DESPITE ALL the decrees and the false accusations which the Roman government levelled against the Jews in its attempt to eradicate their feeling of national solidarity and to make impossible their observance of the Torah, the Romans were unsuccessful. At the very moment that the oppression of the faith seemed to become intolerable, the Jews discovered a neighboring country where they could freely maintain their faith and openly live as Jews. This country was Babylonia. Babylonia was then ruled by the Parthians who withstood all efforts of the Romans to subjugate them and all the might of the Roman empire did not suffice to penetrate their borders.*The ruling people of Babylonia were called Parthians after the river Euphrates which formed the boundary of their domain. They are not to be confused with the Persians who later conquered their country.)
Hadrian, who was responsible for much of the suffering inflicted upon the Jews, died and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius who immediately lightened the burden of the Palestinian Jews. It seems that there occurred a rebellion of the non-Jewish population of Palestine which was supported by the Parthians. Wishing to placate the Jews and to prevent their participation in the uprising, Antoninus Pius ordered that they should be treated more kindly.
The news of the improved political position of the Palestinian Jews rapidly reached Babylonia and many of the exiles, together with a great number of the scholars who fled Palestine, began to return. Among these repatriates there was also Rabban Simeon the son of Rabban Gamliel of Jabneh. Upon his return he was elected Nasi as Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel the Second.
Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel II was a sixth generation descendant of Hillel and he was considered fit to hold the position of his forefathers. During the time of the Bar Kochba rebellion and the persecutions that followed it Rabban Simeon remained in hiding and none heard of him; but when the Romans later permitted the reorganization of the Sanhedrin they did not object to the election of Rabban Simeon as Nasi.
The newly reorganized Sanhedrin settled in Usha instead of Jabneh. Among the repatriates there also returned Rabbi Nathan the Babylonian, who was the son of the Exilarch of that country, and he was appointed head of the court. Rabbi Meir, the disciple of Elisha ben Avuyah, received the title of “Chacham” and was the third leader of the Sanhedrin.
But Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel was not elected Nasi merely because he was a descendant of Hillel. His elevation to this post was due primarily to his personal qualifications. The scholars knew him well from the time that he was a young man in his father’s house. At that time he strictly observed the commandment to honor one’s father and in spite of the fact that Rabban Gamliel possessed many slaves, Rabban Simeon diligently sought to serve him. He frequently complained that “no matter how much I serve my father it is not even a hundredth part of that which Esau did for his father Isaac.”1)בראשית רבה פּרשה ס״ה פּיסקא י״ב.
As long as he was Nasi, Rabban Simeon sought to enhance the importance of that office. He once conceived the idea of doing away with the equality of the three leaders of the Sanhedrin which was the rule till that time. He then issued a regulation that when the Nasi entered the academy everyone was to rise and to remain standing until the Nasi would command them to be seated; when the head of the court entered, the people on both sides were to form two lines and were to remain standing until he was seated; when the “Chacham” entered everyone was to retain his position, whether seated or standing, until the “Chacham” took his seat.2)הוריות י״ג ב׳, תוספתא סנהדרין פרק ז׳, ירושלמי בכורים פּ״ג ה״ג.
This regulation was issued on a day when neither Rabbi Nathan nor Rabbi Meir were in the academy. When they came on the following day they considered this regulation as an attempt to diminish their authority in the eyes of the people. They were both greatly angered and Rabbi Meir declared that by issuing this regulation the Nasi broke a long standing custom that a man may only be advanced in sacred authority but not demoted. They decided to repay the Nasi in kind and since they were considered to be better informed in matters of law than the Nasi was, they determined to confront him with questions which he would be unable to answer. In thus exposing the Nasi’s inadequate learning they hoped to have him deposed even as his father was once deposed.
Rabbi Nathan and Rabbi Meir decided to ask the Nasi to expound the regulations pertaining to the stems of fruit and its bearing on the cleanliness of the fruit. They expected to be able to confuse him very easily in these matters. But one of the Nasi’s devoted adherents heard of the plan and he thought that such questions and pilpulistic reasoning may bring shame on the Nasi. He therefore began to walk back and forth in front of the Nasi until he attracted his attention. He then told the Nasi of the plot and Rabban Simeon prepared himself for all possible questions. To make doubly sure, he did not allow Rabbi Nathan and Rabbi Meir to enter the academy on that day. They then sent in their questions in writing from the outside and Rabban Simeon sought to answer them as best he could. Whenever he was in doubt regarding some matter, the two on the outside sent in their answers.
Seeing this game Rabbi Jose ben Chalafta said to the Nasi: “The Torah remains outside while we sit calmly within.” Rabban Simeon permitted the two expelled scholars to return but he ruled that all laws which were to be enacted according to their opinions from that day on should not be quoted in their names. This ruling was adopted and all the laws determined by Rabbi Nathan were prefaced by “some say” (יש אומרים) while those of Rabbi Meir were quoted as “others say” (אחרים אומרים).
Some time later both Rabbi Nathan and Rabbi Meir beheld a dream in which they were told to become reconciled to the Nasi. Rabbi Nathan obeyed the dream: he bowed before the will of the Nasi and submitted to punishment, but Rabbi Meir refused to submit and he declared that all dreams were vain. The Nasi brought the matter before the scholars and they decided to excommunicate Rabbi Meir. When he heard of it he sent word to the scholars warning them not to take this unjust step and also that he would not recognize the excommunication.3)ירושלמי מועד קטן פרק ג׳ הלכה א׳.
In the end Rabbi Meir had to leave Palestine and he settled in a city of Asia Minor, where he remained until his death. Before his death he sent a message to Palestine saying: “Your Messiah (!) died on strange soil.” He also commanded that he be buried on the shore of the sea which touches Palestine so that it should be the same as if he was buried in that country.4)ירושלמי כלאים פרק ט׳ הלכה ג׳.
In his exposition Rabban Simeon followed his own method. He taught his disciples only those laws which had been sanctioned by the great court and he avoided all those which were in doubt or concerning which there were differences of opinion and which had not yet been discussed with the consent of the majority of the scholars. Whenever people came to him for trial in money matters he ruled that the custom of the country and common sense must determine the judgment even when the scholars arrived at differing conclusions from the text of the Bible. Rabban Simeon also tried to raise the prestige of the court and he said that the decision of a judge must be considered as the law.
In his father’s house there were many scholars who studied Greek and Rabban Simeon declared that it was permissible to write a book of the Torah in that language.5)מגלה ה׳ ב׳. Another time he declared that only in the Greek language was it possible to make a correct translation of the Torah.6)ירושלמי מגלה פרק א׳ הלכה ט׳. He was also versed in the natural sciences and in horticulture,7)פּסחים נ״ג א׳. and he was acquainted with the sciences of anatomy and medicine. When he was consulted regarding problems of marital life or concerning the laws which forbid or allow certain actions, he always paid more attention to the intent of an action rather than to its superficial aspect.
Rabban Simeon sided with the weak against the strong and he supported the rights of women in the laws of a “Kethubah”. He demanded justice for Gentile slaves and declared that people are commanded to redeem slaves just as they are obliged to ransom free men who had been kidnapped.8)גטין ל״ז ב׳. He supported capital punishment for murderers in order to prevent the increase of murderers among Jews. This conviction he held against the opinion of many scholars who were opposed to capital punishment.9)מכות ז׳ א׳.
Being tolerant toward people of other faiths Rabban Simeon said that a Gentile who appears before a Jewish court should be judged according to Jewish law.10)ספרי פּרשה י״ח. Documents of indebtedness which were signed by non-Jews he held to be valid and, in opposition to the conviction of other scholars, he maintained that Samaritans were to be considered as Jews in all matters for every commandment which the Samaritans undertook to observe they observed more scrupulously than the Jews.11)קדושין ט״ו ב׳.
Rabban Simeon said that the world is based on three things: truth, justice and peace.12)אבות פרק א׳ משנה י״ח. In his lectures he stressed the value of peace and declared that numerous passages of the Torah use ambiguous language out of a desire for peace.13)ירושלמי פּאה פרק א׳, ויקרא רבה פּרשה ט׳ פּיסקא ט׳. On another occasion he declared that “he who makes peace in his own home is like one who makes peace among all Jews.14)אבות דר׳ נתן פרק כ״ח.
Rabban Simeon was raised in royal splendor in his father’s house and for this reason he frequently complained that Jewish life had lost its glamor of days past and that even nature had changed in Palestine in comparison with earlier days. In days gone by God had shown his love for Israel and sometimes even changed the course of natural events for their sake.15)שמות רבה פּרשה ל״ח פּיסקא ה׳. But since the destruction of the temple the dew no longer causes the plants to grow and the fruit has lost its taste.16)תוספתא סוטה פרק ט״ו.
All the religious innovations which his father introduced in Jabneh, such as the lighting of candles in honor of the Sabbath, Rabban Simeon sought to establish in Usha. In this attempt, however, he met with but little success. He often recounted the memories of early days, when the temple was still in existence, which he heard in his father’s house. He would gladly have introduced in Usha all the customs of which he had heard were it not for the opposition which he met from other scholars.
He also endeavored to strengthen the office of Nasi with an eye to establishing the rule of the dynasty. Since he was the sixth Nasi descended from Hillel, he believed that a scion of the dynasty was entitled to the office of Nasi even if he was not the greatest in his generation and that it was inconceivable for a member of another family to occupy the post. This effort of his was especially strengthened by the remembrance that when his grandfather Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel the Elder was killed by the Romans, he was not immediately succeeded by his son. When the son was later elected Nasi he was afterward deposed for a short time. After the death of Rabban Gamliel of Jabneh, the office was not at once conferred upon the rightful heir and other candidates were tested first. He was especially impelled by the desire to avoid in the future any repetition of that which happened to his father and which almost happened to himself—that a sudden opposition to the actions or the opinions of the Nasi should make it possible to have him deposed.
With a special poignancy Rabban Simeon used to tell of the time before the temple was destroyed. His father saw the temple when he was still a child and he repeated his memories to Rabban Simeon. He told that Jews had no holidays happier than the fifteenth day of Ab and the Day of Atonement when the girls all paraded through the streets dressed in white garments which they borrowed from one another in order not to shame those which did not possess any. Afterward they danced in the vineyards and called upon the young men who came to watch them to choose the most beautiful or the wisest as their brides.17)תענית כ״ו ב׳, בבא בתרא קכ״א א׳.
He also told of the Jerusalem custom of receiving guests that the host would offer them the use of the house and would himself remain outdoors overnight,18)אבות דר׳ נתן פרק ל״ח. and of the river Shiloah whose waters welled out through an opening no larger than a copper coin. When the king commanded that the mouth of the river be widened, the quantity of water decreased; the king therefore ordered that the opening be sealed again and the water continued to flow as heretofore. Rabban Simeon also declared that there was no organ in the temple because it was liable to interfere with the harmony of the singers although that instrument is pleasing to the ear by itself.19)ערכין י׳ ב׳.
Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel recounted these stories because he wanted to maintain the patriotic fervor of the people for Jerusalem and he was also convinced that the city would regain its old splendor even in his day. He believed that when the Jews would be liberated from the Roman yoke Jerusalem would become a center for all surrounding nations and that people would flock thither to learn the true faith. Because of his devotion to Jerusalem he stressed the significance of Tisha b’Ab and declared that one who breaks the fast of Tisha b’Ab is like one who eats on the Day of Atonement.20)תענית ל׳ ב׳.
For although the government persisted in its persecutions, the people seemed to have become accustomed to these and as long as the existence of the Sanhedrin was permitted the people did not complain much of the other forms of oppression. This is evident from the saying of Rabban Simeon that “our forefathers could not endure even a little suffering but we who suffer for so many generations have more cause to lose our patience.21)איכה רבתי פּרשה ח׳ פּיסקא י׳. Another time he said: “We have learned to love our sufferings but were we to write them down, we would not have enough strength.”22)שבת י״ג ב׳.
Some people once approached Rabban Simeon and attempted to persuade him that it would be well for the Jews to aid the Egyptians in an attempt to overthrow the Romans and Rabban Simeon said to them, “If we look at the wealthy and wicked government we can see that all its regiments are always occupied both day and night but when we look at Egypt we see its soldiers always idle. How then can we hope to be victorious with their help?”23)מכילתא פּרשת י״ד.
From the previously described behavior of Rabban Simeon one may get the impression that he was a proud man. Such a conclusion, however, would be far from the truth for Rabban Simeon was renowned for his modesty. In the performance of his duties as Nasi he dictated his will and brooked no opposition, but in private life there could not be found another man as modest as he was. When in his capacity of Nasi he determined a leap year (עבור), he wrote to all the Jewish communities informing them that he consulted no one and made the decision himself—as against the custom of his father who wrote that he made the decision with the consent of his colleagues. But of his personal modesty an anecdote was being related of a man who vowed not to touch his wife until she would spit in the face of the Nasi. The woman did so and Rabban Simeon did not scold her. When Rabban Simeon’s son complained to him that he had been insulted by Rabbi Elazar ben Simeon, he said to him, “My son, pay no attention to it for Rabbi Elazar is a lion, the son of a lion, but you are only a lion, the son of a fox.”24)בבא מציעא פּ״ד ב׳.
Aside from the above mentioned sayings of Rabban Simeon, the following maxims are characteristic of his trend of thought:
Every commandment which the Jews joyfully accepted from Mount Sinai they continue to observe with joy and no amount of persecution will avail against them.25)שבת ק״ל א׳.
One may profane the Sabbath for the sake of a living, day old child, but one may not profane the Sabbath for the sake of a dead King David.26)שבת קנ״א ב׳.
When a man sells his daughter or a book of the Torah in order to satisfy his hunger, such a sale will never bring him luck.27)מגלה כ״ז א׳.
It is not necessary to reect monuments to just men for their words are their memorials.28)שקלים ז׳ א׳.
It might have been necessary to pass a law forbidding the eating of meat and the drinking of wine since the temple was destroyed; but such a law could not be enforced and it is therefore unnecessary to enact it. Ever since the government decreed that no one must engage in the study of the Torah it should have been necessary to enact a law that people should not marry and have children. The necessity for teaching the Torah to the children would then no longer exist. But one must not think of doing so and the Jews must be allowed to do as they wish and they will certainly find the right way to save themselves from the decrees.29)הוריות ג׳ ב׳, תוספתא סוטה פרק ט״ו.
If a man vows not to eat meat, he may still eat the head and the feet of an animal, for these parts are not considered as meat and he who eats them is not considered a man.30)נדרים נ״ד ב׳.
He who studies the Torah in his youth is like a young man who marries a virgin and both possess their youthful ardor; she turns to him with love and he embraces her; but he who began to study the Torah in his old age may be compared to an old man who married a virgin; she lovingly caresses him but he avoids her.31)אבות דר׳ נתן פרק כ״ג.
A student who abandons the Torah may be compared to a bird which cannot find its nest and is sure to fall to the ground when it is weary of its wanderings.32)קהלת רבה פּרשה א׳.
It has been mentioned before that many Jews settled in the neighboring countries to escape the persecution of the Romans. Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel strove to preserve the significance of Palestine as the center of the Jewish faith in the minds of the exiles and to prevent the establishment of another new religious center similar to the “Temple of Onias” in Alexandria. In this effort he was eminently successful.