Yavneh

§ The Gemara relates: Abba Sikkara was the leader of the zealots [biryonei] of Jerusalem and the son of the sister of Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai sent a message to him: Come to me in secret. He came, and Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: Until when will you do this and kill everyone through starvation? Abba Sikkara said to him: What can I do, for if I say something to them they will kill me. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: Show me a method so that I will be able to leave the city, and it is possible that through this there will be some small salvation.Abba Sikkara said to him: This is what you should do: Pretend to be sick, and have everyone come and ask about your welfare, so that word will spread about your ailing condition. Afterward bring something putrid and place it near you, so that people will say that you have died and are decomposing. And then, have your students enter to bring you to burial, and let no one else come in so that the zealots not notice that you are still light. As the zealots know that a living person is lighter than a dead person.Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai did this. Rabbi Eliezer entered from one side and Rabbi Yehoshua from the other side to take him out. When they arrived at the entrance of the city on the inside, the guards, who were of the faction of the zealots, wanted to pierce him with their swords in order to ascertain that he was actually dead, as was the common practice. Abba Sikkara said to them: The Romans will say that they pierce even their teacher. The guards then wanted at least to push him to see whether he was still alive, in which case he would cry out on account of the pushing. Abba Sikkara said to them: They will say that they push even their teacher. The guards then opened the gate and he was taken out.When Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai reached there, i.e., the Roman camp, he said: Greetings to you, the king; greetings to you, the king. Vespasian said to him: You are liable for two death penalties, one because I am not a king and yet you call me king, and furthermore, if I am a king, why didn’t you come to me until now? Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: As for what you said about yourself: I am not a king,

in truth, you are a king, if not now, then in the future. As if you are not a king, Jerusalem will not be handed over into your hand, as it is written: “And the Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one” (Isaiah 10:34). And “mighty one” means only a king, as it is written: “And their mighty one shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them” (Jeremiah 30:21), indicating that “mighty one” parallels “ruler.” And “Lebanon” means only the Temple, as it is stated: “That good mountain and the Lebanon” (Deuteronomy 3:25). And as for what you said with your second comment: If I am a king why didn’t you come to me until now, there are zealots among us who did not allow us to do this.Understanding that Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai was prepared to ask him not to destroy the Temple, Vespasian said to him: If there is a barrel of honey and a snake [derakon] is wrapped around it, wouldn’t they break the barrel in order to kill the snake? In similar fashion, I am forced to destroy the city of Jerusalem in order to kill the zealots barricaded within it. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai was silent and did not answer. In light of this, Rav Yosef later read the following verse about him, and some say that it was Rabbi Akiva who applied the verse to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: “I am the Lord…Who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:25). As Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai should have said the following to Vespasian in response: In such a case, we take tongs, remove the snake, and kill it, and in this way we leave the barrel intact. So too, you should kill the rebels and leave the city as it is.In the meantime, as they were talking, a messenger [feristaka] arrived from Rome, and said to him: Rise, for the emperor has died, and the noblemen of Rome plan to appoint you as their leader and make you the next emperor. At that time Vespasian was wearing only one shoe, and when he tried to put on the other one, it would not go on his foot. He then tried to remove the other shoe that he was already wearing, but it would not come off. He said: What is this?Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: Be not distressed or troubled, for good tidings have reached you, as it is written: “Good tidings make the bone fat” (Proverbs 15:30), and your feet have grown fatter out of joy and satisfaction. Vespasian said to him: But what is the remedy? What must I do in order to put on my shoe? Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: Have someone with whom you are displeased come and pass before you, as it is written: “A broken spirit dries the bones” (Proverbs 17:22). He did this, and his shoe went on his foot. Vespasian said to him: Since you are so wise, why didn’t you come to see me until now? Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: But didn’t I already tell you? Vespasian said to him: I also told you what I had to say.Vespasian then said to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: I will be going to Rome to accept my new position, and I will send someone else in my place to continue besieging the city and waging war against it. But before I leave, ask something of me that I can give you. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to him: Give me Yavne and its Sages and do not destroy it, and spare the dynasty of Rabban Gamliel and do not kill them as if they were rebels, and lastly give me doctors to heal Rabbi Tzadok. Rav Yosef read the following verse about him, and some say that it was Rabbi Akiva who applied the verse to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: “I am the Lord…Who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:25), as he should have said to him to leave the Jews alone this time.And why didn’t Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai make this request? He maintained that Vespasian might not do that much for him, and there would not be even a small amount of salvation. Therefore, he made only a modest request, in the hope that he would receive at least that much.

When Vespasian Ceaser came to destroy Jerusalem he said to the Jerusalmites:
“Fools, why do you seek to destroy this city and why do you seek to burn down the Temple? For what do I ask of you, but that you send me one bow or one arrow and I will leave you.”
They said to him: “Just as we went out against the first two who were before you and killed them, so, too, we will go out before you and kill you.”
When Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai heard this, he sent for the men of Jerusalem and said to them:
“My sons, why are you destroying this city, and why do you want to burn down the Temple? For what does he ask of you? Behold, he asks for nothing more than one bow or one arrow, and he will leave you alone.”
They said to him: Just as we went out against the two before him and killed them, so, too, we will go out before him and kill him.”
Vespasian had men stationed near the walls of Jerusalem
and everything that they heard they would write on an arrow and send it over the walls.
They wrote on an arrow and shot over the walls saying:
“Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai is one of the admirers of Caesar, and he says so to the people of Jerusalem.
And after Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai said it one day, and a second, and a third, and they did not accept it from him,
he sent for his students Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua.
He said to them: “My sons, stand and take me out of here. Make me a coffin and I will sleep in it.”
Rabbi Eliezer held him at the feet and Rabbi Yehoshua held him at the head
and they walked around with him until sundown, until they got to the gates of Jerusalem.
The gatekeepers said to them: “Who is this?”
They said to them: “It is a corpse, and don’t you know that it is forbidden to leave a corpse in Jerusalem overnight?”
They said to them: “If he is dead, take him [out of the city].”
And they took him out and they carried him until they got to Vespasian.

They opened the coffin and he stood before him.
He [Vespasian] said to him: “You are Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai! What can I give you?”
He said to him: “I request nothing other than Yavneh and her wise men, and the lineage of Rabban Gamliel.
I will go and teach my students there, and establish a House of Prayer and do there all the commandments.
He said to him: "Go and do everything that you wish."

(2) Shimon the Righteous was from the remnants of the Great Assembly. He would say, "On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service and on acts of lovingkindness."

Once, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was walking with his disciple, Rabbi Y'hoshuah, near Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple. R. Y'hoshua looked at the Temple ruins and said, "Oy for us! The place that atoned for the sins of the people Israel - through animal sacrifice - lies in ruins!" Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai spoke to him in comfort, "Do not be too sad, my son. We has another equally meritorious way of gaining atonement - deeds of lovingkindness." For it is written, "Lovingkindness I desire, not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6).

(1) The festival day of Rosh Hashanah which coincided with Shabbat: they would blow [the shofar] in the Temple, but not in the [rest of the] country. After the destruction of the Temple, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, ordained that they should blow in every place in which there is a court. Rabbi Eleizer said, "Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai only made this ordinance with respect to Yavneh alone." [The Sages] said [back] to him, "It was the same for Yavneh as for any other place in which there was a court."

(4) At first, testimony regarding the new moon was received the whole day [on the thirtieth day of Elul which would then become Rosh Hashanah if the testimony was accepted; but as it] once [happened that] the witnesses delayed in coming, and the Levites confounded the Song [of the day at the afternoon sacrifice], it was ordained that witnesses should be admitted only until [the time of] the afternoon sacrifice, and if witnesses came from [the time of] the afternoon sacrifice and onwards, that day and the morrow would be treated with sanctity [as if the first day were also Rosh Hasahnah]. After the destruction of the temple, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai ordained that testimony regarding the new moon could be received the whole day [of the thirtieth of Elul once again]. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha said, "This too did Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai ordain: even if the head of the court would be in any [other] place, the witnesses need not go anywhere [else], but to the place of meeting [of the court]."