YOSE BEN ḤALAFTAʾ

YOSE BEN ḤALAFTAʾ (second century ce), Palestinian tanna. Born in Sepphoris, Yose was a student of Yoḥanan ben Nuri, ʿAqivaʾ ben Yosef, and Ṭarfon. Like many of his contemporaries, he worked at a humble occupation—he was a tanner (B.T., Shab. 49a–b)—but he was also a leader of the rabbinic court at Sepphoris (B.T., San. 32b). He is associated with early mystical traditions, and it is said that he studied with Elijah the prophet (B.T., Ber. 3a, Yev. 63a).

Numerous traditions attributed to Yose are preserved in rabbinic literature. He is one of the most frequently quoted authorities of his generation, along with Meʾir, Shimʿon, and Yehudah. Jacob Epstein believes that the corpus of his traditions was one of the primary documents used in the redaction of the Mishnah.

Yose was a product of rabbinic learning and culture in a time of adjustment after two devastating wars with Rome. His rulings and teachings, like those of other rabbis of the time, reflect the struggle to overcome the uncertainty of Jewish life in the Land of Israel and the attempt to establish a sense of order in religious and social life. Yose's legal, exegetical, and theological sayings contributed greatly toward this goal.

Yose's traditions evince a special interest in the events of biblical history, as well as in the entire range of theological topics, including the nature of God, the centrality of the Torah, and the special nature of Israel. His legal rulings reflect the concerns and activities of the rabbis of his generation, from agricultural taboos, table manners, and rules for holidays and family life to regulations for the rabbinic system of purities. Yose is associated, for example, with legislation concerning the recitation of blessings over foods in which he rules that one who alters the formula for blessings established by the sages does not fulfill his obligation (Tosefta, Ber. 4.4).

To date, no systematic analysis has been made of Yose's traditions, probably because of the sheer size of the corpus of sayings attributed to him.

See Also

Tannaim.

Bibliography

Jacob N. Epstein's Mavoʾ le-sifrut ha-tannaʾim (Jerusalem, 1957) discusses the role of Yose's materials in the formation of the Mishnah. In Rabbi Yose ben Halaftaʾ (in Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1966), Israel Konovitz collects all the references to Yose in rabbinic literature. My own Studies in Jewish Prayer (1990) analyzes the role of Yose's rulings in the development of early rabbinic liturgy.

New Sources

Levine, Hillel. "Rabi Yose's Laundry: The History of a Flagrant Voice and the History of an Idea." In Celebrating Elie Wiesel: Stories, Essays, Reflections, edited by Alan Rosen, pp. 113–122. Notre Dame, Ind., 1998.

Tzvee Zahavy (1987)

Revised Bibliography