Mishnaic Sages

A series of lectures outlining biographical sketches and anecdotes of the lives and teachings of the Sages of the Talmud (the Mishnaic era).

How did we get from the revelation at Sinai to the halachah we have today?

Rabbi Judah the Prince (circa 135–219 CE), also known as Rabbeinu Hakadosh, is credited with having compiled statements of earlier sages to form the Mishnah, when the Oral Law was in peril of being forgotten. In this class we also go through Maimonides’ l...

How and why the Oral Torah came to be put in writing for the first time.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (commonly referred to as Rashbi) was a celebrated sage of the Mishnah and author of the great Kabbalistic work, the Zohar. His life and teachings are celebrated every year on Lag BaOmer, the anniversary of his passing.... Read More

Rabbi Akiva was a shepherd-turned-sage who flourished during the era of the destruction of the Second Temple.

Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta was one of the last Tanaim. He was a friend of Rabbi Judah the Prince, the compiler of the Mishnah, who compiled and arranged the 6 volumes of the Mishnah about 1800 years ago, Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta belonged to a family of To...

The great and famous sage Hillel had eighty most distinguished disciples; thirty of them were said to be worthy to enjoy the Divine Presence as Moses did; another thirty were said to be great enough to have stopped the sun in its path as Yehoshua did; the...