Joshua ben Perachyah

Rabbi Joshua ben Perahiah or Joshua ben Perachya (Hebrew: יהושע בן פרחיה‎‎) was Nasi of the Sanhedrin in the latter half of the 2nd century BCE.

He and his colleague Nittai of Arbela were the second of the five pairs (Zugot) of scholars who received and transmitted Jewish tradition (Avot i.6; Haggigah 16a).

At the time of the persecution of the Pharisees by John Hyrcanus (c. 134-104 BC), Joshua was deposed — a disgrace to which his words in Men. 109b apparently allude. However in Sanhedrin 107b and Sotah 47a it was during the persecutions of Pharisees 88-76 BCE by Alexander Jannaeus, not John Hyrcanus whose persecution he fled. He fled to Alexandria, Egypt, but was recalled to Jerusalem when the persecutions ceased and the Pharisees again triumphed over the Sadducees (Sotah 47a).

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia the following ethical maxim which shows his gentle judgment of his fellow men and his eagerness to spread knowledge among the people:

1:6 Joshua ben Perahiah and Nittai the Arbelite received [the Torah] from them. Joshua ben Perahiah says, "Set up a master for yourself. And get yourself a companion-disciple. And give everybody the benefit of the doubt." Pirke Avot: Timeless Wisdom for Modern Life p185 William Berkson - 2010

In one tradition, he objected to the import of wheat from Alexandria as impure because, with no rain falling on it, it was watered by still water in conflict with Leviticus 11:38

Only a single halakhah of Joshua's has been preserved (Tosefta Maksh. 3:4). In other traditions he was known in Jewish magical papyri as an exorcist, and his name was used in incantations inscribed on magical bowls.

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