AMONG THE DISCIPLES OF RABBI CHIYA, Rabbi Jonathan ben Elazar, sometimes called ״שר הבירה״ or ״איש הבירה״ (the Man of the Capitol), was very prominent. He excelled in Hagada and after he reinterpreted some biblical text it seemed that it had never really been understood before. His deductions were primarily religious and ethical.
The times were such that the masses of the people lost much of their interest in legal disputations and preferred the legendary explanations of the Scriptures and the wondrous stories concerning the heroes of the Bible. These stimulated their imagination and momentarily removed them from their sad realities into a beautiful world of dreams. We therefore find Rabbi Jonathan mentioned hundreds of times in Hagada, but only once in Halacha.1)שׁבת מ״ט א׳ וב׳.
It appears that Rabbi Jonathan ben Elazar was a grain merchant and that he lived in Sephoris. He was a close friend of Rabbi Chanina bar Chama with whom he frequently discussed various matters. The following story is characteristic of the lifetime of Rabbi Jonathan. As he once came to a merchant to buy lentils, the merchant offered him wheat at a low price but demanded a high price for lentils. Rabbi Jonathan’s relative then instructed him to inquire for the price of wheat whenever he wanted to buy lentils, so that he might obtain it at a low price.2)מדרשׁ שׁוחר טוב פּרשׁה י״ב פּיסקא ב׳.
Rabbi Jonathan also conducted an academy and one of his most prominent disciples was Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani, who often repeated the Hagadic sayings of Rabbi Jonathan. Rabbi Shmuel came from Babylonia to Palestine to ascertain the meaning of three biblical verses of which he was in doubt. He met Rabbi Jonathan who gave him a satisfactory explanation. Another version declares that he met Rabbi Jonathan in the street, but the latter refused to answer his questions there and instructed him to visit the academy where he would teach him the meaning of these verses. Rabbi Shmuel attempted to prove that it was permissible to teach the Torah in the street and he quoted Proverbs (1:20) to prove his contention. But Rabbi Jonathan declared that the reference was not to an ordinary street, but to a highway of learning. He added further that one does not sell precious stones in a vegetable market.3)תנחומא בחוקותי פּיסקא נ׳.
Rabbi Shmuel related that whenever Rabbi Jonathan came to the passage, “For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it” (Isaiah 28:20), he explained it to mean that the whole world is too small for God to share its rule with any other power.4)יומא ט׳ ב׳, סנהדרין ק״ג א׳. This statement of Rabbi Jonathan is no doubt part of his argument against people who believed in dual rule out of conviction that God could not alone govern the world and required the assistance of another.
Rabbi Jonathan was always kind to those he came in contact with and there is no mention of any outburst of anger on his part. But he was strict with Rabbi Simlai, who later became one of the outstanding exponents of Hagada; he said to Rabbi Simlai: “It is a tradition of my forefathers not to teach Hagada to a Babylonian nor to an inhabitant of the south, for these possess vain pride and little Torah.”5)ירושׁלמי פּסחים פרק ה׳ הלכה ג׳.
The problem of fair judgment in Jewish courts was then of paramount importance and of this Rabbi Jonathan said: “One who sits in judgment should consider that a sword hangs over his head and the pit of damnation opens at his feet,6)יבמות ק״ט בי. for every judge who passes just sentence causes the Shechinah to dwell among Jews, but one who is unjust drives the Shechinah away and a judge who illegally deprives one man of his possessions and gives them to another will lose his life.”7)סנהדרין ז׳ א׳.
Rabbi Jonathan’s custom when passing sentence in a dispute was illustrated by the following story: Rabbi Jonathan lived in the neighborhood of a Roman and the branches of a tree in his garden overhung the property of the Roman, who did not complain about this for a long time. One day two men came to Rabbi Jonathan to decide a dispute between them which involved such a case of an overhanging tree. Rabbi Jonathan heard the arguments of the contending parties and told them to return on the following day when he would pass sentence. The Roman was anxious to hear his decision and if he was to command that the tree be cut down, he would ask him, why he did not do so to his own tree. That evening Rabbi Jonathan had his tree trimmed of all branches overhanging the property of the Roman and when the litigants appeared on the following day, he commanded them to do likewise. To the query of the Roman, he replied: “My tree has been trimmed since the previous night.”
Another story concerns a woman who brought a basket of figs as a gift to Rabbi Jonathan. He refused the gift and he asked the woman to take the basket back with her; if the basket of figs had been covered when she brought it then she should take it away covered, but if it had been uncovered then she should carry it out uncovered lest people should suspect that she had brought a basket of gold but was taking back a basket of figs.8)ירושׁלמי בבא בתרא פרק ב׳ הלכה י״א.
“He who commits a good deed,” Rabbi Jonathan said, “will be rewarded for it in the world to come and he who commits an evil deed will be followed by it until judgment day.”9)סוטה ג׳ ב׳, עבודה זרה ה׳ א׳.
Seven different sins bring punishment upon the whole world and the innocent suffer for them together with guilty; these sins are: slander, bloodshed, false oath, immorality, pride, robbery and envy.10)ערכין ט״ז א׳. Punishment for these sins is visited during a time when there are wicked men and the punishment first affects the just men.11)בבא קמא ט׳ א׳.
He who teaches Torah to the son of another man deserves to sit among the angels and one who teaches Torah to the son of an Am Haaretz, God will undo all decrees against Him.12)בבא מציעא פּ״ה א׳. It is a worthy deed for a man to point out to his neighbor the evil of his ways and one who does so with pious intention merits the grace of God,13)תמיד כ״ח א׳. but it is a sin to slander another person. However, should one do so to quarrelsome people then he has committed no sin, for against such people anything may be said.14)ירושׁלמי פּאה פרק א׳ הלכה א׳.
We may assume that Rabbi Jonathan disapproved of the kindness of the Romans, for he declared: “The curse of Achijah of Shilo was preferable to the blessing of Balaam. Achijah cursed the Jews that they should shake like the reed which grows in the water, but water reeds are deeply rooted and no wind can uproot them; after the wind calms down the reed remains upright in its place. But Balaam blessed the Jews that they should be like cedar trees growing near water and even though all other winds will not budge a cedar tree, a south wind will uproot it.”15)תענית כ׳ א׳.
When Rabbi Jonathan heard the words of the pagans who could not understand how the Jews clung to their faith despite all suffering and persecutions he said: “Other nations wish to know what is our consolation in time of need and how we withstand the anger of our God; we must tell them that even though He punishes us, He immediately heals us of our suffering and creates us anew.”16)אגדת בראשׁית פּרשׁה ח׳. In line with this point of view was also Rabbi Jonathan’s explanation of the origins of storms and he said: “When God remembers that His children suffer among the Gentiles a sigh escapes Him and such sighs cause storms.”17)ברכות נ״ט א׳.
Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani quoted Rabbi Jonathan as follows: “When Moses was writing the Torah and he reached the verse ‘Let us make man’, Moses said to God, ‘Why do You give unbelievers an opportunity to say that You did not create man alone?’ but God replied: ‘Write as you are told and he who would err may err.’ Later God added: ‘Moses, these people whom I created consist of large ones and small ones and I give them an example that the great ones should consult the small ones before doing anything even as I consulted the angels before creating man.’”18)בראשית רבה פּרשה ח׳ פּיסקא ז׳.
When God completed the creation of the world, He looked upon it and found it good in His eyes. Rabbi Jonathan compared this to a king who was giving his daughter in marriage and who prepared a beautiful canopy for the bride. As the king looked upon the canopy he said to his daughter: “Daughter, may I always be as pleased with this canopy as I am pleased now.” God likewise looked at that which He had created and said to the world: “May I always be as pleased with you as I am pleased with you now.”19)בראשׁית רבה פּרשׁה ט׳ פּיסקא ד׳.