Editing Judah ha-Nasi (section)

===Leadership===
Nothing is known regarding the time when Judah succeeded his father as leader of the Jews remaining in [[Eretz Yisrael]]. According to [[Rashi]], Judah's father Simon had served as the ''[[nasi (Hebrew title)|nasi]]'' or head of the [[Sanhedrin]] in Usha before it moved to Shefar'am (now [[Shefa-'Amr]]).<ref name= "BT-RoshHash">[[Babylonian Talmud]], ''[[Rosh Hashana (Talmud)|Rosh Hashana]]'' 31b, [[Rashi]] s.v. ומיבנא לאושא</ref> According to a tradition,<ref>Mishnah Soṭah, end</ref> the country at the time of Simon ben Gamaliel's death not only was devastated by a [[Locust#Swarming_grasshoppers|plague of locusts]] but suffered many other hardships.

From Shefar'am, the Sanhedrin transferred to [[Beit She'arim (Roman-era Jewish village)|Beit Shearim]] (now part of the [[Beit She'arim necropolis]]), where the Sanhedrin was headed by Judah.<ref name= "BT-RoshHash" /> Here he officiated for a long time. Eventually, Judah moved with the court from Beit Shearim to [[Sepphoris]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Giat|first=Paltiel|title=A Word in Stone: Zippori in the Sages Literature (Milah be-even: Zippori basifrut chazal)|year=2003|location=Jerusalem |publisher=Israel Nature & National Parks Authority, and The Department for Torah Culture in the Ministry of Education |page=48|language=he|oclc=58417078}}</ref> where he spent at least 17 years of his life. Judah chose Sepphoris chiefly because of his ill health would improve in its high altitude and pure air.<ref>[[Jerusalem Talmud]], ''Kilaim'' 32b; [[Genesis Rabbah]] 96; Ketubot 103b</ref> However, Judah's memorial as a leader is principally associated with Bet She'arim: "The Sages taught: The verse states: “Justice, justice, shall you follow.” This teaches that one should follow the Sages to the academy where they are found. For example [...] after Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi to Beit She’arim[.]"<ref>{{cite web |title=Sanhedrin 32b:10 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.32b.10?lang=bi |website=www.sefaria.org|quote={{lang|he|ת"ר צדק צדק תרדף הלך אחר חכמים לישיבה אחר ר' אליעזר ללוד אחר רבן יוחנן בן זכאי לברור חיל אחר רבי יהושע לפקיעין אחר רבן גמליאל ליבנא אחר רבי עקיבא לבני ברק אחר רבי מתיא לרומי אחר רבי חנניא בן תרדיון לסיכני אחר ר' יוסי לציפורי אחר רבי יהודה בן בתירה לנציבין אחר רבי יהושע לגולה אחר רבי לבית שערים אחר חכמים ללשכת הגזית:}}<br />The Sages taught: The verse states: “Justice, justice, shall you follow.” This teaches that one should follow the Sages to the academy where they are found. For example, follow after Rabbi Eliezer to Lod, after Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai to Beror Ḥayil, after Rabbi Yehoshua to Peki’in, after Rabban Gamliel to Yavne, after Rabbi Akiva to Bnei Brak, after Rabbi Matya to Rome [Romi], after Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon to Sikhnei, after Rabbi Yosei to Tzippori, after Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira to Netzivin, after Rabbi Yehoshua to the exile [gola], i.e., Babylonia, after Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi to Beit She’arim, and after the Sages in the time of the Temple to the Chamber of Hewn Stone. 
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Among Judah's contemporaries in the early years of his activity were [[Eleazar ben Simeon]], [[Ishmael ben Jose]], [[Jose ben Judah]], and [[Simeon ben Eleazar]]. His better-known contemporaries and students include Simon b. Manasseh, [[Pinchas ben Yair]], [[Eleazar ha-Kappar]] and his son [[Bar Kappara]], [[Hiyya the Great]], [[Shimon ben Halafta]], and [[Levi ben Sisi]]. Among his students who taught as the first generation of Amoraim after his death are: [[Hanina bar Hama]] and [[Hoshaiah Rabbah]] in Eretz Yisrael,<ref>{{cite book|last=Giat|first=Paltiel|title=A Word in Stone: Zippori in the Sages Literature (Milah be-even: Zippori basifrut chazal)|year=2003|location=Jerusalem |publisher=Israel Nature & National Parks Authority, and The Department for Torah Culture in the Ministry of Education |page=57|language=he|oclc=58417078}}</ref> [[Abba Arikha]] and [[Samuel of Nehardea]] in  Babylon (the Jewish term for [[Lower Mesopotamia]]).

Only scattered records of Judah's official activity exist. These include: the ordination of his students;<ref>Sanhedrin 5a,b</ref> the recommendation of students for communal offices;<ref>Yevamot 105a; Yerushalmi Yevamot 13a</ref> orders relating to the announcement of the new moon;<ref>Yerushalmi Rosh Hashana 58a, above</ref> amelioration of the law relating to the Sabbatical year;<ref>Shevuot 6:4; Yerushalmi Shevuot 37a; compare Hullin 7a,b</ref> and to decrees relating to tithes in the frontier districts of Eretz Yisrael.<ref>Yerushalmi Demai 22c</ref><ref name="hullin6">Hullin 6b</ref> The last-named he was obliged to defend against the opposition of the members of the patriarchal family.<ref name="hullin6"/> The ameliorations he intended for [[Tisha B'Av]] were prevented by the college.<ref>Megillah 5b; Yerushalmi Megillah 70c</ref> Many religious and legal decisions are recorded as having been rendered by Judah together with his court, the college of scholars.<ref>Gittin 5:6; Ohalot 18:9; Tosefta Shabbat 4:16; see also Yevamot 79b, above; Kiddushin 71a</ref>

According to the Talmud,<ref>Babylonian Talmud (''Avodah Zarah'' 10a-b)</ref> Rabbi Judah HaNasi was very wealthy and greatly revered in Rome. He had a close friendship with "Antoninus", possibly the [[Emperor]] [[Antoninus Pius]],<ref>A. Mischcon, Avodah Zara, p.10a Soncino, 1988. Mischcon cites various sources, "SJ Rappaport... is of the opinion that our Antoninus is Antoninus Pius." Other opinions cited suggest "Antoninus" was [[Caracalla]], [[Lucius Verus]] or [[Alexander Severus]].</ref> though it is more likely his famous friendship was with either Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]] Antoninus<ref name="Codex Judaica Kantor 2006, page 146">''''Codex Judaica'''' Kantor, second edition, NY 2006, page 146</ref><ref>[[Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport]], ''Erekh Millin'', Warsaw 1914, p. 219</ref> or Antoninus who is also called [[Caracalla]] and who would consult Judah on various worldly and spiritual matters.<ref>Modern scholarship has difficulty fitting these accounts into the historical framework of the period of the Antonines, especially since Rabbi Judah the Prince thrived mainly at the end of the second century CE. [[Epiphanius of Salamis]], in his treatise ''[[On Weights and Measures]]'', mentions a fifth line of Caesar after Antoninus Pius, one named Antoninus who is also called [[Caracalla]], the son of [[Septimius Severus]], who was also contemporary with Judah the Prince, and whom the historian [[Heinrich Graetz]] believes may refer to the Roman Emperor who befriended Rabbi Judah the Prince. Antoninus the son of Severus ({{langx|he|אנטונינוס בן אסוירוס}}) is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud, ''[[Avodah Zarah (tractate)|Avodah Zarah]]'' 10b and in the ''[[Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva]]'' (MS. version ''aleph'').</ref><ref>[[Jerusalem Talmud]] (''[[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]]'' 3:2)</ref> Jewish sources tell of various discussions between Judah and Antoninus. These include the parable of the blind and the lame (illustrating the judgment of the body and the soul after death),<ref>Mekhilta Beshallah Shirah 2; Sanhedrin 91a,b; see a similar parable by him in [[Ecclesiastes Rabbah]] 5:10</ref> and a discussion of the impulse to sin.<ref>Genesis Rabbah 34; Sanhedrin 91b</ref>

The authority of Judah's office was enhanced by his wealth, which is referred to in various traditions. In Babylon, the hyperbolic statement was later made that even his stable-master was wealthier than [[Shapur (name)|King Shapur]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bava Metzia 85a:4 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Metzia.85a.4?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> His household was compared to that of the emperor.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org.il/Berakhot.43a.15?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Berachot 43a], 57b</ref> [[Simeon ben Menasya]] praised Judah by saying that he and his sons united in themselves beauty, power, wealth, wisdom, age, honour, and the blessings of children.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org.il/Tosefta_Sanhedrin.11.4?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Tosefta Sanhedrin 11:4]; Baraita Ab. 6:8</ref> During a famine, Judah opened his granaries and distributed corn among the needy.<ref>Bava Batra 8a</ref> But he denied himself the pleasures procurable by wealth, saying: "Whoever chooses the delights of this world will be deprived of the delights of the next world; whoever renounces the former will receive the latter".<ref name="Avot of Rabbi Natan 28">[[Avot of Rabbi Natan]] 28</ref>