Statement

Beyond late anecdotes, there is no evidence for Yohanan and other rabbis of the first two centuries. It is not even certain that there was yet a 'rabbinic movement': they may have operated individually or in small circles, and a coherent network of scholars, with shared lifestyle, beliefs, ways of interpretation and institutions, may not crystallize until after Yohanan and Akiba.

References

1. p. 134

   supports · main text · ch. 5

   Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.

   Section: The Emergence of Rabbinic Culture

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