These are the 6 generations of tanaítas who built the Mishnah

“In every community where there is no justice in the end is destroyed.”
(Attributed in Tosefta Sanhedrin)

1. General framework: who are the tanaítas?

• Definition: tana (תנא) means “repeater / master”. The tanaítas are the sages whose teachings are included in the Mishnah, the Tosefta and the midrashim halájicos older (Sifrá, Sifrí, Mekhiltá).
• Chronology: approx. 10-220 d.C.since the end of the Second Temple until shortly after the compilation of the Mishnah by Rabbi Yehuda hanassi.
• Quantity: modern research speaks of about 120 tanaítas identifiable by name.
• Political context: roman domination, the destruction of the Temple (70), Bar Kochba revolt (132-135), and reconfiguration of the jewish leadership to academies in Yavne, Usha, Beth Shearim and Tiberias.
• Function: secure the Oral torah in a relatively stable way. The amoraítas post not already discussed freely against the Mishnah, but rather to interpret it.

The scholarship divides the period in 5 or 6 generations; use the division 6because it explicitly includes the so-called semi-tanaítas (disciple and a contemporary of Rabbi Yehuda hanassi).

“Those who work for the community should work in the name of Heaven, because it is the merit of the people supporting them.”
(Avot 2:2)

2. First generation (10-80 d.C.)

Of the schools of Hillel and Shammai until the destruction of the Temple

Main sources for the payroll: the Jewish Encyclopedia and Rodkinson (tables of generations of tanaítas).

Context

• Last stage of the Second Temple.
• Transition from the era of the Zugot (couples-wise) to the teachers of the Mishnah.
• Strong tension between the schools of Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai.

Main tanaítas 1.Th generation

1. Hillel haZaqén (Hillel the Elder)
   • Babylonian origin; Nasi in Jerusalem.
   • Represents a line leniente, humanist and universalist; many halachot continue to your school.
2. Shammai
   • The most strict and legalistic Hillel; your school tends to the stiffness halachic.
   • Their opinions are a minority, but make the border internal the debate halachic classic.
3. Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai (the two schools)
   • More than individuals, are current decision-making halachic.
   • The halachah is fixed by the majority as Beth Hillel, but it is recognized that “both are the word of the living God”.
4. Rabban Gamaliel haZaqén (Gamaliel the Elder)
   • Grandson of Hillel; Nasi before the destruction of the Temple.
   • Associated with ordinances important and with a line farisea moderate against Rome.
5. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel I
   • Son of Gamaliel haZaqén; executed by the romans during the destruction of Jerusalem.
   • More figure of political leadership-religious that a decision-making halachic prolific.
6. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai
   • A disciple of Hillel; key leader during the siege of Jerusalem.
   • Saves the continuity of judaism pharisee to negotiate with Vespasian, and move the center to Yavne, where he founded the new academy.
7. Akabia ben Mahalalel (Akavíá ben Mahalalel)
   • Figure of integrity radical; in Pirkei Avot is quoted on issues of humility and responsibility to the divine judgment.
8. Janiná according to haKohanim (Hanina, and chief of the priests)
   • Coordinator of the priestly service; it appears in the Mishnah in topics sacrifices and worship of the Temple.
9. Najum haMadi (Nachum ha-Madi)
   • Remembered by some specific traditions; a symbol of the transition between Temple and halachah post-temple.
10. Eliezer ben Yaakov I
    • Authority in matters of structure of the Temple; his style is defined as “concise and clear”.
11. Janiná ben Dosa
    • Figure pious, close to the mysticism of prayer and miracles; une popular piety and halacha.
12. Nejunia ben haKaná
    • Associated in the tradition of post topics mystical/merkavá; in the historical context, is one of the most wise bridge between Temple and Yavne.

3. Second generation (80-120 d.C.)

Yavne and the reconstruction after the destruction of the Temple

Context

• Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed; the central rabbinical is in Yavne.
• It consolidates the structure of the Sanhedrin post-temple and the liturgy without the Temple.

Main tanaítas of the 2.Th generation

1. Rabban Gamaliel II of Yavne
   • Grandson of Gamaliel haZaqén; Nasi Yavne.
   • Leads the standardization halachic: set the text of some of the blessings, orders the Amidá, faces trends more radical.
2. Rabbi Tzadok
   • Famous for having fasted for years, anticipating the destruction of the Temple.
   • Represents the sensitivity priestly asceticism who migrated from Jerusalem to Yavne.
3. Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas
   • Tana lineage hilleliano; very old Yavne; his colleagues come to him in doubtful cases.
   • Important topics calendar and testimony, and tends to a-line conservative, but reasonable.
4. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov (II, according to some)
   • Director of school, with traditions about the Temple, and education; he is the image of the master laconic and precise.
5. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (R. Eliezer haGadol)
   • One of the disciples brightest of Yochanan ben Zakkai.
   • Extremely conservative: it is resistant to innovations and ends excommunicated by your obstinacy in the famous episode of “Tanur shel Ajnai”.
6. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Jananiá
   • Intellectual conversation, a key figure of the “loyal opposition” to Rabban Gamaliel II.
   • Represents an approach flexible and rational; participates in disputes with the wise, non-jews, and fixed many halachot of practice.
7. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaria
   • Nasi “acting” when you stop to Gamaliel II; wise young man (“as of 70 years”), as in the famous passage of Berachot.
   • It symbolizes the balance between tradition priestly, wealth, and erudition.
8. Eleazar ben Araj
   • Disciple highlight of Yochanan ben Zakkai, famous for its depth (“a spring that flows with force”).
   • Tradition aggádica presents him away from the academy and losing part of his wisdom: warning isolation of the beth midrash.
9. Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira (Judah b. Bathyra)
   • Runs a school in Nisibis (outside of Eretz yisrael), proof of the geographic dispersion teaching tanaíta.
   • Famous for its authority on issues of korbanot and Pesach.
10. (In expanded lists are added figures as Najum of Gimzó, Shmuel haKatan, etc, which reinforce the transition between piety and individual halachah formal.)

4. Third generation (120-140 d.C.)

Rabbi Akiva and the intensification of the study; before and during Bar Kochba

Context

• Approximately between the consolidation of Yavne and the preparation of the Bar Kochba revolt.
• Arise two great schools of hermeneutics: the Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva.

Main tanaítas of the 3.Th generation

1. Rabbi Tarfon (Tarfon)
   • Kohen, a teacher of Akiva but more conservative hermenéuticamente.
   • In Pirkei Avot: “you're Not obligated to finish the work, but neither are you free to desentenderte of it': the ethics of work infinite on the Torah.
2. Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha (R. Yishmael haKohen)
   • The head of a school in the south of Judea (You Must R. Ishmael).
   • Formula the 13 hermeneutical principles and represents an approach that is more grammatical, contextual, and close to the peshat.
3. Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef
   • The great architect of the method midráshico that “reads” the legal sense, in each particle of the Torah.
   • Teacher of numerous sages later; supports to Bar Kochba and dies martyred by the romans.
4. Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri
   • Decision-maker, widely cited in the laws of Sabbat, eruv, and other practical details.
   • Represents the intermediate generation between Yavne and the disciples of Akiva.
5. Rabbi Yose haGelilí (José the Galilean)
   • Specialist in halachah of korbanot; its geography (Galilee) shows the displacement of the center of study towards the north.
6. Rabbi Shimon ben Nanos
   • Figure a minor but present in the list of top tanaítas; participates in discussions on civil liability and damages.
7. Rabbi Yehuda ben Baba
   • Martyred by order of judges and rabbis in times of persecution.
   • His death symbolizes the institutional resistance: without planning, there is no continuity of the chain rabbinic.
8. Rabbi Yochanan ben Broká
   • Authority cited especially on issues of civil law; his son Ishmael will also be a recognized master.
9. Elishá ben Abuyá (“Ajer”)
   • Not figure in all the lists of “major”, but the tradition stands out as the wise man who became a heretic (Ajer).
   • His figure poses the problem of the tension between philosophy, mystical experience, and fidelity halachic.

5. Fourth generation (140-165 d.C.)

Disciples of Akiva and consolidation post-Bar Kochba

Context

• After the revolt of Bar Kochba and the devastation of Judea.
• Study centres in Usha, Shefar'am and then Beth Shearim.

Main tanaítas of the 4.Th generation

1. Rabbi Meir
   • Main disciple of Akiva; many mishnaiot anonymous continue to your opinion.
   • Brilliant dialectical; tradition links it with stories of cunning and legal ethics.
2. Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai (Judah b. Ilai)
   • One of the scholars most frequently cited in the Mishnah and Talmud.
   • Often represents the intermediate position between R. Meir and R. Yose.
3. Rabbi Yose ben Halafta
   • Tana focus orderly and systematic, widely cited in halachah and aggadá.
   • Associated with chronology (Seder Olam) and historical narratives.
4. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
   • A disciple of Akiva; the central figure in the mystical tradition later (Zohar, attributed to him).
   • In halachah, it is often strict Shabbat but flexible in other fields; it symbolizes the Torah as a refuge against Rome (episode of the cave).
5. Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua
   • Master valued for its respect the radical neighbour and the bet midrash.
   • Important appointment in the education acts and conduct of the teacher.
6. Rabbi Yochanan haSandlár
   • A disciple of Akiva; a symbol of the transmission itinerant of the Torah between study centres.
7. Rabbi Eleazar ben Yaakov (II)
   • Of the disciples of the late Akiva and teacher of R. Meir.
8. Rabbi Nejemiah
   • It is attributed opinions logical and well structured, but not always accepted.
   • Incarnation of the dialectics that investigated until the last consequences.
9. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korchá
   • Spiritual child of the generation of Yehoshua ben Jananiá; participates in discussions on civil law and liability.
10. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel II
    • Nasi after the death of Akiva and in the phase of rearrangement post-revolt.
    • Restructuring the Sanhedrin, and sets the pattern of living with Rome without giving up the identity.

6. Fifth generation (165-200 d.C.)

Generation of Rabbi Yehuda hanassi: wording of the Mishnah

Context

• Since the death of Shimon ben Gamaliel II until the death of Rabbi Yehuda hanassi.
• Consolidation of the Mishnah as a corpus of standards.

Main tanaítas of the 5.Th generation

1. Rabbi Nathan haBavlí (Nathan ha-Babli)
   • From Babylon; enter a sensitivity babylonian in the bet midrash of Eretz Israel.
   • Known for his depth in a dispute with Rabbi Yehuda hanassi.
2. Symmachos (Simjas / Sumjos)
   • Disciple bright of Rabbi Meir, who is famous for his strength dialectics.
   • Specialist in cases of money doubtwith the rule of “mammon hamutal besafek, jolkim” (will be split in case of doubt).
3. Rabbi Yehuda hanassi (Rabbi / Rebí / Rabbenu haQadosh)
   • Nasi and editor-in-chief of the Mishnah.
   • Sort and select the tradition tanaítica, setting the “canon” of the oral Torah basic. Figure central: all the time, culminating in him.
4. Rabbi Yose ben Yehuda
   • Son of R. Yehuda, frequently cited topics civil; it represents the transmission family of the halachah.
5. Rabbi Eleazar ben Shimon
   • Son of R. Shimon bar Yochai; it appears in several sugiot talmudic (sometimes in contexts ethically complex with respect to Rome).
   • Indicates how the mystical school of his father also becomes line halachic legacy.
6. Rabbi Shimon ben Eleazar
   • A disciple of R. Meir; several of the ethical teachings and halájicas are attributed to him, especially in the Tosefta and baraitot.

In addition, in this generation figures appear of transition as Huna Kamma, exilarca babylonian that, according to some sources, it coordinates with Rabbi Yehuda hanassi in the global leadership of the jewish people.

7. Sixth generation (200-220 d.C.)

Semi-tanaítas and gateway to the amoraítas

Context

• Contemporaries and disciples of Rabbi Yehuda hanassi.
• His teachings appear in Tosefta and baraitotwhile the protagonists in literature goes to the amoraítas.

Principal names (semi-tanaítas)

1. Polemo
   • Wise cited occasionally in baraitot; it represents the periphery of the geography academic.
2. Issi ben Yehuda
   • Creator of lists and classifications (for example, in the laws of Shabbat); influences the way in which the Amoraím systematizing the halachah.
3. Eleazar ben Yose
   • Son of R. Yose ben Halafta, and links to the tradition of chronology and narrative of his father's generation transitional.
4. Ishmael ben Yose
   • Another son of R. Yose; it continues to comment out the line aggádico and exegetical moderate.
5. Yehuda ben Laqish
   • Figure less known, but included among the semi-tanaítas that link with the first amoraítas.
6. Rabbi Jiya (Ḥiyya)
   • Disciple very close to that of Rabbi; according to the tradition, he helped to disseminate and establish the Mishnah and the teaching of baraitot.
   • Direct bridge to the great amoraítas of Eretz Israel.
7. Aja
   • Other wise bridge, known by some teachings are preserved in baraitot.
8. Abba (Ariká) – Rav
   • For the amoraítas is already Rav, the first great master babylonian; but this classification is counted as semi-tanaíta.
   • Is credited with having led the Mishnah to Babylon, ushering in fact the period amoraítico babylonian.

8. Conceptual synthesis: how to “read” the tanaítas

For this listing you will serve as a working tool, it is advisable to see three major axes:

1. Institutional focus
   • Of the Nesi'im (Hillel, Gamaliel, Shimon, Yehuda hanassi) depends on the configuration of the Sanhedrin and the relationship with Rome.
   • After the destruction of the Temple, the academies of Yavne, Usha and Beth Shearim replaced the Temple as the axis of legitimacy.
2. Axis hermeneutic
   • School of Hillel → trend leniente, anthropological, adaptable.
   • School of Shammai → trend strict internal logic more it lasts.
   • School of Rabbi Yishmael → reading context of the Torah, rules of hermeneutics “reasonable”.
   • School of Rabbi Akiva → read-intensive, each letter account; the halachah is derived from the thorough textual.
3. Axis geographical and political
   • Step Jerusalem → Yavne → Usha/Shefar'am → Beth she'arim/Tiberias, parallel to the step of a judaism centered in the Temple to one focused on the text and the academy.
   • Growing presence of Babylon (Nathan haBavlí, Rav Huna Kamma) as a counterweight.

9. About the “completeness”

• The classical sources (especially the Jewish Encyclopediawith its alphabetical list of tanaítas, and studies such as Rodkinson/Strack) allow the reconstruction of practically all the names, even those that appear only once in the Mishnah, Tosefta, or midrashim.
• In this study, I have given you:
  • The skeleton generational full (6 generations).
  • All tanaítas main in every generation, and several significant side.
  • The conceptual map need to locate any name that you find in your research paper.