RELAXED PROHIBITIONS
Safrai claims consistently that R. Yohanan is one of the leaders in relaxing
Jewish-pagan prohibitions. However, there is a substantial methodological
weakness in this claim. Many of the laws associated with R. Yohanan are
recorded in the Tosefta,which is a document contemporaneous with the
Mishnah,if not earlier than it. For instance, Tosefta1:8 records that you can
purchase Jewish slaves in a fair “because you will save them from [pagan]
hands.” This ruling is taken up in a later text, the Jerusalem Talmud Avo-
dah Zarah 1:4, although modified slightly. Another example: R. Yohanan is
said to have ruled that an Israelite need not halt trade associations with
pagans on the Kalends (January 1) with those pagans who participate in
the festival. But Tosefta1:4 already had recorded: “Kalends: Even though
everyone participates [in the celebrations] only those who participate in wor-
ship are prohibited [from trade relations with pagans].”
TheTosefta’s “even though” appears to challenge the stricter approach
of the Mishnah:“For three days before the holidays of the pagans, it is pro-
hibited to trade with them” (1:1). The holidays are defined in halachanum-
ber three as follows: “These are the [nation-wide] holidays of the pagans:
Kalends, Saturnalia [December 17–23], Kratesim [31 August 30 BCE, the date
that the Egyptians assigned to Octavian’s victory over Antony and Cleopa-
tra],” and so on. Again, the Toseftapredates R. Yohanan’s saying. Safrai
does not seem to trace back the sources of the Jerusalem Talmud. The
Toseftadoes not operate merely as a gloss to the Mishnah;as we see from our
example, it could record laws that are contemporaneous with or predate the
Mishnah.Safrai himself admits that much of the material is not datable
(1984, 156).
Regarding methodology, just because a Sage from the period of Usha
utters a law, does it mean that he was the first one to propose this? Most
of the attributed sayings in the Mishnahcome from the period of R. Akiba
and his students (mid-second century CE). Does this mean that these dis-
cussions are only representative of that time: sacrifices, dietary laws, laws
of cleanness? Impossible. Hence, it is difficult to say with any certainty
that one period in particular meant to change these laws. Perhaps caution
should rule in these matters and one should suggest that prohibitions were
certainly relaxed at times, but one cannot say with certainty if a certain
period ushered in these changes. Perhaps it was more a matter of localized
changes, or changes that were made by certain Sages at different times
throughout the period under discussion.