Yohanan ben Zakkai

Yohanan ben Zakkai was a Jewish of the first century of the common era, and a primary contributor to the core text of rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah. He was an important sage in the era of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

History

The core works of Judaism's oral law often conflate fact, myth and legend, and are often unrelibale, or even silent, on precise historical details. The Mishnah offers no information on his birth or family. He is recorded as living until the age of 120 years.

He is said to be a pupil of Hillel. He is known to have studied in Jerusalem, in the Land of Israel, and then went to the Galilee.