Johanan HaSandlar (c. 200 CE – c. 300 CE) was one of the main students of 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...

 and a contemporary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He is one of the tannaim

Tannaim

The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...

whose teachings are quoted in 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...

. The name "HaSandlar" may imply that Rabbi Yohanan earned his living as a shoemaker

Shoemaking

Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...

, but it could also indicate that he was a native of Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

.

Rabbi Yochanan was a great-grandson of Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder; he also purportedly traced his ancestry back to King David. Rashi

Rashi

Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...

, the great medieval commentator, was a 33rd-generation descendant of Rabbi Yochanan.

He is well-known for his saying in the Mishnah of Pirkei Avoth

Pirkei Avoth

Pirkei Avot , which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims of the Rabbis of the Mishnaic period. Because of its contents, it is also called Ethics of the Fathers. The teachings of Pirkei Avot appear in the Mishnaic tractate of Avot,...

 (4:14): "Every assembly that is for the sake of Heaven will survive; but if it is not for the sake of Heaven, it will not survive."

He died on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz (the same yahrzeit

Bereavement in Judaism

Bereavement in Judaism is a combination of minhag and mitzvah derived from Judaism's classical Torah and rabbinic texts...

 as that of Rashi), and was buried 200 meters from the tomb of Shimon bar Yochai in Meron, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

External links

• Photo of Rabbi Yochanan's grave in Meron