Must the Patriarch Know 'Uqtzin? The Nasi as Scholar in Babylonian Aggada

Abstract

A baraita cited in both the Palestinian and the Babylonian Talmud (pKetubot 12:3, 34d-35a = pKil'aim 9:4, 32a-b; bKetubot 103a-b) describes Rabbi's dying testament to his sons. In the Babylonian version, Rabbi designates his elder son, Gamaliel, as his successor, and his younger son, Shimeon, as the next hakham. In its analysis of this part of the testament, the BT interprets Rabbi's declaration, which begins, curiously, with the younger son and the lesser position, as concessive: although the younger son is wise, the elder shall be the patriarch. In the continuation of this discussion, the Talmud manifests its concern over Gamaliel's appointment: Gamaliel does not “fill his forefathers' place in wisdom.” This problem is so great, according to the BT, that it would negate the elder son's claim to the dynastic position were it not that Gamaliel has another quality, “fear of sin,” with respect to which he does, in fact, “fill his forefathers' place.”