Issi ben Judah

Issi ben Judah (Hebrew: איסי בן יהודה‎, "Issi ben Yehuda") was a Tanna of the late 2nd century and early 3rd century. He is often identified with R. Yosi Ish Hakfar HaBavli (Pirkei Avot 4:26), Yosef HaBavli, Issi Ha-babli, and Yosi/Yosef Ish Hutzal.[1]

Biography

He made Aliyah from Hutzal, Babylon, to the Land of Israel, and thus his name (Issi/Yosi/Yosef) is often followed by the title "Ha-Bavli" (the Babylonian) or "Ish Hutzal" (man of Hutzal). He was a disciple of Eleazar ben Shammua.[2]

Issi ben Judah is often confounded with Issi ben Judah bar 'Hai.

He was distinguished by the high esteem in which he held his colleagues, whose learning and ability he characterized in the most flattering terms.[3]

Teachings

Halacha

He ruled that the commandment to stand in the presence of the aged (Leviticus 19:32), which other rabbis believed applies only to an elderly Talmid Chacham, in fact applies to any aged person.[4]

He valued the respect of parents so highly that (according to him) one must abandon fulfilling any mitzvah that can be fulfilled by another person, if that is necessary to carry out a father's order.[4]

His opinions regarding culpability for sabbath transgressions and regarding anyone's right to eat from another's vineyard were recorded in the so-called Meggilat Setarim (Scroll of Hidden Things). However, in both cases his opinion is rejected by the Rabbis.[5]

Aggadah

He declared that there are five passages in the Bible, each of which contains a word that cannot be positively connected with either the preceding or the following words. This remark was afterward incorporated in the Masorah, where it is noted that "there are five passages in the Bible, each of which contains a word that has no balance".[6]

References

1. Pesachim 113b
2. Menachot 18a
3. Gittin 67a
4. Kiddushin 32b
5. See Bavli, Bava Metzia 92a; Shabbat 6b, 96b.
6. Mekhilta Exodus 17:9, and parallels