Johanan ben Nuri

Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri (Hebrew: יוחנן בן נורי) was a tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries, studied under the watch of Rabban Gamliel of Yavne and senior of Rabbi Akiva (Sifra, Ḳedoshim, iv. 9; Ar. 16b; comp. Sifre, Deut. 1). A great halakist, always provided with satisfactory answers to all questions, he was familiarly called "pedler's basket" or "bundle of halakot" (Ab. R. N. xviii.; Giṭ. 67a); the number and diversity of halakot cited under his name in the Mishnah alone, about 40, justify those appellations. Besides exhaustive rabbinical knowledge, he acquired familiarity with the general science of his time, especially geometry. It was said of him, as of his colleague Rabbi Eleazar ben Ḥisma, that he could approximately state the number of drops contained in the sea; like Rabbi Eleazar, also, he was very poor. Through the influence of Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah both were appointed by Rabban Gamliel to remunerative offices (comp. Sifre, Deut. 16).

Rabbi Johanan showed himself grateful to Rabban Gamliel. When, after that patriarch's death, Rabbi Joshua proposed a change in a rule established by Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Johanan opposed him: "I have observed that the head is always followed by the trunk; as long as Rabban Gamliel lived we observed the rule laid down by him, and now you propose to veto his directions. Joshua, we shall not harken to thee" (Er. 41a). Between him and Ḥalafta also intimate scholarly relations existed (comp. Tosef., B. B. ii. 10 with B. B. 56b and parallels).

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