Issi [Joseph] ben Judah

Third generation of Tannaim, in the generation of Rabbi Akiva's disciples, and he was younger than them and considered like their student. He was from Babylonia, from the city of Hutzal, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua was his teacher. He was called Judah, a lion cub, and Ben Mahalal because he enumerated the praises of the Sages. When Rabbi Yose Katnanta died, the pious ceased. And why was he called Katnanta? Because he was the youngest of the pious, for they diminished and he was the last and youngest among them. And in the Yerushalmi they said: he was the essence of the pious. [סוטה פ"ט מט"ו]

His Numerous Names

Rabbah bar bar Hanna said, Rabbi Shmuel bar Marta said, Rav said in the name of Rabbi Yose Ish Hutzal, three things: The first: From where do we learn that one should not consult Chaldeans, meaning: necromancers or astrologers, to know the future? As it is stated: “You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God” [דברים יח,יג]. Which means, to trust in the Blessed Lord in all that is destined to happen and come upon you, and you do not need to investigate or inquire into future events. The second: From where do we learn that one who knows his fellow is greater than him, even in one thing, is obligated to treat him with honor? As it is stated concerning Daniel, who succeeded in overcoming all the ministers, “Because an extraordinary spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole kingdom.” [דניאל ו,ד] His intention: all that Daniel merited was because he had one superiority over everyone else, and the king intended to appoint him over his entire kingdom. And the third: And a woman who sits on pure blood is forbidden to engage in relations. And for how long? Rav said: an Onah (period). The Tanna taught: He is Joseph Ish Hutzal who said these three things; he is Joseph the Babylonian; he is Issi ben Gur Aryeh; he is Issi ben Judah; he is Issi ben Gamliel; he is Issi ben Mahalal. And what was his name? Issi ben Akavia was his name. And the reason he had many names! It is written in Sefer Hilchot Ketanot [ח"ב סימן ש"ח] that due to decrees of persecution, he was forced to flee from place to place and change his name so as not to be recognized. [פסחים קיג:]

An Event

We learned in a Baraita: Rabbi said, when I went to ascertain my measures, meaning, to ask my doubts, from Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua, and some say that Rabbi said: when I went to ascertain the measures of Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua, meaning to learn as much as possible from his wisdom. I found Joseph the Babylonian sitting before him, and Joseph was especially beloved to Rabbi Elazar, and they were engaged in halakhot until they reached one halakha. Joseph said to Rabbi Elazar: Rabbi, one who slaughters a sacrifice with the intention of leaving some of its blood for the next day, what is the law? Is this a thought of disqualification, or is a thought of disqualification only when one intends to eat or burn it the next day, and not merely when one intends to leave it for the next day? In the morning, Rabbi Elazar said to him: Kosher. At noon he asked him again, he said to him: Kosher. In the afternoon he asked him again, he said to him: Kosher. In the evening he asked him again, and then he said to him: Kosher, but Rabbi Eliezer disqualifies it. Joseph the Babylonian's face lit up with joy. Rabbi Elazar said to him: Joseph, when I told you that the sacrifice was kosher, did it not seem to you that this was the halakha until now when I told you it was disqualified? Joseph said to him: Yes, Rabbi, yes, you were previously correct according to the halakha, but Rabbi Judah taught me the halakha and said it was disqualified. I went to all of Rabbi Judah's students and sought a companion who would say the same in Rabbi Judah's name, but I found no one! I was concerned that perhaps I had forgotten and erred in Rabbi Judah's words, but now that you have said to me, in Rabbi Judah's name, that it is disqualified, you have returned my lost item to me. Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua's eyes flowed with tears, and he said: Fortunate are you, Torah scholars, for words of Torah are most beloved to you. He applied to Joseph the Babylonian this verse: “Oh how I love Your Torah! All the day it is my meditation.” [תהלים קיט, צז] And Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua further said to him: What Rabbi Judah told you, “disqualified,” was not because it is the halakha, but because Rabbi Judah is the son of Rabbi Ila'i, and Rabbi Ila'i is a student of Rabbi Eliezer. Therefore, Rabbi Judah taught you the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer, since it was dear to him. [מנחות חי.]

His Sayings

Issi ben Judah says: From when the Manna came down for Israel, it grew and ascended, until all the kings of East and West saw it, as it is stated: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.” [תהלים כג, ה] Abaye said: From here we learn that King David's cup in the future will hold two hundred and twenty-one login, as it is stated: “my cup overflows,” the numerical value of “רויה” (overflows) is thus. [ילקוט שמעוני שמות רמז, רס, יד]