Gamaliel Ii Of Yavneh (c.45-c.115 Ce)
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GAMALIEL II OF YAVNEH (c.45-c.115 CE)
Palestinian rabbi, head of the Yavneh academy, and president (nasi or
"patriarch") of the Sanhedrin located there. In
contradistinction to Gamaliel I, his grandfather, he was
usually known by the honorific title of Rabban Gamaliel of
Yavneh. Assuming office in succession to Johanan ben Zakkai
(q.v.) around 80 CE, Gamaliel consolidated the work of
religious and national reconstruction which Johanan had
undertaken a decade earlier after the Romans laid waste the
Yavneh not only a focus of Jewish scholarship, but a great
fortress of Jewish leadership as well - one to which the
nation could look for guidance and inspiration now that the
rallying point of the
This ambitious program involved the setting of new standards
of conduct for admission to the academy, ending the old
strife between the schools of Hillel (q.v.) and Shammai (q.
v.), establishing a coherent policy toward the outside
world, and centralizing Jewish authority in the sages (with
Gamaliel himself at their head). It was this very insistence
on unquestioned authority, however, that brought Rabban
Gamaliel into conflict with other leading scholars, notably
his own brother-in-law Eliezer ben Hycanus (q.v.) and Joshua
ben Hananiah. As a result of the culminating humiliation
suffered by Joshua, over the date on which he calculated
that the Day of Atonement would fall, Gamaliel was deposed
and temporarily replaced by Eleazar ben Azariah (c.90 CE).
His true nature soon became evident when a reconciliation
brought the ex-patriarch and his offended colleague together
once again; the sages promptly restored him to office,
nominating Eleazar as vice-president of the Sanhedrin.
Though somewhat high-handed and domineering in public life,
Gamaliel was a modest, saintly and kind-hearted individual
whose consideration for others extended not only to pupils
and the Jewish community at large but also to well-
intentioned gentiles and his own faithful, pious slave,
Tabi. While under suspension, he continued to discharge his
ordinary duties with a good grace, believing that every step
had been taken "not for his own honor, nor for that of his
house, but for the honor of God alone, so that factions
might not grow apace in Israel." At his bidding, therefore,
a 19th benediction was added to the Amidah prayer, designed
to exclude Judeo-Christians and other heretical elements
from synagogue worship. At the same time, righteous
proselytes were mentioned favorably in a separate Amidah
blessing; and the delegation of leading sages, headed by
Rabban Gamaliel, which journeyed to Rome (c.95 CE)
apparently aimed to avert a decree outlawing conversion to
Judaism, after the Emperor Domitian's own cousin, Flavius
Clemens, had embraced the Jewish faith.
One of the foremost teachers of his generation, renowned for
his authoritative judgment and for his broad cultural
interests, Gamaliel attained vast prestige as the official
spokesman and representative of his people. He was
responsible for many enactments that had far-reaching impact
on Jewish life: determining the Biblical canon; perpetuating
remembrance of the Temple in various laws and customs;
reformulating the Passover Seder ritual; giving a set form
to the Amidah prayer, the recitation of which became a daily
obligation; and, through his personal example, doing away
with elaborate burial rites so as to avoid social
distinctions. Above all, he promoted a unification of Jewish
legal, theological and ethical traditions that served as the
basis for his grandson Judah Ha- Nasi's (q.v.) later
achievement in the Mishnah. A.Y. Bitterman, Rabban Gamaliel
of Yavneh: His Teachings and Role in the Development of
Talmudic Law, 1974. S. Kanter, Rabban Gamaliel II; The Legal
Tradition, 1980.
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