Joshua Ben Hananiah - Livelihood

Livelihood

Joshua's permanent residence was in Beki'in, a place between Jabneh and Lydda (Sanh. 32b), where he followed the trade of a needler (Yer. Ber. 7d). This occupation did not in any degree diminish the respect paid to him as one of the influential members of the academy at Jabneh. After the death of Johanan b. Zakkai (c.90CE), he was the heartiest supporter of Gamaliel II's efforts to bring about the predominance of the views of Hillel's followers over those of Shammai's, and thus to end the discord which had so long existed between the schools. But he was the very one whom Gamaliel humiliated on a certain occasion when the authority of the president was in question (R. H. 25a; Yer. R. H. 58b). Joshua's pliant disposition did not shield him from humiliation by Gamaliel a second time, and the wrong done to this highly esteemed scholar was the cause of Gamaliel's removal from office. He soon obtained Joshua's forgiveness, and this opened the way for his reinstatement; but he was now obliged to share his office with Eleazar b. Azariah, who had originally been appointed his successor (Ber. 28a).

Joshua esteemed Eleazar very highly, and on one occasion called out in his emphatic manner: "Hail to thee, Father Abraham, for Eleazar b. Azariah came forth from thy loins!" (Tosef., Sotah, vii.; Hagigah 3a; Yer. Hag., beginning). When it became necessary to present the case of the Palestinian Jews at Rome, the two presidents, Gamaliel and Eleazar, went as their representatives, and Joshua b. Hananiah and Akiba accompanied them. This journey of the "elders" to Rome, and their stay in the Imperial City, furnished material for many narratives. In one of these the Romans call on Joshua b. Hananiah to give proofs from the Bible of the resurrection of the dead and of the foreknowledge of God (Sanh. 90b). In another, Joshua comes to the aid of Gamaliel when the latter is unable to answer the question of a "philosopher" (Gen. R. xx.). In one anecdote, concerning a sea voyage undertaken by Gamaliel and Joshua, the astronomical knowledge of the latter is put to use. He is said to have calculated that a comet would appear in the course of the voyage (Hor. 10a).

After Gamaliel's death (comp. Mo'ed Katan 27a; Yer. M. K. 83a), the first place among the scholars fell to Joshua, since Eliezer b. Hyrcanus was under a ban. Joshua wished to do away with a regulation of Gamaliel's, but met with opposition on the part of the council (Eruvin 41a). Joshua stood by the death-bed of his colleague Eliezer b. Hyrcanus and called to him: "O master, thou art of more value to Israel than God's gift of the rain; since the rain gives life in this world only, whereas thou givest life both in this world and in the world to come" (Mek., Yitro, Bachodesh, 10; Sifre, Deut. 32; comp. Sanh. 101a). When, after Eliezer's death, the other law scholars, Eleazar b. Azariah, Tarfon, and Akiba, contested some of his opinions, Joshua said to them: "One should not oppose a lion after he is dead" (Gittin 83a; Yer. Git. 50a). Eleazar, also, seems to have died some time before Joshua.