Rabbi Yochanan רבי יוחנן
head of the Tiberias academy, foundation of the Jerusalem Talmud
Rabbi Yochanan glimpsed Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi as a child and studied with his disciples. Orphaned early and desperately poor — he sold his last field in order to study — he became head of the academy at Tiberias, to which students streamed from the whole country and from Babylonia.
His teaching is the core of the Jerusalem Talmud, and «Rabbi Yochanan said» is among the most frequent phrases in all rabbinic literature.
His personal life was heavy: he buried ten sons. His closest friend and sharpest opponent was Reish Lakish, a former brigand whom he brought back to Torah and married to his sister. After a quarrel between them Reish Lakish died, and Rabbi Yochanan could not recover. A replacement study partner was sent who agreed with everything he said; he cried out, «the son of Lakish would raise twenty-four objections to every word of mine, and this one only agrees!» He lost his mind in grief and soon died.