[Avodah] Matisyahu ben Yochanan Kohen Gadol

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Dec 06, 2010 at 01:34:10PM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
> IIRC, R Avigdor Miller wrote that the Yochanan Kohen Gadol who became
> a tzduki after serving (till the age of) 80 years was Alexander Yannai,
> the granson of Shimon ben Matisyahu.

He's citing Abayei on Berakhos 29a. Rava disagrees, and says Yannai was
a Tzeduqi from day 1.

But I guess that means according to Abayei, Matiyahu was either kohein
gadol or the son of another kohein gadol named Yochanan.

R' Dovid Cohen relates the question I asked to the machloqes of whether we
should sign a shetar "Re'uvein eid ben Yaaqov", or, as we do, "Re'uvein
ben Yaaqov eid". If you hold one must do the former (because it's
unambiguous), then you must parse Al haNissim as referring to Masiyahu,
the son of a kohein gadol named Yochanan.

In order of antiquity:

Seifer Yuchasin (1:17) and Seder haDoros (s.v. "Yochanan Kohein Gadol")
say that Matisyahu was YKG's son.

The Rambam (haqdamah to Peirush haMishnayos) and the Roqeiach
(Chanukah) say YKG was ben Matiyahu. (Whom RGS guesses was named for
his grandfather.)

Seifer Yuchasin (1:16) and Seder haDoros (s.v. YKG) say YKG was John
(ie Yochanan) Hyrcanus, the son of Shim'on haMakabi.

The medrash I posted last year
http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol26/v26n254.shtml#12
requires that either Yochanan and Matisyahu had to be kohein gadol
and famous, but not which. Recapping:

    In Maaseh Chanukah par. 6 (which can be found in Otzar haMidrashim
    (NY, 1915) and more classically, in Otzar Tov cheileq 1, Beis
    haMedrash cheileq 5), the war is described as being triggered by the
    wedding of Matisyahu's daughter Channah. (Not being confused with
    Channah of the 7 sons of Maccabbees II, which BTW is a less Jewish
    source than Makabiim I.)

    Chanah's wedding couldn't be hidden from the hegemon, being that
    the kohain gadol's family is famous. She came to her wedding nude,
    taunted her brothers that this outrages them, but the fate that
    evening does not? She then asks them to follow in the footsteps of
    Shim'on veLeivi defending Dinah's honor, and the war begins.

    ... [W]hen I was told about the hegemon claiming droit de seigneur,
    I was also taught that /this/ was why Chanukah was so special for
    women in particular, and thus the lack of melakhah.

While quoting myself and discussing Sefer Makabiim I, I fleshed out
more of my thoughts on the Chassidim haRishonim last year and blogged
them http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2009/12/1st-chassidim.shtml I note that
Yosi b' Yoezer (one of the Zugos), who is called "chasid shebikehunah"
and was crucified by the Saleucids -- the people who are described in
Makabiim as killing the chassidim.

    Yosi ben Yo'ezer was contemporary to Tzadoq, founder of the
    Sadducees. Tzadoq was a student of Antignos ish Sokho, and Yosi ben
    Yoezer was his successor as head of the Sanhedrin. Meaning, that if
    all of the above is correct, the rise of the Sadducees was around
    the same time as the heyday the Chassidim haRishonim. One embracing
    Hellenistic thought alongside scriptural law, the other pursuing
    purity of thought on Jewish terms.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             When memories exceed dreams,
micha at aishdas.org        The end is near.
http://www.aishdas.org                   - Rav Moshe Sherer
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