Quotes:Joshua ben Perahiah

Zirkoff, Boris

Joshua ben Perahiah. President (nasi) of the Sanhedrin in the latter half of the 2nd century b.c. He and his colleague Nittai 461 of Arbela were the second of the five pairs of scholars who received and transmitted the tradition (Aboth, i, 6; Hag., 16a). The name of Zugoth, or “pairs,” was given to five generations of Jewish religious leaders just before the Tannaitic period. They carried on the line of tradition from the Soferim to the Tannaim. According to the Mishnah (Hag., 2: 2), each pair was composed of a Nasi (patriarch or chief) and an Ab Beth Din (vice-president). According to some scholars, the leaders, like the Roman consuls, were chosen to represent patrician and plebeian groups respectively, thus preserving a balance of authority among the teachers. The five pairs were: a) Jose ben Joezer of Zeridah and Jose ben Johanan of Jerusalem; b) Joshua ben Perahiah and Nittai of Arbela; c) Judah ben Tabbai and Simeon ben Shetah; d) Shemaiah and Abtalion; e) Hillel and Shammai.

At the time of the persecution of the Pharisees by John Hyrcanus, Joshua ben Perahiah was deposed, a disgrace to which his words in Men., 109b apparently allude. To escape Hyrcanus, he fled to Alexandria, but was recalled to Jerusalem by Simeon ben Shetah when persecution ceased and the Pharisees triumphed over the Sadducees, about 88 b.c. (Sanh., 106b, Sotah, 47a, Talmud, ed. Amsterdam & Berlin, 1865). The same passage refers to a pupil of Joshua’s who, according to many, may have been Jesus (cf. Kraus, Das Leben Jesu, p. 182, Berlin, 1902). However, a similar story is related in the Jerusalem Talmud (Yer. Hag., 2: 2, 77d) where no mention is made of “Jeshu.” The story about “Jeshu” is deleted in the editions of the Babylonian Talmud which had to pass the censor’s eye, as they felt sure that Jesus was meant. It is possible also that the Babyl. Talmud confuses two occurrences, and that Joshua ben Perahiah actually fled to Egypt to escape the religious persecutions of the Syrians.

Only a single halakah of Joshua has been preserved (Tosef., Maksh., iii, 4), besides the following ethical maxim which shows his gentle judgment of men: “Get thee a Teacher: win thee a friend; and in judging incline toward the side of innocence (Ab., i, 6).

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 8, pp. 460-461