Avot245

1:
There were several sages who bore the name Yehudah. It is a 'rule' of the Mishnah that when the sage is called Yehudah with no further designation (such as a patronymic) that the sage in question is Rabbi Yehudah ben-Ilai, who lived in the middle and last decades of the 2nd century CE. Rabbi Yehudah was one of the pivotal sages of the era of reconstruction that followed the Bar-Kokhba disaster. He was born in Usha, a town in Lower Galilee, the town where eventually the reconstituted Sanhedrin held its meetings under Rabban Shim'on ben-Gamli'el. His learning as a youth he received mainly from Rabbi Tarfon, but, as we have already noted several times, he was eventually ordained by Rabbi Yehudah ben-Bava [Avot 232].

2:
Rabbi Yehudah was also among those young sages who had to flee the country or go into hiding because of the Hadrianic persecution. The Tosefta [Sukkah 1:4] records how during this period he and his friends had to make do with a sukkah that was less than perfect.

3:
Rabbi Yehudah had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the Unwritten Torah. It was probably for this reason that in the deliberations of the reconstituted Sanhedrin, in the middle of the 2nd century CE, he was always accorded the honour of being the first to give his opinion. This was probably also the reason why the President of the Sanhedrin, Rabban Shim'on ben-Gamli'el, appointed Rabbi Yehudah to the post of what we would nowadays call the 'rav' of the presidential mansion, the address for all halakhic questions that might arise.

4:
Rabbi Yehudah, in complete contrast to his contemporary, Rabbi Shim'on ben-Yochai, was one of the sages who, with the end of the Hadrianic persecution, started to mend the relationship between the sages and the Roman government. The Gemara [Shabbat 33b] describes a famous incident in which, during a conversation with colleagues, he pointed out the great technical achievements of the Roman colonial government:

5:
Rabbi Yehudah was most frugal in his personal habits. The Gemara [Nedarim 49b] reports that he only drank wine when the halakhah required him to drink wine: kiddush and havdalah on Shabbat and festivals and the four cups of wine at the seder service. He even remarked that drinking the four cups of wine at the seder service gave him a headache which would last until Shavu'ot! Furthermore, he also ate only a vegetarian diet, though it is not clear whether this frugality was for ideological reasons or because of poverty.

To be continued.

In Avot 222 I brought the comments of Jim Feldman concerning the name Ishmael, and I questioned his interpretation of the etymology of the name Samuel. Jim has written to me further:

I am walking on very dangerous ice whenever I get into a discussion that involves spelling – particularly in Hebrew – but I must respectfully disagree. The first occurrence of the name Yishmael is in Gen. 16:11. It is spelled with the appropriate ayin followed by an aleph and the line itself is: And the angel of the Lord said unto her: "Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael because the Lord hath heard thy affliction." The name Shaul has no ayin and is from the root "ask." I see no connection between the two names.

I respond:

My comment has been misunderstood – a grave fault in one who would teach. I have no quarrel with the etymology of the name "Yishma'el" which is quite clear in the biblical record, as Jim points out. I disagreed with Jim concerning the etymology of the name "Shemu'el", which Jim said means "God heard". I pointed out the absence of the letter ayin in this name, which vitiates the derivation offered by Jim. I also pointed out, rather gratuitously, perhaps, that the way Ĥannah explains the name of her son ("because I asked God for him") is more appropriate to the name "Shaul" than to the name "Shemu'el". This is most obvious in the Hebrew text.