TARASIOS (c. 730–806), patriarch of Constantinople
from 784 to 806. Tarasios was born to a prominent family
in Constantinople. His father, Georgios, had served as a
judge and prefect (mayor) of the capital. Tarasios was excel-
lently trained in theology and secular learning, which helped
him to rise in both the civil and ecclesiastical ranks. During
the reign of Leo IV and his wife Irene, Tarasios was chief sec-
retary (protoasikritis) of the imperial court, perhaps from 775
to 784, when he was ordained and elevated to the patriarchal
throne. His speedy elevation to the ranks of the priesthood
was not unusual in the Byzantine church even though it was
objected to by several iconophiles.
As patriarch, Tarasios became instrumental in the con-
vocation of the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which con-
demned iconoclasm. Not only was he the power behind the
council, but it was on that occasion that the right of presid-
ing over a council was transferred entirely to the patriarch.
Tarasios, a prudent man, proved moderate in his policies to-
ward both the problems of the imperial house and the icono-
clastic controversy. His moderation was perceived as laxity,
and Tarasios was attacked by the rigorous monastic party of
Theodore of Studios.
Tarasios fostered the building of social welfare institu-
tions, including a hospital and homes for the poor. He re-
stored good relations with Rome and upon his death was
honored by both the Greek and the Latin churches. Only a
few of his letters and a sermon survive. His biography, which
constitutes an important source for the period, was written
by Deacon Ignatios.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sources for Tarasios’s writings are Patrologia Graeca, edited by
J. P. Migne, vol. 98 (Paris, 1860), cols. 1423–1500, contain-
ing his Apologeticus ad populum, Epistolae, and Oratio; and
Les Régestes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople, edited by
Venance Grumel, vol. 1 (Istanbul, 1936), pp. 12–22. Refer-
ences to Tarasios may be found in Hans Georg Beck’s Kirche
und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich (Munich,
1959), p. 489; Io ̄anne ̄s Karaiannopoulos’s Pegai t ̄es Buzan-
tines historias, 4th ed. (Thessaloniki, 1978), p. 215; and S.
Efstratiades’s Hagiologion t ̄es orthodoxou ekklesias (Athens,
1935), pp. 445–446.
DEMETRIOS J. CONSTANTELOS (1987)
T:ARFON (late first and early second centuries CE), Pales-
tinian tanna. A Jewish resident of Lod, he was the teacher
of Yehudah bar IlEai and a prominent leader of the generation
of rabbis active at the seaside town of Yavneh after the de-
struction in 70 CE of the Temple in Jerusalem.
There are two strands within the traditions associated
with T:arfon. One group of traditions makes T:arfon subser-
vient to his colleague EAqivaD ben Yosef and occasionally
mocks T:arfon for foolishness in his behavior or opinions. A
second group of traditions cites T:arfon’s actions as prece-
dents for the rulings of Yehudah bar IlEai and appears to have
been formulated by Yehudah’s disciples.
In establishing the criteria for legal decisions on the per-
formance of religious obligations, T:arfon emphasized the
importance of deed over intention, of formal action or objec-
tive fact over subjective thought. This posture differs sharply
from that of EAqivaD, who placed greater emphasis on the role
of intention. In several instances T:arfon’s view is included
in the text as a foil for the authoritative opinion of EAqivaD.
T:arfon’s major rulings frequently concern rituals per-
formed by priests. In matters of dispute he consistently ruled
in favor of the priestly families. He ruled, for instance, that
a priest may receive gifts of heave-offerings of wine and oil
from a householder throughout the year, an economic ad-
vantage for the priest. T:arfon’s dicta emphasized that the
priests could play a central role in the life of the Jews even
after the destruction of the Temple.SEE ALSO Tannaim.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Joel Gereboff’s Rabbi Tarfon: The Tradition, the Man and Early
Rabbinic Judaism (Missoula, Mont., 1979) presents a system-
atic study and analysis of all the materials concerning this
rabbi. In Tannaitic Symposia (in Hebrew), 3 vols. (Jerusalem,
1967), Israel Konovitz collects all the references to T:arfon in
rabbinic literature.
New Sources
Willems, Gerard F. “Le Juif Tryfon et rabbi Tarfon.” Bijdragen
50 (1989): 278–292.
TZVEE ZAHAVY (1987)
Revised BibliographyT:AR ̄IQAH. The Arabic word t:ar ̄ıqah, meaning a road or
path, also signifies a “mode” or “method” of action as well
as a “way” or code of belief. In the context of Sufism, t:ar ̄ıqah
refers to both the path of spirituality itself —“the way”—and
the manner of traveling (sulu ̄k) along this path as the wayfar-
er passes through various stages (mana ̄zil) and stations
(maqa ̄ma ̄t) in the quest to approach nearer to God.
More concretely, however, t:ar ̄ıqah (and its plural,
t:uru ̄q) is used as a generic term for the various organized
brotherhoods or S:u ̄f ̄ı orders that direct this spiritual quest
into a particular code of practices pursued in a communal
setting. It is in this sense that the word t:ar ̄ıqah is most fre-
quently used: a confraternity founded around the figure or
the memory of a charismatic figure of spiritual authority.
T:ar ̄ıqahs are arranged hierarchically around loyalty and obe-
dience to a living guide or master, following fixed rites of ini-
tiation, observing specific spiritual practices and a code of et-
iquette, typically centered in a physical structure other than
a mosque (e.g., a shrine, lodge, hospice, retreat), and fi-
nanced by pious endowments (waqf) of real property and in-
come.T:AR ̄IQAH 9003