Background
Neither the name of his father nor the circumstances of his youth are known, though his name ("HaGelili") indicates that he was a native of Galilee.
Neither the name of his father nor the circumstances of his youth are known, though his name ("HaGelili") indicates that he was a native of Galilee.
He was one of the Tannaim, the rabbis whose work was compiled in the Mishna. He suffered from the prejudice commonly held against the Galileans by the Judeans. On one occasion a woman who wanted to make a point with him began by calling him a "stupid Galilean".
When he entered the academy at Yavne, he was entirely unknown.
lieutenant is also noted that he was extremely modest and addressed Tarfon as "my master". He was, nevertheless, a thorough scholar even then, and his arguments nonplused both Tarfon and Akiva.
His first appearance at Yavne thus obtained for him general recognition, and the two rabbis considered him not as a pupil, but as a colleague. Akiva was obliged to endure more than one sharp criticism from Jose, who once said to him: "Though thou expound the whole day I shall not listen to thee".
Tarfon expressed his high esteem of Jose by interpreting Daniel viii.
Jose frequently showed a tendency to revert to the older Halakha, explaining the text according to its literal meaning Generally, though, his halakic exegesis differed little from that of Akiva, and both often employed the same rules of interpretation He taught that poultry may be cooked in milk and eaten, as was done in his own native town. Also that at the Passover one may enjoy anything that is leavened, except as food. Of his haggadic opinions the two following may be mentioned: The command of the Torah that the "face of the old man" shall be honored includes, by implication, the young man who has acquired wisdom The words "He shall rule over thee" do not refer to power of every description.
Jose"s married life was unhappy.
Jose did have a son, Eliezer who followed in his father"s footsteps and became a great rabbinic authority. Jose was famed, moreover, for his piety.
An amora of the 3rd century says: "When, for their sins, there is drought in Israel, and such a one as Jose the Galilean prays for rain, the rain cometh straightway" (Yer Ber 9b). The popular invocation, "O Jose ha-Gelili, heal me!" survived even to the 10th century.
This invocation is condemned by the Karaite Sahal ben Matzliah.