At the last class, the topic somehow turned to Talmudic luminaries - a hedge word since many were not rabbis, at least in the "ordination" sense - who were converts.
Since I have a copy of Masters of the Talmud by Alfred J. Kolatch (Jonathan David Publishers, July 2003, ISBN-13: 9780824604349), I brought it down and started looking for converts who "made it" in the Talmud (either or both versions). The book, by the way, is a "keeper."
Everyone knows about Ben Bag Bag (ben ben-ger ben-ger - suggesting both parents were converts) and a few about Ben Hei Hei, who some suspect is the same as Ben Bag Bag.
But Ben Bag Bag's parents were converts, not Ben Bag Bag himself.
Were there any "first generation" converts?
There were, and according to Masters of the Talmud, they include:
Onkelos, the most famous, who translated the Torah into Aramaic. Many humashim have Onkelos' translation in a column to the side of the Hebrew, and his translation is used by scholars to "confirm" the meaning of the Hebrew. (p286)
Aquila (Akilas), Hadrian's nephew (Onkelos was the son of Titus' sister); like Onkelos, his claim to fame is translation of the Torah - in his case, to Greek. (p127)
Shemu'el bar Yehuda, a student of Yehuda bar Yechezkel, ended up teaching in Tiberia. He was one of Abbayei's teachers. (p337)
Minyamin Ger HaMitzri not only is a convert, but it is advertised in his name (Ger) as is his place of origin (Mitzriam - Egypt). (p268)
There also were a number of descendents of converts. Masters of the Talmud lists
Avtalyon (p137) and Shemeyah (p330), one of the zugot (pairs), allegedly (Gittin 57b) were descendents of converts.
Bururyah's husband Meir is, according to legend, a descendent of a family of converts. (p260). Bururyah has her own entry on page 145.
Other descendents of converts include Ben Bag Bag and Ben Hei Hei (p143).
Mari bar Rachel was not a convert - his mother was Jewish - but his father converted after Bar Rachel was conceived so he bears his mother's name. (p257)
As we - the Spouse and I - were discussing the converts identified in the book she commented that it was strange none was named "ben Avraham," the current assumed name for male converts. (There is a growing trend to name converts "ben (or bat) Avraham v'Sara" - son (daughter) of Abraham and Sara, just as there seems to be a growing trend - in congregations of all types - to call people to the Torah using both father's name and mother's name.)
One person who rated mention in the Kolatch book (Shemu'el bar Yehuda) seems to have taken the name of his teacher (Yehuda bar Yechezke) as his patronymic.
I don't know that there is anything sacred by about naming a convert ben (bat) Avraham any more than there is anything "cast into concrete" about a tombstone bearing the name of the deceased father (e.g. Peloni ben (bat) Avraham) - there is a North African tradition to identify the deceased by the name of the mother (Peloni ben (bat) Sara), probably for the same reason we identify a sick person by the mother's name.
The author's bio also is interesting. The following is from the Barnes and Noble Web site (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Masters-of-the-Talmud/Alfred-J-Kolatch/e/9780824604349/):
Alfred J. Kolatch, a graduate of the Teachers' Institute of Yeshiva University and its College of Liberal Arts, was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, which subsequently awarded him the Doctor of Divinity degree, honoris causa. From 1941 to 1948 he served as rabbi of congregations in Columbia, South Carolina, and Kew Gardens, New York, and as a chaplain in the United States Army. In 1948 he founded Jonathan David Publishers, of which he has been president and editor-in-chief since its inception.
All page numbers (p###) above are the relevant pages in the Kolatch book.
Yohanon
Yohanon.Glenn @ gmail.com
2 comments:
What about Yehudah ben Torsa, also a first generation convert.
I'll try to find a reference.
Actually it was Yochanan ben Torsa from a yerushalmi and the Midrash (Pesikta Rabbasi 14):
(The rabbi was a colleague of Rabbi Akiva; thus, this story probably took place in the era right after the destruction of the Second Temple)
Once there was a Jewish man who owned a cow with which he plowed his field. He and the cow would rest, however, on the holy Shabbos, the day which is dedicated to the Creator. This Jewish man went through a difficult period where he was forced to sell the cow to a non-Jewish neighbor. The new owner plowed with it for six days. On Shabbos, he also took it out to plough, but it lay down beneath its yoke. He began to beat it, but the animal would not budge from its place. Seeing that his efforts were in vain, he went to his Jewish neighbor and said, "Come take your cow, for she grieves after her former master. No matter how much I beat her, she refuses to budge from her place."
The Jewish man realized that the cow refused to work because it had been taught to rest on Shabbos. He said, "I will get her to stand up." When he came, he whispered in her ear, "Heifer, heifer, you know that when you were mine, you plowed all week and rested on Shabbos. But now because of my sins, I was forced to sell you, and your new owner is not Jewish. Therefore, I beseech you, stand up and plough." She immediately arose and began to plough.
The new owner said, "I beg you, take back your cow. But before I leave, tell me what did you whisper in her ear? I wore myself out with her, and even beat her, but she did not get up."
The Jewish man told him what he had whispered in her ear. Immediately, the other man began to tremble when he realized that this cow, who did not have human intellect, recognized the Creator. He therefore proclaimed, "How can I, a human being whom my Maker formed in His own image and to whom He gave intellect, fail to recognize my Creator?" Straightaway, he went and converted to Judaism. Eventually, he became an accomplished Torah scholar who was known as Rabbi Yochanan ben Torsa (Yochanan, son of a cow), and to this day, our rabbis cite his rulings. Why is he called the "son of a cow"? It is because the elevated behavior of this cow led to his spiritual rebirth.
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