Amora, head of the Tiberias academy
Rabbi Yohanan bar Nappaha
Active
third century CE
Orphaned, he rose to become a Torah master; the story of his grief for his study partner Resh Lakish illustrates the rabbinic love of debate.
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An orphan, Rabbi Yohanan bar Nappaha rose to master of the Torah and in the third century directed the Tiberias academy, in Palestine. He is remembered for his debates with Resh Lakish, another Palestinian sage who, tradition says, had been a bandit and a gladiator before turning to study. Babylonian study followed an ethos of argument tempered by etiquette: people debated for the love of debate and the respect won by sharpness, without necessarily reaching a conclusion. After Resh Lakish's death, Rabbi Yohanan was given a new partner who always agreed with him; rather than being consoled, he mourned his old partner, who had raised 24 objections to every statement (Bava Metsia 84a).