YOḤANAN BEN ZAKKʾAI (c. 1–80 CE), sage and leader of Judaism in the Land of Israel after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. Known to us only from sources brought to closure two and more centuries after his death, beginning with the Mishnah (c. 200), two facts about his life are certain: he lived before the destruction, and survived it.

Yoḥanan was the principal figure in the formation, in the aftermath of the calamity, of a circle of disciples with whom he laid the foundations of the Judaism presented by the Mishnah. This work of legal-theological formation defined Judaism as it would be known from the second century onward. Yoḥanan himself is represented in the Mishnah principally through attributions to him of certain temporary ordinances, meant mostly to...