke 2:41-47). He even taught his disciples and followers: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses, so be careful to observe everything they tell you” (Matt. 23:2-3). The expression “seat of Moses” is also found in midrashic literature^[135] and such seats have actually been found in ancient synagogues.^[136] Jesus, however, warned the people not to behave like the Pharisees, because “they say, but do not do” (Matt. 23:3).

• ^[1] On the opposition of the Sadducees to this levy, see Megillat Ta‘anit itself (beginning), and also its scholium (ed. H. Lichtenstein, Hebrew Union College Annual 8-9 [1931-32], 318, 323). On the view of the Essenes, see J. Liver, “The Half-Shekel in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Tarbiz 31 (1962): 18-22 (Hebrew), and David Flusser, “The Half-Shekel in the Gospels and in the Teaching of the Dead Sea Sect,” Tarbiz 31 (1962), 150-156 (Hebrew). English translation in Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Qumran and Apocalypticism (trans. Azzan Yadin; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 327-333—Ed. For a new source pertaining to this subject, see the Temple Scroll, XXXIX, 7-10. For proof of the view that the half-shekel tax as we know it from the last few generations of the Second Temple period was an innovation of the Pharisees or their spiritual ancestors, see J. Liver, “The Half-Shekel,” Kaufmann Jubilee Volume (Jerusalem, 1961), 54-67 (Hebrew). ↩
• ^[2] Matt. 17:24-27, and see David Flusser’s article cited in note 6. ↩
• ^[3] Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:39. It is especially important to note Luke 4:16ff., which mentions Jesus’ reading of the Torah and Prophets, and afterwards, his derashah (sermon). ↩
• ^[4] The tannaic and amoraic sources that mention the functions of the synagogue emphasize mainly the reading and teaching of Torah. Whenever the synagogue is mentioned in the Gospels or in Acts, it is within the context of reading or studying of the Torah and not in relation to prayer, which is the same general picture found in tannaic literature. For our purposes it is sufficient to cite the baraita in Tosefta (= T), Megillah 2:18 (parallels in the Babylonian Talmud [= BT] and the Jerusalem Talmud [= JT]:

  Synagogues—one does not treat them frivolously. One should not enter them when the sun beats down to get out of the sun, nor when it is cold to get out of the cold, nor when it is raining to get out of the rain. One does not eat in them, nor does one drink in them. And one should not sleep in them, nor promenade in them, nor adorn oneself there. Rather, in them one reads [the Torah], studies, preaches and gives public eulogies.

  The baraita in listing the functions of the synagogue—reading the Torah, studying, preaching and eulogizing—does not mention prayer. There certainly was prayer in the synagogue, but clearly its major function, as demonstrated by rabbinic literature and the Gospels, was to facilitate the public reading of the Torah, study and preaching. For additional sources, see Shmuel Safrai, “Gathering in the Synagogue on the Sabbath and on Weekdays,” Ancient Synagogues in Israel, BAR International Series 499 (1989): 7-15. ↩

• ^[5] Although there were Hasidic sages, too, in this article Prof. Safrai usually uses “sages” as a synonym for “Pharisees,” and as the opposite of “Hasidim.” -Ed. ↩
• ^[6] See Bradford Young, The Jewish Background to the Lord’s Prayer (Dayton, OH: Center for Judaic-Christian Studies, 1984). ↩
• ^[7] Shmuel Safrai, “Teaching of Pietists in Mishnaic Literature,” The Journal of Jewish Studies 16 (1956): 15-33. A somewhat expanded version of this article was published in Eretz Israel and Its Sages in the Period of the Mishnah and Talmud (Tel Aviv, 1983), 144-160 (Hebrew). See also my “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” Zion 50 (1985): 133-154 (Hebrew). ↩
• ^[8] Such as chapter five of Tractate Berachot in the Mishnah (= M), and several chapters of Derech Eretz Zuta. See Eretz Israel and Its Sages, 152-155, and “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 149-151. ↩
• ^[9] The earliest Hasidic story is that of Honi the Circle Drawer in M Ta‘anit 3:8, and the collections of Hasidic stories in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, Tractate Ta‘anit. See Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 141-143. ↩
• ^[10] Such as the saying of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa in M Avot 3:9, and the baraita attributed to Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair (see note 129) that is found in a number of sources composed in the land of Israel, as well as in Babylonian sources. See Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 148. ↩
• ^[11] Such as the story about Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah who was sent by Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai to Ramat Bene Anat and there had occasion to admonish a priestly Hasid who was seemingly ignorant of a number of laws of ritual purity mentioned explicitly in the Torah (Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, Chap. 12 [ed. Schechter, 56]; Version B, Chap. 27 [ed. Schechter, 56-57]). Similarly, see the statement of Hillel: “The am ha-aretz [a person who is not knowledgeable in the commandments] cannot be a Hasid” (M Avot 2:5). See also the rather sharp statement of Rabbi Shim’on ben Yochai in Pirka de-Rabbenu Ha-Kadosh, Bava de-Arba (ed. Schenblum, 21^b). ↩
• ^[12] See Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 134-138. ↩
• ^[13] Gedaliahu Alon (The History of the Jews in the Land of Israel in the Period of the Mishnah and Talmud [Tel Aviv, 1952], 1:320 [Hebrew]) gives an example from JT Pesahim V, 32^a. In this passage Rabbi Yohanan (thus in the parallel in BT Pesahim 62^b) states that he has received a tradition from his predecessors “not to teach aggadah to Babylonians or Southerners because they are vulgar and have inadequate knowledge of Torah.” One could add to this the saying found in JT Sanhedrin I, 18^d: “Why is the calendrical year not intercalated in Lod [a town located in the ‘South,’ i.e., Judea]? Because they [the residents of Lod] are vulgar and have inadequate knowledge of Torah.” See also Shmuel Safrai, “The Places for the Sanctification of the New Moon and the Intercalation of the Year after the Destruction of the Temple,” Tarbiz 35 (1966): 27-38 (Hebrew). ↩
• ^[14] Alon, History of the Jews, 318-323. ↩
• ^[15] Ibid., 320, n. 150. ↩
• ^[16] For a detailed discussion of this subject, see Shmuel Safrai, “The Jewish Cultural Nature of Galilee in the First Century,” Immanuel 24/25 (1990): 147-186. Click here to read this article on JP—Ed. ↩
• ^[17] “Your [singular] father” appears in Matt. 6:4; 6:6; 6:18; 13:43, et al. “Your [plural] father” appears in Matt. 6:8; 6:15; Luke 6:36; 12:32, et al. “Our father” or “Our father in heaven” appears in Matt. 6:1; 6:9; Mark 11:25, et al. ↩
• ^[18] Luke 10:21-22; Luke 22:42; John 2:16; 17:1, et al. ↩
• ^[19] Mark 14:36, but in Matt. 26:39 we find πάτερ μου (pater mou, "my father"), and in Luke 22:42 only πάτερ (pater, "father"). ↩
• ^[20] See the commentary of Vincent Taylor (The Gospel According to St. Mark, 2nd ed. [London, 1966], 553), and others. However, according to Robert Lindsey, abba ho patēr ("Abba, father") is a typical Markan “pickup,” that is, a rare word or phrase that Mark knew and used as a synonym opposite Luke’s more original wording. Abba appears only three times in the New Testament, once in Mark and twice in Paul’s letters, always in the phrase abba ho pater. Paul used abba, perhaps adding ho patēr as an explanation for his Greek readers. Mark, in his midrashic way, picked up the whole phrase and substituted it opposite Luke’s pater, an acceptable Greek translation of אַבָּא (’abā, "Abba"). Matthew agrees with Luke against Mark in using pater ("father"); Matthew’s pater mou ("my father") in Matt. 26:39 may preserve אָבִי (’āvi). ↩
• ^[21] See Alon Goshen-Gottstein, God and Israel as Father and Son in Tannaitic Literature, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1987 (Hebrew). ↩
• ^[22] Mechilta, De-Va-Hodesh, Yitro 6 (ed. Horovitz-Rabin, 227, lines 6-10). This saying is also found in Leviticus Rabbah 32:1 (ed. Margulies, 735-736) and in Midrash Psalms 12 (ed. Buber, 109). It likewise appears in Midrash Tannaim (ed. Hoffmann, 164), though apparently the author of Midrash Tannaim, like the author of Midrash Ha-Gadol (ed. Margulies, 570), copied it from Mechilta or from Leviticus Rabbah. The saying is also found in Sefer Ve-Hizhir on Exodus, 25^b, and in Lekah Tov on Exodus 20:6 (ed. Buber, 136). ↩
• ^[23] Sifra, Kedoshim (ed. Weiss, 93^d). ↩
• ^[24] Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 18 (p. 112); 20 (p. 121). ↩
• ^[25] The other places in Seder Eliyahu where God is addressed as “my father in heaven” are Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 10 (p. 51); 11 (p. 63); 17 (p. 83); 18 (pp. 89, 106); 19 (pp. 110, 111, 112 [four times], 119); 24 (p. 134); 28 (p. 149); 29 (pp. 157, 163). ↩
• ^[26] Seder Eliyahu is much earlier than supposed by many scholars and probably dates to around the third century C.E. ↩
• ^[27] See Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 150-151. ↩
• ^[28] M Ta‘anit 3:8, and T Ta‘anit 3:1. ↩
• ^[29] BT Berachot 17^b; Ta‘anit 24^b; Hullin 86^a. God is also said to have called Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedat and Rabbi Eleazar ben Hyrcanus “Eleazar my son” (BT Ta‘anit 25^a; Tanhuma, Hukat 8 [ed. Wilna, 565]), and Rabbi Meir “Meir my son” (BT Hagigah 15^b). In these instances, however, the expression “my son” is not used with the same sense of intimacy as in the stories of Hasidim. ↩
• ^[30] BT Berachot 34^b. ↩
• ^[31] M Avot 3:14. Cf. Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, Chpt. 39 (ed. Schechter, 118) and Version B, Chpt. 44 (ed. Schechter, 124). ↩
• ^[32] This was the opinion of Rabbi Meir (Sifre Deuteronomy 96 [ed. Finkelstein, 157]). Cf. BT Yoma 22^b. See the commentary of Rabbenu Hillel and the comments of Finkelstein ad loc. ↩
• ^[33] The same language is used in T Ta‘anit 3:1: “It once happened that they requested of a Hasid, ‘Pray for rain to fall.’” ↩
• ^[34] BT Ta‘anit 23^a-25^b; JT Ta‘anit I, 64^a-b. ↩
• ^[35] משתוכין (mish·tō·CHIN). See Aruch Completum 8:183, s.v.שתך, meaning “to become rusted.” ↩
• ^[36] BT Ta‘anit 8^a. ↩
• ^[37] M Berachot 5:5. See the similar tradition in JT Berachot V, 9^d. ↩
• ^[38] In Yihusei Tannaim ve-Amoraim (ed. Maimon, Jerusalem, 1963), Rabbi Yehudah ben Kalonymus ben Meir of Speyer cites two traditions of unknown origin regarding forces controlled by Rabbi Hanina (p. 438). The first tells of winds which were under his power and the second of an evil spirit which used to disturb a woman neighbor of his. Rabbi Hanina said to the evil spirit: “Why do you torment a daughter of Abraham our father?” In Leviticus Rabbah 24:3 (ed. Margulies, 553) there is a story about Abba Yose ben Yohanan of Tsaytur who overcame an evil spirit. In Tanhuma, Kedoshim 9 (in both versions of the text: ed. Buber, 77; ed. Wilna, 443), it is related about the same sage: “A Hasid by the name of Rabbi Yose of Tsaytur was there.” The Babylonian Talmud preserves the story of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa’s confrontation with Igrath the daughter of Mahalath, the queen of demons. Hanina commanded her to stay out of settled areas, but when she pleaded with him to “leave her a little room,” he allowed her freedom to enter on Wednesday nights and the eve of Sabbaths (Pesahim 112^b). See also, Tanhuma, Va-Yigash 3 (ed. Wilna, 134), which relates how Rabbi Hanina made a lion swear never to appear again in the land of Israel. ↩
• ^[39] See the stories about Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva in BT Ta‘anit 25^b, and those about Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in JT Ta‘anit III, 66^c. ↩
• ^[40] JT Ta‘anit I, 64^b-c; BT Ta‘anit 23^a-b. ↩
• ^[41] BT Ta‘anit 23^a-b. The Babylonian Talmud exhibits a tendency to connect persons who perform similar deeds to the same family. The Hasid from Umi and Hanan Ha-Nehba successfully prayed for rain; thus, they are identified in the Babylonian Talmud as the grandsons of Honi the Circle Drawer. See Shmuel Safrai, “Tales of the Sages in Palestinian Tradition and the Babylonian Talmud,” Scripta Hierosolymitana 22 (1971): 229-232. ↩
• ^[42] BT Sanhedrin 74^a; JP Sanhedrin III, 21^b; Shevi’it IV, 35^b; Sifra Ahare Mot 13 (ed. Weiss, 86^b). ↩
• ^[43] JT Berachot V, 9^a; BT Berachot 33^a. ↩
• ^[44] See especially JT Terumot VIII, 46^b. ↩
• ^[45] M Ta‘anit 3:8. ↩
• ^[46] JT Ta‘anit I, 64^b-c; BT Ta‘anit 23^a. ↩
• ^[47] See Safrai, “Teaching of Pietists in Mishnaic Literature,” 28-31. ↩
• ^[48] JT Berachot V, 9^a; BT Berachot 32^b-33^a. ↩
• ^[49] Both Talmuds give these same explanations, although they are cited in the names of different Amoraim: in the Jerusalem Talmud, in the names of Rabbi Aha and Rabbi Yose; in the Babylonian Talmud, in the names of Rabbi Yosef and Rav Sheshet. ↩
• ^[50] Tanhuma, Va-Era 4 (ed. Wilna, 187); Exodus Rabbah 9 (ed. Shinan, 209); Midrash Yelamdenu, published in J. Mann, The Bible as Read and Preached in the Old Synagogue (New York, 1971), 1:98. ↩
• ^[51] See the sources cited in note 53. ↩
• ^[52] Translated from the version found in Midrash Yelamdenu (ed. Mann), but there are a number of parallels to this saying in midrashic literature. ↩
• ^[53] BT Berachot 32^b-33^a. See David Flusser, "It Is Not a Serpent That Kills," Judaism and the Origins of Christianity (Jerusalem, 1988), 543-551. ↩
• ^[54] JT Berachot V, 9^d; BT Berachot 34^b. See notes 35 and 42. ↩
• ^[55] See note 43. ↩
• ^[56] JT Terumot VIII, 46^b; Genesis Rabbah 94 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 1184-1185). The reading of Ms. Leiden of the Jerusalem Talmud is “Koshev.” However, in Ms. Vatican 133, in the first printed edition and in the Yemenite ms., the reading is “Kosher.” This is also the form of the name in Genesis Rabbah, and in the citation of the Jerusalem Talmud in the commentary of Rabbi Moses Halua (ed. Jerusalem [1964], 63) on BT Pesahim 25^b. “Kosher” is a wordplay based on the root קשר (q-sh-r), meaning “to plot,” here, to plot against the Roman authorities. This form of the name would fit the continuation of the story. See B. Rattner’s Ahavat Zion Virushalayim on Pesahim (p. 69), and see Theodor’s comments on Genesis Rabbah 94. ↩
• ^[57] Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi numbered among the sages and headed the academy at Lod. However, he also was a Hasid and God performed miracles for him. According to a number of sources, he entered the Garden of Eden without having tasted death (BT Sanhedrin 98^a; Makkot 11^a; Ketubot 77^b; Derech Eretz Zuta 1 [end], et al.). ↩
• ^[58] This statement (found in JT Terumot VIII, 46^b and T Terumot 7:20) is not really a mishnah, but rather a baraita that explains a mishnah. ↩
• ^[59] Mark 1:39. Cf. Matt. 4:23. ↩
• ^[60] Matt. 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-5; John 5:1-18. ↩
• ^[61] Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30. ↩
• ^[62] Luke 17:11-19. ↩
• ^[63] Matt. 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25; Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10, et al. ↩
• ^[64] Matt. 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43. ↩
• ^[65] Matt. 10:1-15; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6. ↩
• ^[66] Mark 9:38-41; Luke 9:49-50. ↩
• ^[67] This passage, Mark 16:9-20, is not found in many of the best manuscripts, but some early sources allude to it. See the comments of Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark, 2nd ed. (London, 1966), 610. ↩
• ^[68] Mark 16:17-18. ↩
• ^[69] See note 43. ↩
• ^[70] Luke 13:16. ↩
• ^[71] BT Berachot 34^b. ↩
• ^[72] The text reads, ὄρεις ἀροῦσιν (opheis arousin, "they will pick up snakes"). A number of manuscripts precede “they will pick up snakes” with καὶ ἐν ταῖς χερσίν (kai en tais chersin, "and in the [i.e., their] hands"). ↩
• ^[73] T Berachot 3:20; JT Berachot V, 9^a; BT Berachot 33^a; Tanhuma, Va-Era 4 (ed. Wilna, 187); Midrash Yelamdenu (ed. Mann, 1:98); Exodus Rabbah 3 (p. 135, in an abbreviated form). ↩
• ^[74] Luke 10:19. Cf. Acts 28:3-6. ↩
• ^[75] M Terumot 8:4-6; T Terumot 7:12-17; JT Terumot VIII, 45^c-46^a; Avodah Zarah II, 41^a-b; BT Bava Kamma 115^b-116^a; Hullin 49^b, et al.  ↩
• ^[76] See Josephus, Against Apion 1:165, and S. Lieberman, Ha-Yerushalmi Kifshuto (Jerusalem, 1935), 49. Shmuel Klein (The Land of Galilee, 2nd ed. [Jerusalem, 1967], 140 [Hebrew]) states that the prohibition against the drinking of uncovered beverages was unknown in Galilee and was introduced there only after the destruction of the Temple; however, this is a mistake. See the comments of H. Albeck in his notes on M Terumot in Shishah Sidrei Mishnah: Zera’im [The Six Orders of the Mishnah: Zera’im] (Jerusalem-Tel Aviv, 1957), 390. ↩
• ^[77] See the references to JT Terumot and Avodah Zarah cited in note 80. ↩
• ^[78] The Hebrew is מגלגל (m^e·gal·GĒL), which in this context means “to ridicule,” and is the equivalent of מלגלג (m^e·lag·LĒG). The reading מגלגל appears in Ms. Leiden and in Ms. Vatican 133, and גלגו, a related form, appears in Leviticus Rabbah 26:2 (ed. Margulies, 593). See Aruch Completum 2:288, s.v. גלגל. ↩
• ^[79] Cf. Luke 10:19. ↩
• ^[80] Against Apion 1:60. ↩
• ^[81] Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, Chpt. 6 (ed. Schechter, 30-31); Version B, Chpt. 13 (ed. Schechter, 30-32); Genesis Rabbah 42 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 397-398); Tanhuma, Lech Lecha 10 (ed. Buber, 67-68); Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer 1-2. ↩
• ^[82] BT Yoma 35^b. In works originating in the land of Israel, there is no hint that Hillel was once poor. These sources witness that Hillel was the son of an aristocratic family, that he immigrated from Babylonia, and that he gave large contributions to the poor. ↩
• ^[83] BT Temurah 16^a; Exodus Rabbah 31. ↩
• ^[84] BT Yoma 35^b, Tanhuma, Mishpatim 9. ↩
• ^[85] BT Yoma 35^b; Kiddushin 49^b; JT Ta‘anit IV, 69^a. ↩
• ^[86] BT Berachot 18^a; Shabbat 54^a; Kiddushin 49^b. ↩
• ^[87] JT Shevi’it IV, 35^b, et al. ↩
• ^[88] JT Berachot IV, 7^d; BT Berachot 28^a; Horayot 10^a. ↩
• ^[89] See JT Peah VIII, 20^d, et al. ↩
• ^[90] T Sotah 7:12, and the parallels in both Talmuds. ↩
• ^[91] BT Eruvin 86^a. ↩
• ^[92] JT Peah I, 15^b; BT Ketubot 50^a; 67^b; Arachin 28^a. ↩
• ^[93] See the sources cited in the preceding note. In the Jerusalem Talmud it was Rabban Gamaliel who sent for the sage, while in the Babylonian Talmud it was Rabbi Akiva. The problem with viewing Rabbi Yesheveav as a Hasid is that there are no Hasidic halachot in rabbinic sources, none given by anonymous Hasidim, and none by Hasidim who are named. There are, however, halachic traditions preserved in the name of Rabbi Yesheveav. See M Hullin 2:4; BT Yevamot 49^a, and parallels. ↩
• ^[94] Rabbi Yesheveav appears in all versions of the list of the ten martyrs. See Lamentations Rabbah 2 (ed. Buber, 100), et al. ↩
• ^[95] Apparently, the name of this sage has been lost. ↩
• ^[96] Song of Songs Rabbah (ed. Greenhut, 7^a). ↩
• ^[97] This tension can be seen in the saying of Hillel: “The ignorant man cannot be a fearer of sin, and the am ha-aretz [see note 16] cannot be a Hasid” (Avot 2:5). Hillel is reacting to the teaching of the Hasidim that deeds are more important than study. One should not think, Hillel says, that one can be a true Hasid without having a thorough knowledge of Torah. See Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 152-154. ↩
• ^[98] This (“and found none better for Israel than poverty”) is the reading of Ms. Munich and other major textual traditions. Ms. Vatican 134 should be added to the list of sources mentioned in Dikduke Soferim, ad loc. ↩
• ^[99] See Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 150-151. ↩
• ^[100] BT Ketubot 106^a. See the responsa of the Gaon in S. Assaf, The Responsa of the Geonim in the Genizah (Jerusalem, 1929), 176 (Hebrew), and Assaf’s comments in the Introduction, 153. There is absolutely no justification for the claim that rabbinic sources occasionally cite from an original or earlier Seder Eliyahu. The few differences between the work itself as it now stands and rabbinic citations of the work do not necessitate the creation of a new work. ↩
• ^[101] See the comments of H. Albeck in his Hebrew translation (titled, The Sermons of Israel [Jerusalem, 1947], 55-57 [Hebrew]) of Leopold Zunz, Die gottesdienstlichen Vortraege der Juden historisch entwickelt. ↩
• ^[102] Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 18 (p. 97); Seder Eliyahu Zuta 15 (p. 199). ↩
• ^[103] Genesis Rabbah 71 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 834-835). ↩
• ^[104] Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 17 (pp. 86-88): “In the days of Joshua son of Nun…. In the days of the prophet Samuel…. In the days of the prophet Elijah…. In the days of Hezekiah king of Judah….” See also Seder Eliyahu Zuta 15 (p. 197). ↩
• ^[105] Seder Eliyahu Zuta 5 (p. 181). ↩
• ^[106] See the Introduction in M. Friedmann’s edition of Seder Eliyahu, pp. 44-59. ↩
• ^[107] Seder Eliyahu Zuta 3 (p. 176). ↩
• ^[108] Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 149-150. ↩
• ^[109] In light of the discussion in the Jerusalem Talmud pertaining to the identification of the site (Megillah I, 70^a), Umi is Yama or Javneel (Josh. 19:33) in the tribal allotment of Naphtali. See Klein, The Land of Galilee, 114, 146; Michael Avi-Yonah, Historical Geography of Palestine (Jerusalem, 1962), 139 (Hebrew); Sefer Ha-Yishuv, ed. Shmuel Klein (Jerusalem, 1939), 91-93 (Hebrew). ↩
• ^[110] JT Ta‘anit III, 64^a-c; BT Ta‘anit 23^a-b. ↩
• ^[111] The Hasid did not need the tallith to cover his head while praying as is the custom today. Rather, the tallith, one’s outer garment, was needed to go out in public. In the first century, it was considered immodest to appear in public without being dressed in a tallith. ↩
• ^[112] BT Ta‘anit 25^a. ↩
• ^[113] Also according to the explanation in Matnot Kehunah, ad loc. ↩
• ^[114] A unit of liquid and dry measure equal to the space occupied by the contents of 24 eggs. ↩
• ^[115] BT Berachot 17^b; Ta‘anit 24^b; Hullin 86^a. ↩
• ^[116] The Hasidim were especially strict regarding the Sabbath laws. See BT Shabbat 19^a; Shabbat 121^b; JT Shabbat I, 4^a; IX, 15^a; Leviticus Rabbah 34 (ed. Margulies, 815), et al. ↩
• ^[117] Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, Chap. 6 (ed. Schechter, 29); Version B, Chap. 12 (ed. Schechter, 30). ↩
• ^[118] BT Yoma 35^b. Works composed in the land of Israel contain no references to Hillel’s supposed beginnings as a poor laborer. ↩
• ^[119] Leviticus Rabbah 13 (ed. Margulies, 281); 35 (ed. Margulies, 824); Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 14 (ed. Mandelbaum, 241-242). According to one source from outside the land, this saying was uttered by Rabbi Aha. In BT Hagigah 9^b, it is a folk saying (“as people say”). ↩
• ^[120] David Flusser and Shmuel Safrai, “The Slave of Two Masters,” Immanuel 6 (1976): 30-33, and reprinted in Flusser, Judaism and the Origins of Christianity (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1988), 169-172. ↩
• ^[121] See notes 97 and 98. ↩
• ^[122] Especially if we include in our discussion the sixth chapter of Avot, known as Kinyan Torah (The Acquisition of Torah). This chapter is certainly not part of the original tractate; however, it can serve to illustrate the importance that the study of Torah had for the sages. ↩
• ^[123] On the desire of the sages to establish a balance between “study” and “deed,” see Sifre Deuteronomy 41 (ed. Finkelstein, 85-86), and the parallels in the Talmuds and midrashim. Cf. the statement of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai in Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, Chap. 22 (ed. Schechter, 74-75), et al. See also Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 144-147. ↩
• ^[124] In a baraita of the Hasid Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair, which lists the qualities of character that one should seek, Rabbi Pinhas concludes that the supreme quality is חֲסִידוּת (ḥ^a·si·DŪT, "saintliness"). See JT Shekalim III, 47^c (and parallels); BT Avodah Zarah 20^a. The study of Torah is not mentioned and was added only in printed editions of the Babylonian Talmud. See Safrai, “Hasidim and Men of Deeds,” 148. ↩
• ^[125] M Peah 1:1 lists those commandments “whose interest one enjoys in this world, and whose principal remains for him in the world to come.” The saying’s conclusion is: “But the study of Torah is equal to them all.” Seder Eliyahu Zuta, which reflects the spirit and teaching of the Hasidim, preserves this saying in similar language and form, but omits its conclusion on the importance of study. (See Chap. 2, p. 172.) ↩
• ^[126] See Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version B, Chap. 27 (ed. Schechter, 55). ↩
• ^[127] JT Terumot VIII, 46^b. ↩
• ^[128] M Ta‘anit 3:8, and similarly, T Ta‘anit 3:1. ↩
• ^[129] JT Berachot V, 9^d; BT Berachot 34^b. ↩
• ^[130] M Avot 3:9-10. ↩
• ^[131] The sayings can be found in B. Z. Bacher, Aggadot of the Tannaim (Tel Aviv, 1928), II.2:158-161 (Hebrew). ↩
• ^[132] Josephus, War 2:119-166; Antiq. 18:11-22. ↩
• ^[133] See David Flusser, “Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes in Pesher Nahum,” Alon Memorial Volume (Tel Aviv, 1970), 133-168 (Hebrew). English translation in Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Qumran and Apocalypticism (trans. Azzan Yadin; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 214-257—Ed. ↩
• ^[134] See Ze’ev Safrai, “Bene-Rechav, the Essenes and the Concept of Going to the Desert in the Teachings of the Sages,” Annual of Bar Ilan University 16/17 (1979): 37-58 (Hebrew). ↩
• ^[135] The expression קָתֶדְרָא דְּמֹשֶה (qā·ted·RĀ’ d^emo·SHEH, “the seat of Moses”) is mentioned in the teaching of Rav Aha in Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1 (ed. Mandelbaum, 12). The first scholar to point this out was W. Bacher, “Le siege de Moise,” REJ 34 (1897): 299. ↩
• ^[136] E. L. Sukenik, “Kathedra De Moshe in Ancient Synagogues,” Tarbiz 1 (1930): 145-151 (Hebrew). See the comments of J. N. Epstein ad loc., 152. ↩