Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas and his famous commentary on the suffering Messiah

“The dream of the morning, wine at noon, children's talk and sit among the ignorant take the man out of the world.” (Pirkei Avot 3:10)

1. Identity and historical context

• Time: First–second century CE. He lived in the times of the Second Temple and he survived their destruction (ad 70), coming up to the time of Rabban Gamliel II, and Rabbi Akiva, that is to say, until approximately decades 120-130 CE.
• Role: Tanaíta palestinian, of the first sages of the Mishnah, counted among the “major tanaím” of the second generation, with figures such as Rabban Gamliel II, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Janania and Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria.
• Place: Active mainly in Eretz Israelactivity documented in Jerusalem, and then in the area of the Galilee (Usha, Shefar'am), according to the Tosefta.
• Position in the tradition: Cited 11 times in the Mishnah and with greater frequency in baraitot. In many sources it appears simply as “Rabbi Dosa”, and the parallel passages allow it to be identified as Dosa ben Harkinas.

It is important not to confuse it with Rabbi Chanina ben Dosaanother tanaíta famous for piety and miracles, nor with Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos (Hyrcanus), which shares a patronymic similar but is a different character.

“If we put in doubt the authority of the court of Rabban Gamliel, we must put in doubt that of all the courts, from the days of Moshe until today.”
(Rosh Hashanah 25a)

2. Primary sources

Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas appears in:

• Mishnah:
  • Negaim 1:4 – in disputes over impurity with Akavya ben Mahalalel and Chanina Sgan ha-Kohanim.
  • Rosh Hashanah 2:8-9 – in the dispute over the testimony of the witnesses of the new moon, and the authority of Rabban Gamliel.
  • Eduyot 3:3; Julin 11:2, among other passages.
  • Avot 3:10 – its highest ethical famous.
• Talmud Bavlí:
  • Yevamot 16a – the episode of the confusion over a decision of levirate attributed to “ben Harkinas” and the clarification of Dosa.
  • Rosh Hashanah 25a–b (parallel to the Mishnah RH 2) – the conflict for the fixing of the calendar and Yom Kippur.
  • Sukkah 52a – his messianic interpretation of Zechariah 12:10 and Messiah ben Yosef.
  • Julin 124b – technical discussion about the rules of transmission of impurity.
• Tosefta: Mikvaot 6:2 – is mentioned that he appointed two scientists to examine the kashrut of a " mikveh between Usha and Shefar'am.
• Sources encyclopedic modern: Encyclopaedia Judaica, Encyclopaedia.com and Wikipedia condense and systematize these data.

3. Biography and career

3.1. Life and times

• Generation: Located between the the first generation of tanaím (a contemporary of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai) and the second generation (Rabban Gamliel II, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, etc).
• Longevity: Traditional sources state that he arrived at a very advanced age, to the point of being blind and virtually confined to his house when the great sages (Yehoshua, Elazar ben Azaria and Akiva) went to visit him to inquire about an issue halachic delicate (Yevamot 16a).
• Activity geographic:
  • Several passages suggest that he was active in Jerusalem in the times of the Temple.
  • The Tosefta shown with sufficient authority to appoint emissaries to examine a " mikveh in the region between Usha and Shefar'am, which reflects participation in the reorganization of the rabbinic in Galilee after the destruction.

3.2. Status and prestige

• Figures later refer to him as a “great sage” whose opinion generated enormous respect; when you spread the rumor of an alleged decision of his that continued to Beth Shammai, “the wise men are disturbed much, because it was a great scholar”.
• It is inferred that he was prestige such even Rabban Gamliel –yes humbled himself publicly to Rebbi Yehoshua– took no action against him when he disagrees on the testimony of the new moon, probably due to his advanced age and authority.

3.3. Relationship with other wise

• Contemporary:
  • Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai
  • Rabban Gamliel II of Yavne
  • Rabbi Yehoshua ben Janania
  • Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria
  • Rabbi Akiva
• In an anecdote cited in sources later, when Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria visit Dosa ben Harkinas, this recites the verse “I Was young and envejecí, but I have not seen the righteous forsaken...” (Ps 37:25), alluding to that seen in Elazar the combination of wisdom, justice, and prosperity as a sign of divine blessing.

“I have seen many things in my long life, but I have never seen the truth perish for lack of patience.”
(Attributed to comments from medieval to his teaching in Yevamot 16a)

4. Work and contributions halájicos

4.1. Received tradition of Haggai the prophet

The Talmud Bavlí relates that Rebbi Dosa ben Harkinas preserve a oral tradition attributed to the prophet Haggai with three concrete lessons:

1. Levirate and co-wife's daughter:
   • Case: A man whose brother married his daughter (as one of multiple wives).
   • Education: you are Not allowed to make yibúm (levirate) with any of the co-wives after the death of the brother.
   • This teaching coincides with the position of Beth Hillel and is opposed to Beth Shammai.
2. Tithe of the poor (ma asher aní) in Ammon and Moab, in the sabbatical year:
   • Jews living in the regions of Ammon and Moab should be separated in the year of shemitá the tithe for the poor, in place of the ma asher shení that is eaten in Jerusalem.
   • This guaranteed resources to the poor even when the land of Israel itself was at rest, and shows an application pragmatic of the Torah to the border areas or semidiaspóricas.
3. Acceptance of converts from Tadmor and Kardu:
   • They had to accept proselytes from Tadmor (Palmyra) and Kardu (Corduene).
   • This indicates a regulated opening towards the converts from distant villages, and is related to the debate about the legitimacy of certain populations in the halachah.

These three halachot are a clear example of Rabbi Dosa as transmitter of age-old traditionslinked by the rabbinic tradition to the time of the prophets.

“The discipline of the spirit begins with the discipline of the hours.”

4.2. The episode of Yevamot 16a: the confusion with his brother

In the time of Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, reached the ears of the wise men Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas had allowed just the case of levirate that Haggai would have prohibited (the man that makes yibúm with the co-wife of her own daughter), according to Beth Shammai. This offend you, because it contradicts the accepted practice of Beth Hillel.

He then decides to send a delegation of high level: Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, and Rabbi Akiva. Find Dosa old, blind, and after a long interaction clarifies:

• The one that had allowed the case was his brother Yonatan ben Harkinas, a disciple of Beth Shammai.
• Dosa reaffirms that your own opinion is still the halachah of Beth Hillel, i.e., prohibit the levirate.

This episode is key to understanding:

• The reputation of Dosa as supreme authorityto the question, even when it is already withdrawn.
• Their fidelity to the majority rule (Bet Hillel)despite preserve and transmit minority traditions.

4.3. Controversy on the calendar: Rosh Hashanah 2-3

In Rosh Hashanah 2:8-9 it is narrated that two witnesses said they had seen the new moon in circumstances astronomically difficult, and Rabban Gamliel accepted his testimony, thus securing the calendar. Rabbi Dosa, in contrast, considered “false witnesses”using a metaphor, vivid picture: “How can attest that a woman gave birth if the next day your belly is still bulging?”. Rabbi Yehoshua admits that he convinces the logic of Dosa.

Rabban Gamliel reacts by ordering Yehoshua that is this before him on the day that, according to the own calculation of Yehoshua, it would be Yom Kippur with his stick and bag of money (i.e., profane, according to their own calendar, a holy day). Dosa is involved at this point to say a key phrase in the theory rabbinic authority:

“If we put in doubt the decisions of the Beth Din of Rabban Gamliel, we have to put into question all of the decisions of every Beth Din from the days of Moshe until today.”

With this Dosa:

• Recognizes the binding force of the institution of the Nasí and his court, even if in a particular case seem to be the wrong witnesses.
• Advises Yehoshua to cede for the good of the unit halachic.
• It becomes a classic source for the idea that the institutional continuity weighs more than the correction point in the calculation of the calendar.

4.4. Other failures halájicos

1. Negaim 1:4 – Disputes of purity/impurity:
   Dosa discusses technical issues of tzaraat (spots on the skin) with Akavya ben Mahalalel and Chanina Segan ha-Kohanim in the period in which the Temple was still standing. This is shown as a specialist in the laws of ritual puritycentral to the life of the Temple.
2. Marriage and civil law:
   In a case of matrimonial/civil, Dosa is in favour of the “sons of the great priests” against the opinion of Hanan, in opposition to the own Yochanan ben Zakkai. This indicates that it was not a mere follower, passive in your masterbut that had independence of judgment.
3. Supervision of mikvaot:
   The Tosefta says that he appointed two scientists to examine a " mikveh between Usha and Shefar'am, what shows to exercise executive authorityworried about the purity ritual community even outside Jerusalem.
4. Julin 124b:
   In discussions of the laws of impurity through contact, citing his stance to that of Rabbi Ishmael, which confirms its role in casuistry technique tumá and tahará.

5. Ethical teachings and spiritual

5.1. The maximum of Pirkei Avot

Your phrase is most well-known figure in Pirkei Avot 3:10:

“Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas said:
Dream of the morning, wine in the noon, talk of children and sit in the assemblies of the ignorant take the man out of the world.”

The four elements:

1. Dream of the morning (שינה של שחרית):
   This is not sleep what is necessary for health, but lengthen the dream beyond what is reasonable, losing the hours of study and work.
2. Wine noon (יין של צהרים):
   Drink in hours of activity breaks the concentration and generates dependency; it symbolizes the pleasure that interferes with the responsibility.
3. Talk of children (שיחת הילדים):
   Refers not to talk to the children themselves, but conversations are banal, empty, that infantilizan the thinking adult.
4. Sit in the assemblies of the ignorant (ישיבת בתי כנסיות של עמי הארץ):
   Stay in spaces where it dominates the ignorance and superficialityinstead of an environment of serious study.

The conclusion “take it out of the world” it is understood in two senses:

• We removed from the place in this world: to destroy your productivity, reputation, and influence.
• You are committed to your portion in the World to Come, because it wastes the life in the trivial.

Around this mishnah, commentators stress that Dosa is the figure right to say it precisely because, as a wise veteran, saw how it destroys the life of a talmid chacham is not for great sins, but by small leaks of time and energy.

5.2. Vision of time and the company

Of the mishnah derive a number of axes of ethics:

• Time Control: the morning and noon times are key to the study and work; malgastarlos is equivalent to “leave the world”.
• Sobriety intellectual: the wine represents the dispersion; the wise man must protect his lucidity.
• Care of the social environment: the “assembly of the ignorant” suggests that, for Dosa, the environment shapes the mind; to sit with those who do not value the Torah or the serious thought ends up emptying the person of content.

5.3. Providence and synthesis between Torah and prosperity

The scene where Dosa looks to Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria –a young, wise and very rich– and quote the verse, “I have not seen the righteous forsaken” shows another facet:

• For Dosa, the Torah and the material prosperity are not necessarily antagonists, provided that the wealth is at the service of the spiritual mission and community.

6. Thinking messianic: the Messiah ben Yosef

Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas is associated with one of the oldest texts on the enigmatic Messiah ben Yosef. In Sukkah 52a appears a discussion on the verse from Zechariah 12:10: “they shall Look on him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him”.

• Some scholars interpret as grief for the death of the evil inclination.
• Rabbi Dosa interpreted as mourning for the death of the Messiah ben Yosef, a messianic figure who dies in battle.

The editor-in-talmudic leans towards the interpretation of Dosa, and from this passage develops the whole subsequent tradition of a Messiah, son of Joseph, which precedes the Messiah, son of David and dies before the final redemption.

For the study of the history of ideas, this makes for Dosa:

• One of the the first witnesses explicit a concept of dual messianism (ben Yosef / ben David).
• An exegete who reads the prophecy of Zechariah in key historical-messianic concretenot merely allegorical.

7. Profile intellectual and theological

From the episodes halájicos and agádicos, you can follow the shape of the type “rabbi” that was Dosa ben Harkinas:

1. Guardian of the tradition received:
   • Transmits ancient teachings of Haggai.
   • He is concerned that not be attributed erroneously opinions of his brother, who continue to Bet Shammai.
2. Faithful to the majority rule (Bet Hillel):
   • On sensitive topics such as yibúm, is positioned with the line finally accepted.
3. Defender of the institutional authority:
   • In the conflict of the calendar, but believes that the witnesses are wrong, defends the legitimacy of the Beth Din of Rabban Gamliel as a continuation of the chain judicial from Moshe.
4. Ethics of the discipline and the focus:
   • Your mishnah in Avot is a manifesto against the loss of time, the drunkenness and the banality of social.
5. Controlled opening to the outside:
   • Accept proselytes of Tadmor and Kardu, indicating that it does not close the door to the gentiles, but integrates them under clear rules.
6. Sensitivity eschatological:
   • His reading of Zechariah 12:10 in the key of Messiah ben Yosef shows a thinking messianic developedconcerned about the meaning of suffering and the duel in the history of Israel.

8. Legacy and importance in the rabbinic tradition

In short, what is there to retain yes or yes on Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas?

1. Transition figure:
   • Direct witness of the world of the Second Temple and the protagonist of the turn towards the rabbinical judaism of Yavne and the Galilee.
2. Authority halachic respetadísima:
   • Consulted by Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, and Rabbi Akiva in matters of high sensitivity legal.
3. Model of balance between independence and obedience institutional:
   • You can consider erroneous acceptance of certain witnesses, but argues that the authority of the Beth Din supreme cannot be undermined without destroying the entire system.
4. Transmitter of ancient traditions (Haggai), and a pioneer of the concept of Messiah ben Yosef:
   • Binds the memory prophetic with the development of thinking and messianic rabbi.
5. Teacher of ethics of the time and of the company:
   • Your maximum Avot 3:10 became a classic text on the discipline of the wise, the time management and the importance of avoiding environments intellectually toxic.
6. Stable presence in the Mishnah and Talmud:
   • Appears 11 times in the Mishnah and numerous times in baraitot and suguiot, the reason for which studies modern counted among the tanaím relevant to reconstruct the early evolution of the halachah.

His reading of Zechariah 12:10 in the key of Messiah ben Yosef shows a thinking messianic developedconcerned about the meaning of suffering and the duel in the history of Israel.