Information AboutRebbi Tarfon |
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Although wealthy, he possessed extraordinary modesty; in one instance he deeply regretted having mentioned his name in a time of peril, since he feared that in using his position as teacher to escape from danger he had seemingly violated the rule against utilizing knowledge of the Torah for practical ends. Rabbi Ṭarfon was an adherent of the school of Shammai , though he was inclined toward leniency in the interpretation of those Halakhot of Shammai which had not actually been put into practise; often he decided in direct opposition to the followers of Shammai when they imposed restrictions of excessive severity. R. Ṭarfon engaged in halakhic controversies with Rabbi Akiva , with R. Simeon, and R. Eleazar Ben Azaryah . He is mentioned briefly with regard to Bruriah . In the discussion as to the relative importance of theory and practise, Ṭarfon decided in favor of the latter. R. Ṭarfon was extremely bitter against those Jews who had been converted to Christianity and he swore that he would burn every book of theirs which should fall into his hands, his feeling being so intense that he had no scruples against destroying the Gospels, although the name of God occurred frequently in them. Justin Martyr 's ''Dialog with Trypho'', a proof of Christianity from the Old Testament, purports to be a dialog with Tarfon, though this has been held to be a literary device rather than historical (see Schiffman). Two of his apothegms are especially noteworthy as indicating his intense earnestness: "The day is short, the labor vast, the toilers idle, the reward great, and the Master urgent" (Ab. i. 15); "You are not obliged to complete the work, but neither are you free to evade it; if you have learned much Torah , great shall be your reward, for He who hires you will surely repay you for your toil; yet the requital of the pious is in the future" (Ab. i. 17). These sayings remain in liturgical use as part of Pirkei Avot . Tarfon is mentioned in the traditional ) in Bnei Barak (in Palestine ) and were telling of the exodus from Egypt the entire night..." An Ossuary from a burial cave in Jerusalem has been discovered that is marked in Aramaic , "Elisheba wife of Tarfon." EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES Lawrence H. Schiffman. 1998. Texts and Traditions: A Source Reader for the Study of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Ktav, Hoboken, N.J. (ISBN 0-88125-434-7) |
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