Tarfon
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon, ' onMouseout='HidePop("31413")' href="/topics/Greek_language">Greek
Tryphon), a Kohen
, a member of the third generation of the Mishnah
sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple
(70 C.E.) and the fall of Bethar
(135 C.E.).
(Lydda). He was of priestly lineage
, and he expressly stated that he officiated in the Temple in Jerusalem
. As a priest, he would demand the heave-offering even after the Temple had fallen, while his generosity made him return to the father the redemption-money for the first-born, although it was his priestly perquisite.
Although wealthy, he possessed extraordinary modesty; in one instance he deeply regretted having mentioned his name in a time of peril, since he feared that in using his position as teacher to escape from danger he had seemingly violated the rule against utilizing knowledge of the Torah for practical ends.
Tarfon was an adherent of the school of Shammai
, though he was inclined toward leniency in the interpretation of those halakhot
of Shammai which had not actually been put into practise; often he decided in direct opposition to the followers of Shammai when they imposed restrictions of excessive severity. In his view, "objective views are always the determinative criterion in reaching legal decisions. He consistently decides to the advantage of the priest, and also encourages the performance of rituals in which the priest occupies the central role."
R. Tarfon engaged in halakhic controversies with Rabbi Akiva
, with Shimon bar Yochai, and R. Eleazar ben Azaryah. He is mentioned briefly with regard to Bruriah
. In the discussion as to the relative importance of theory and practise, Ṭarfon decided in favor of the latter.
The Tosefta
, a work of uncertain date, attributes to R. Tarfon a much discussed comment on the burning of gilyonim
and the books of the minim.
.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the 1st-century Tanna, Rabbi Tarfon, swore that he would burn every book that fell into his hands of those Jews who had converted to Christianity (see Shab. 116a). Indeed, even though the word, "God," occurred in them, he acknowledged that he would destroy even the Gospels of the Christians.http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=66&letter=T
However, some Jewish commentators explain that Shabbath 116a ruled on the question of what was expected of a Jew on the Sabbath
in respect of putting out a fire. A Jew may neither put such a fire out, unless life is in danger, nor save any item from such a fire with the exception of any Torah scrolls
written by hand on parchment. (Other Jewish books, for example literature, law and other religious books, would be left to the fire on the Sabbath.)
R. Tarfon contributed to this debate, according to the Tosefta
, by affirming that the fire should take the copies of the heretics, even with the divine name in them, equating them with blank sheets of parchment (gilyonim
). (Aruch HaShulchan
YD 281, written by R. Yechiel Michel Epstein
).
There is debate as to whether Tarfon's reference to the minim is to be taken as a reference to heretical Jews in general, or to a particular group of them, for example Jewish gnostics or Jewish Christians
according to preferred interpretations of gilyonim and minim.
refers not to the divine name in Torah scrolls but hypothesises the divine name occurring in early copies of the canonical gospels of the Four Evangelists
of the Christian New Testament
. This thesis is as yet unsubstantiated by the evidence of New Testament manuscripts, the divine name being absent from them. See Tetragrammaton in the New Testament
.
There is debate as to whether Justin Martyr
's dialogue with Trypho
, a proof of Christianity from the Old Testament, should be taken as purporting to represent a dialog with Tarfon. The dialog itself has been held to be principally a literary device, and its claim to witness to a rabbinic perspective can be seen in that light (see Schiffman).
in the company of other sages: "It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua, Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Akiba, and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining (at a seder
) in Bnei Barak (in Israel
) and were telling of the exodus from Egypt the entire night..."
An ossuary
from a burial cave in Jerusalem has been discovered that is marked in Aramaic, "Elisheba wife of Tarfon."
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
Tryphon), a Kohen
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
, a member of the third generation of the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple
Siege of Jerusalem (70)
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was the decisive event of the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in...
(70 C.E.) and the fall of Bethar
Betar (fortress)
The Betar Fortress was the last standing Jewish fortress in the Bar Kochba revolt of the 2nd century CE, destroyed by the Roman army of Emperor Hadrian in the year 135...
(135 C.E.).
Origins and character
He is said to have lived in Yavneh, although it is evident that he lived also in LodLod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
(Lydda). He was of priestly lineage
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
, and he expressly stated that he officiated in the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
. As a priest, he would demand the heave-offering even after the Temple had fallen, while his generosity made him return to the father the redemption-money for the first-born, although it was his priestly perquisite.
Although wealthy, he possessed extraordinary modesty; in one instance he deeply regretted having mentioned his name in a time of peril, since he feared that in using his position as teacher to escape from danger he had seemingly violated the rule against utilizing knowledge of the Torah for practical ends.
Halakhic teaching
RabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Tarfon was an adherent of the school of Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
, though he was inclined toward leniency in the interpretation of those halakhot
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
of Shammai which had not actually been put into practise; often he decided in direct opposition to the followers of Shammai when they imposed restrictions of excessive severity. In his view, "objective views are always the determinative criterion in reaching legal decisions. He consistently decides to the advantage of the priest, and also encourages the performance of rituals in which the priest occupies the central role."
R. Tarfon engaged in halakhic controversies with Rabbi Akiva
Rabbi Akiva
Akiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century . He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha...
, with Shimon bar Yochai, and R. Eleazar ben Azaryah. He is mentioned briefly with regard to Bruriah
Bruriah
Bruriah is one of several women quoted as a sage in the Talmud. She was the wife of the Tanna Rabbi Meir and the daughter of Rabbi Hananiah Ben Teradion, who is listed as one of the "Ten Martyrs." She is greatly admired for her breadth of knowledge in matters pertaining to both halachah and...
. In the discussion as to the relative importance of theory and practise, Ṭarfon decided in favor of the latter.
The Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
, a work of uncertain date, attributes to R. Tarfon a much discussed comment on the burning of gilyonim
Gilyonim
Gilyonim is a term used by Jewish scribes flourishing between 100 and 135 CE to denote the Gospels.-Play upon words:The designation as used by them did not imply any mockery; Rabbi Meïr, who flourished after 135, a descendant of Greek proselytes, was the first to play upon the word ἐυαγγέλιον by...
and the books of the minim.
Persecution of Christians
Some commentators have claimed this passage as evidence of persecution of early Christians by JewsPersecution of Christians in the New Testament
The persecution of Christians in the New Testament is an important part of the Early Christian narrative which depicts the early Church as being persecuted for their heterodox beliefs by an alleged "Jewish establishment" in what was then Roman occupied Iudaea province.The New Testament, especially...
.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the 1st-century Tanna, Rabbi Tarfon, swore that he would burn every book that fell into his hands of those Jews who had converted to Christianity (see Shab. 116a). Indeed, even though the word, "God," occurred in them, he acknowledged that he would destroy even the Gospels of the Christians.http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=66&letter=T
However, some Jewish commentators explain that Shabbath 116a ruled on the question of what was expected of a Jew on the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
in respect of putting out a fire. A Jew may neither put such a fire out, unless life is in danger, nor save any item from such a fire with the exception of any Torah scrolls
Sefer Torah
A Sefer Torah of Torah” or “Torah scroll”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish services...
written by hand on parchment. (Other Jewish books, for example literature, law and other religious books, would be left to the fire on the Sabbath.)
Torah scrolls
This led to the further question of whether such Torah scrolls should still be saved if the Jewish scribe responsible for writing them was held to be a heretic. Such scrolls would not be saved from the fire because the rules were not satisfied concerning who may write a Torah scroll, since the Torah scroll, including the divine name, may have been written with heresy in mind.R. Tarfon contributed to this debate, according to the Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
, by affirming that the fire should take the copies of the heretics, even with the divine name in them, equating them with blank sheets of parchment (gilyonim
Gilyonim
Gilyonim is a term used by Jewish scribes flourishing between 100 and 135 CE to denote the Gospels.-Play upon words:The designation as used by them did not imply any mockery; Rabbi Meïr, who flourished after 135, a descendant of Greek proselytes, was the first to play upon the word ἐυαγγέλιον by...
). (Aruch HaShulchan
Aruch HaShulchan
Aruch HaShulchan is a chapter-by-chapter restatement of the Shulchan Arukh...
YD 281, written by R. Yechiel Michel Epstein
Yechiel Michel Epstein
Yechiel Michel Epstein , often called "the Aruch ha-Shulchan" , was a Rabbi and posek in Lithuania...
).
There is debate as to whether Tarfon's reference to the minim is to be taken as a reference to heretical Jews in general, or to a particular group of them, for example Jewish gnostics or Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
according to preferred interpretations of gilyonim and minim.
Gilyonim and minim
In connection with a proposed identification of gilyonim and minim with Christianity in particular, another thesis has been suggested, independently of Jewish scholarship. This is that the passage in the ToseftaTosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
refers not to the divine name in Torah scrolls but hypothesises the divine name occurring in early copies of the canonical gospels of the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
of the Christian New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. This thesis is as yet unsubstantiated by the evidence of New Testament manuscripts, the divine name being absent from them. See Tetragrammaton in the New Testament
Tetragrammaton in the New Testament
The Tetragrammaton is the quadriliteral, typically unvocalized, Hebrew designation יהוה identifying the God of Israel throughout the Hebrew Bible, composed of the Hebrew letters yodh he waw he, written Right-to-left in Hebrew, and transliterated YHWH or YHVH in English...
.
There is debate as to whether Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
's dialogue with Trypho
Dialogue with Trypho
In the Dialogue with Trypho, Christian theologian Justin Martyr undertakes to show that Christianity is the new law for all men, and to prove from Scripture that Jesus is the Christ via a fictitious intellectual conversation between Justin and Trypho, a Jew...
, a proof of Christianity from the Old Testament, should be taken as purporting to represent a dialog with Tarfon. The dialog itself has been held to be principally a literary device, and its claim to witness to a rabbinic perspective can be seen in that light (see Schiffman).
Apothegm
Two of his apothegms are especially noteworthy as indicating his intense earnestness: "The day is short, the labor vast, the toilers idle, the reward great, and the Master urgent" (Avoth ii. 15); "You are not obliged to complete the work, but neither are you free to evade it; if you have learned much Torah, great shall be your reward, for He who hires you will surely repay you for your toil; yet the requital of the pious is in the future" (Avoth ii. 17). These sayings remain in liturgical use as part of Pirkei Avot.Legacy and death
Tarfon is mentioned in the traditional Haggadah of PassoverPassover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
in the company of other sages: "It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua, Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Akiba, and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining (at a seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
) in Bnei Barak (in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
) and were telling of the exodus from Egypt the entire night..."
An ossuary
Ossuary
An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...
from a burial cave in Jerusalem has been discovered that is marked in Aramaic, "Elisheba wife of Tarfon."