ר' אליעזר בן יעקב

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, a) [in the Mishnah: Avot 4:4; Kilayim 2:9; Pe'ah 4:8; Shevi'it 2:10; Terumot 3:5; Bikkurim 1:5; Shabbat 8:6; 15:2; Eruvin 6:1; 8:10; Shekalim 6:3; Mo'ed Katan 1:3; Yevamot 13:3; Nedarim 3:1; 5:1, 2; Sotah 9:4; Kiddushin 4:7; Makkot 2:2; Menachot 5:6; 9:3; Bekhorot 3:1; Arakhin 2:6; Keritot 2:1; Tamid 5:2; Middot 1:2, 9; 2:5, 6; Kelim 7:3; Perek 28:9; Nezikin 7:1; 10:4; 11:11; Parah 9:2; Mikshirin 6:3; Taharot 3:8; Eruvin, chapter of the season (and page 8a) and Shabbat (1:1)].

b) And he lived many years from the time of the Temple until the last generations, and his maternal brother Levi in the Temple (Perek 1 of Midos), and according to him, the tractate Midos was composed. [He was one of the seven students that Rabbi Akiva established (as mentioned) after twenty-four thousand of his students died (Bereishis Rabbah, Parashah Vayeishev Avraham) due to the decrees of persecution, our Rabbis gathered in Usha, etc., and Rabbi Akiva (Shir HaShirim Rabbah). The genealogy was written in the glosses made by the genius Rabbi Moshe Isserlish in the order of tradition in the book Yesod Olam, that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai received from Hillel and Shammai.

The students of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai were Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, etc. The companions of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai were Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tzadok, etc. and see there in the genealogy. [In the order of the generations among the aforementioned sages]. And in the book Be'er Sheva, Parashah Eglah Arufah (Mishnah 5b), from where does Rabbi Akiva measure? Rabbi Akiva says from his nose; Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai says from his neck.

And the Rambam ruled like Rabbi Akiva, and the Kesef Mishnah wrote that it is puzzling, for we hold that the Mishnah of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai is established and clear, and it must be that he holds that this was not said at all to reject what we hold that the halacha is like Rabbi Akiva against his colleague, thus he concluded. And Be'er Sheva questioned that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was not a colleague of Rabbi Akiva because Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was in the generation of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and his companions who saw the destruction of the Second Temple, whereas Rabbi Akiva and his companions were after the destruction.

And the mention of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai before Rabbi Akiva is not surprising, for we find in the Passover Haggadah that Rabbi Akiva precedes Rabbi Tarfon, who was his teacher, as is evident in Ketubot, and we find in many places that a student precedes his teacher.

Thus, my brother, see how the two great luminaries mentioned above taught in the context of sight. And the author of the book of genealogies, who copied the words of the Rema, forgot what he himself brought in the name of Bereishis Rabbah, and it is in Parashah Chayei Sarah that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was a student of Rabbi Akiva. And it is also evident in Yevamot (63a) that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai is like Rabbi Akiva, and see there in Rashi and there (62b) in the Tosafot, in the words 'after' (and see Rabbi Yanai Rabbah), and the Tosafot also wrote in Bava Batra (79b, section 2) that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was a student of Rabbi Akiva.

And it is known that Rabbi Akiva was a student of Rabbi Eliezer the Great, and Rabbi Eliezer the Great was a student of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. Each one should examine his place, as is explicitly stated in the Talmud; the number is not limited. And how could Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai be a colleague of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, a student of his student? Also, see that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was the teacher of Rabbi Meir, as is stated in Yevamot (the aforementioned) and in Rashi and in the aforementioned Tosafot, and Rabbi Meir was a student of Rabbi Akiva.

Therefore, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was in the days of Rabbi Meir, who came after Rabbi Akiva. And in the Yalkut, Parashah Matot, section 855, in the name of the Sifrei Zuta, on the day he heard, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said, 'I asked Yonatan ben Meshalom and Yehoshua ben Gamla, from where...?' They said, 'Rabbi Akiva said, what...?' And when I came to Rabbi Yehoshua, he said... Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said, 'I asked Rabbi Yonatan ben Meshalom and Yehoshua ben Mamla...' And in Nazir (56b), Rabbi Yehoshua ben Mamla learned from Rabbi Yehoshua (as mentioned), and Rabbi Yehoshua was a student of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai.

And greater than this, in Perek 4 of Kilayim, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said in the name of Chananiah ben Chakinai, and it is known that Chananiah ben Chakinai was a student of Rabbi Akiva (as mentioned), thus Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was saying in the name of a student of Rabbi Akiva. And thus he went for many years with Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosi and Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Nechemiah and Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai (as mentioned), who was also a student of Rabbi Akiva, and he said in the name of Rabbi Meir in Chulin (38).

And see Rabbi Yehuda bar Elai that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was with him in Usha. And there in the name of the Tosafot, etc., Rabbi Yehuda did not see Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, thus presumably Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai also did not see Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, for he counted Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai last, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nechemiah (as mentioned), and Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yosi and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Yosi and Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai died three or four years after the destruction, and Rabbi Akiva was killed after the destruction, two years later.

Even if we say that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai lived until the generation after Rabbi Akiva, it does not seem that he would have been in the old age of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai as a colleague; thus, they are mistaken. And the Rambam ruled well like Rabbi Akiva against Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, that the halacha is like Rabbi Akiva even against his colleagues, how much more so against his student, as mentioned.]

3) They found a written book in Jerusalem from the time of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki" [Gittin (67a) Rashi explains that the law follows him always; Eruvin (36b), Yevamot (37b) in the name of Rashi, and there (49a, 1) Bekhorot (23b). And it is written in the book "Magen Shlomo," at the beginning of the tractate Pesachim, from the time of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," even against the majority, as it is stated in Yevamot (37a), and it implies there that even against a general ruling the law is in accordance with him, etc.

And in his novellas on Yevamot, he inquired whether the law follows Rabbi Akiva even against a general Mishnah, as it is stated in the first chapter of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Akiva says that since two festivals have passed, he is liable, and the Rambam ruled in the fourteenth chapter of the laws of sacrificial offerings that three festivals are required. It is difficult, for we hold that the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," applies even in a Beraita, as it is stated in Yevamot (1a), and perhaps against a general Mishnah we do not say this.

And see the Sefer Mitzvot Gadol, negative commandment 31, thus far. And see the responsa of the Pnei Moshe, part 2, section 119 regarding Rabbi Akiva, why at times the law does not follow him. And in the responsa of Chacham Tzvi, section 10, the rule that the law does not follow a student against his teacher is better than the rule of the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," for this rule applies to all students against their teacher, and Rabbi Akiva was a student of Rabbi Eliezer.

And in the "She'arit Yosef" (39a) it is written in the name of the Rosh, in the chapter "One Who Was Taken Out," and in "Kol Ma'arvin," and in the gloss to the book "Kritot," and in the Mordechai in the chapter "One Who Was Taken Out," that in 112 places we rule like Rabbi Akiva, and it is difficult for him from the Gemara in Yevamot mentioned above (see there). And in the Ran on the first chapter of Shevuot, it is specifically against an individual.

And in Tosafot Nedarim (23b), if you say that the Rabbis argue with Rabbi Akiva, the law follows them, etc., for sometimes we rule not like him, and it is possible that the Rambam holds likewise, and the wonder of the Tosefot in Kilayim (2:9 and 4:8) is resolved, and see Tosefot Eruvin (8:10) (and in Tosafot there) and the Rosh in the laws of small items, section impurity, does not hold this, only it does not matter. And see the Rosh in the third chapter of Nedarim, that is to say, the Rabbi does not hold this rule at all.

And behold, it is not specifically the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," it is the same when mentioned in a Beraita, and this is proven in Tosafot Kiddushin (62b, section 2) that although we hold that the law follows Rabbi Akiva in general, "Kav and Naki" is here not the law according to him, nor according to all the Tanaim who say a person acquires that which is not his, for Rav Nachman holds that a person does not acquire that which is not his, and the law follows Rav Nachman in legal matters, thus far. (And see above that the rule of the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," if it overrides the rule, etc.), and behold what Rabbi Akiva said that a person acquires this is not a Mishnah but a Beraita, and they said the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," and if it is true that in a Beraita this rule does not apply without the fact that the law follows Rabbi Nachman in legal matters, then it is certainly that what is said in the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva also means a Beraita, and it is proven from its place, for Shimon ben Azai who found written the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," was long before Rabbi arranged the Mishnah, and also before Rabbi arranged the Mishnah there was also an order of Mishnah as it is stated in Chagigah, Rabbi Yehuda ben Taima and his friends would teach, "Our Rabbis taught the orders of Mishnah," and Rabbi Yossi, the teacher of Rabbi, said at the end of Keilim, "Fortunate are the vessels that entered in impurity and exited in purity," and it is clear that Rabbi added and subtracted, and since the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," was found before Rabbi arranged the Mishnah, it does not refer to the Mishnahs that Rabbi arranged (there, responsa of Chacham Tzvi). And so it is explicitly stated in Bava Batra (138a) in the Roshbam.

And see Tosafot Ketubot (109a). And in Menachot (31b). And it is written in the responsa of Chavat Yair that one cannot say that the Mishnah is not specific, for you will not find that it is mentioned 112 times in the Mishnah, for it can be said that there were many Mishnas in the days of the Tanaim, much more than ours, as it is stated in Chagigah, thus far. And what the Rambam ruled like Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai against Rabbi Akiva (see there).

In Tosafot Gittin (52b), Aruch states that the law does not follow Rabbi Akiva even though we say the law and we hold the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, "Kav and Naki," that we do not learn the law from the Talmud (see there). And in the chapter "These are the Ties," the law follows Rabbi Akiva because he rules like him from the general rule that the general rule is not effective].

4) [Tana of the house of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, in Eruvin (54a), Chagigah (17b), Sanhedrin (92b), from the house of Rabbi Yehoshua, taught: He had one student who was liable for burning, and they said, "Leave him be, for he served a great man." (See Rabbi Eliezer ben P'dat). His student fell ill and forgot his studies; he prayed for him (Devarim Rabbah 8). The burial of Rabbi Eliezer was in Kfar Anan (See Rabbi Chalfta, man of Kfar Chanania)].

(e) [Aba in reverence in the name of Rabbi Yochanan and there is a question. Rabbi Eliezer the Elder came to him. Rabbi Eliezer ben Antigonus in his name. Rabbi Elazar Chisma said to him.

In the name of Chananiah ben Chakinai (see above). He said to Rabbi Yehuda in Pesachim (2b) and disagrees with him in Rosh Hashanah (12b) and Rabbi Yochanan the sandal maker (see above). Rabbi Yochanan in his name. Rabbi Yosi ben Chalafta in his name.

Aba Yosi ben Chanina in his time. Rabbi Yosi testified in his name. Rabbi Meir his student (see above) and in the name of Rabbi Meir. In the name of Pinchas ben Yair, slaughtered in the name of Shalom ben Yair.

Rabbi Pinchas in his name. Aba Shaul disagrees with him:]