Joshua ben Hananiah יהושע בן חנניה (d.131CE) was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent (Ma'as. Sh. v. 9), and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers (Arakhin 11b). He is the seventh most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah. Full Article

רבי יהושע בן חנניה

רבי יהושע בן חנניה, תנא בדור השני, בן שבט לוי, ראש ישיבה בפקיעין שבגליל . רבי יהושע שמוזכר במשנה ובתלמוד בלי הזכרת שם אביו הוא רבי יהושע בן חנניה . תלמידו הגדול היה רבי עקיבא. והיה מפורסם כבר פלוגתא של רבי אליעזר בן הןרקנוס .

Joshua ben Hananiah (Hebrew: יהושע בן חנניה d.131CE) was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent (Ma'as. Sh. v. 9), and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers (Arakhin 11b).

Joshua ben Hananiah was one of the five who formed the inner circle of Johanan be Zakkai's pupils (Ab. ii. 8). In enumerating them tradition places him at the head together with Eliezer b. Hyrcanus. Tradition also frequently mentions these two together as upholders of opposite views. They were both present at the celebration of the circumcision of Elisha b. Abuyah (Acher), in Jerusalem, and diverted themselves by connecting passages in the Pentateuch with others in the Prophets and the Hagiographa (Yer. Hagigah 77b). It was also Eliezer and Joshua who rescued Johanan ben Zakkai from the besieged city and brought him into the camp of Vespasian.