Pirkei Avot—The Misunderstood Masterpiece Ep. 5: Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakai and the Creation of Yavneh

A free, 6-part audio course

Traditionally studied each week between Passover and Shavuot, Avot may be the most beloved tractate in the rabbinic cannon; but its purpose and teachings may also be misunderstood. In this new audio course from the Tikvah Fund, Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik provides learned insight into the unique lives and worldviews of the rabbinic sages featured in the tractate. He thereby shows how to understand Avot as what it really is: an intellectual history of Jewish minds that were often in debate, and who offered solutions to challenges in a post-Temple world that was in many ways not unlike our own.

Episode 5: Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai may be said to have single-handedly saved Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple. In this lecture, Rabbi Soloveichik recounts and interprets this visionary realist’s place in Avot and in Jewish history.