Re: The Mishna, etc
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 3:09 am
Simeon (or Shimon) ben Gamliel II (Hebrew: רבן שמעון בן גמליאל השני) was a Tanna of the third generation and president of the Great Sanhedrin. Shimon was a youth in Betar when the Bar Kokhba revolt broke out, but when that fortress was taken by the Romans he managed to escape the massacre (Gittin 58a; Sotah 49b; Bava Kamma 83a; Yer. Ta'anit 24b). On the restoration of the college at Usha, Shimon was elected its president, this dignity being bestowed upon him not only because he was a descendant of the house of Hillel, but in recognition of his personal worth and influence.
Leadership
There were many children in his family, one-half of whom were instructed in the Torah, and the other half in Greek philosophy (Gittin 58a; Sotah 49b; Bava Kamma 83a;). According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Shimon himself seems to have been trained in Greek philosophy; this probably accounting for his declaring later that the Scriptures might be written only in the original text and in Greek (Meg. 9b; i. 8; Yer. Meg. 71c) ...
It is not known who were his teachers in the Halakah; he transmits sayings of R. Judah bar Ilai (Tosef., Kelim, B. Ḳ. v. 4), of R. Meir (Shab. 15b;[ B. M. 106b; Tosef., Ket. vi. 10; Yer. Ket. vi. 7), and of R. Jose bar Ḥalafta (Tosef., Dem. iii. 12; Tosef., Ṭoh. xi. 16).
During Shimon's patriarchate the Jews were harried by daily persecutions and oppressions. In regard to these Shimon observes: "Our forefathers knew suffering only from a distance, but we have been surrounded by it for so many days, years, and cycles that we are more justified than they in becoming impatient" (Cant. R. iii. 3). "Were we, as of yore, to inscribe upon a memorial scroll our sufferings and our occasional deliverances therefrom, we should not find room for all" (Shab. 13b).
Jewish internal affairs were more firmly organized by Shimon ben Gamaliel, and the patriarchate attained under him a degree of honor previously unknown.
While formerly only two persons, the nasi and the ab bet din, presided over the college, Shimon established the additional office of "ḥakam", with authority equal to that of the others,
As Halakist
In halakic matters Shimon inclined toward lenient interpretation of the laws, and he avoided adding to the difficulties attending their observance. In many instances in which an act, in itself not forbidden by Biblical law, had later been prohibited merely out of fear that it might lead to transgressions, Shimon declared it permissible, saying that "fear should not be admitted as a factor in a decision"
As Haggadist
Several of Shimon's haggadic sayings and decisions also have been preserved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_ben_Gamliel_II
- "Great is peace, for Aaron the priest became famous only because he sought peace" ("Pereḳ Ha-shalom"; comp. Mal. 2:6).
"Justice must be accorded to non-Jews as to Jews; the former should have the option of seeking judgment before either a Jewish or a pagan court" (Sifre, Deut. 16 [ed. Friedmann, p. 68b]).[58]
Shimon praised the Samaritans for observing more strictly than did the Israelites such commandments of the Torah as they recognized (Ḳid. 76a).
The Scripture is in many places to be understood figuratively and not literally (Sifre, Deut. 25 [ed. Friedmann, p. 70a])