Yohanan ben zakkai biography books

1st-century rabbi and Jewish leader

See also: Johanan (name)

Yohanan ben Zakkai^[a] (Hebrew: יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, romanized: Yōḥānān ben Zakkaʾy; 1st century CE), sometimes abbreviated as ריב״ז‎ ribaz for Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, was a tanna, an important Jewish sage during the late Second Temple period during the transformative post-destruction era.

He was a primary contributor to the core text of Rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah. His name is often preceded by the honorific title Rabban. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time, and his escape from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem (which allowed him to continue teaching) may have been instrumental in Rabbinic Judaism's survival post-Temple.

His tomb is located in Tiberias within the Maimonides burial compound.

Yohanan was the first Jewish sage attributed the title of rabbi in the Mishnah.^[1]

Life

The Talmud reports