Rabbinical dynasty.
Gamaliel I
As a contemporary of King Agrippa I, he was consulted by him (and his queen) on halakhic problems. As the supreme halakhic authority, he issued from the Temple precincts proclamations to the communities in Erets Israel and in the Diaspora concerning tithing problems and the leap year (Sanh. 11b). The right of the Sanhedrin to regulate the Jewish Calendar was at the heart of its authority, and Gamaliel issued a number of regulations (see Takkanah) to assure the examination of witnesses who had seen the New Moon, thus enabling the court to proclaim the beginning of another month.
Of particular importance are his regulations affecting Marriage (Divorce) law (Git. 4:2-3). To protect the divorcee, he introduced a number of restrictions with regard to the issuance of a letter of divorce (get). The biblical rules of evidence to establish the death of a husband were relaxed in order to free the wife from the shackled status of an Agunah (Yev. 16:7).
Gamaliel adopted a humane attitude to gentiles, who were to be given equal charitable treatment with Jews: in material support, visiting their sick, eulogizing and burying their dead, and comforting their mourners. They should not be discriminated against when gathering their due in the fields (Lev. 23:22).
Even in his attitude to the emerging Judeo-Christian sect he showed tolerance and adopted a "wait and see" policy when Peter and other Apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin. The New Testament calls him "a teacher of the law held in high regard by all the people" (Acts 5:34).
No Aggadic-Midrashic statements are reported in his name, but he gave some sound advice to his students: provide yourself with a teacher; rid yourself of doubt; and when giving tithe do not do so by approximation (Avot 1:16).
Simeon Ben Gamaliel I
Simeon's modesty is evident in his saying: "All my days I have grown up among the Sages, and I have found no better way than silence; not learning but doing is the chief thing; and too many words cause sin" (avot 1:18). When ecstatically rejoicing at the Josephus refers in glowing terms to the role played by Simeon in the rebellion against Roman rule (66 CE). Simeon joined the revolutionary council directing the war against Rome. When the Zealots progressively established their disastrous dictatorship over Jerusalem and the Temple, he spoke out forcefully (though in vain) against them. Gamaliel II In addition to his duties as President of the High Court and Academy, Gamaliel was the leader of the nation. His frequent hazardous sea journeys to Rome at the head of delegations reveal him as the political spokesman of his people vis à-vis the Roman government, particularly Emperor Domitian. Tradition reports many disputations between Gamaliel and highly placed Romans, "philosophers," and heretics on theological, biblical, and rabbinical problems. There was hardly an area of Jewish practice and faith in which Gamaliel did not intervene. He standardized the Amidah and made its recital obligatory (Ber. 4:3; 28b), and included in it a blessing (or rather curse) against heretics (Minim), probably Judeo-Christians, who thus would be prevented from leading or joining public prayer, together with other "enemies of the people" such as informers or apostates. He also declared the Evening Prayer obligatory. He sought to strengthen the observance of festivals, and tried to assure the continued observance of offerings and tithes to priests and Levites and the laws of ritual purity, originally connected to the Temple and Jerusalem. The final Bible canon may also be due to the work of Gamaliel and his Sanhedrin at Yavneh. Simeon ben Gamaliel II Simeon's dicta are very much concerned with peace. The world, he said, rests on three pillars: Law, Truth, and Peace (Avot 1:18). Law has to serve peace, and arbitration is therefore preferable to apodictic judgment (Sanh. 5b). Peace begins in the home and ends in the nation.




