Meïr

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(c. 110-c. 175 CE). Tanna of the fourth generation, an outstanding scholar and master of dialectics, whose teachers included R. Akiva, R. Ishmael Ben Elisha, and R. Elisha Ben Avuyah. During the persecutions instigated by Emperor Hadrian, Meir was one of the few secretly ordained by R. Judah Ben Bava, the last of the Ten Martyrs. The main period of R. Meir's activity followed the death of Hadrian (138 CE), when the Yavneh Academy moved to Usha in Galilee, where the Sanhedrin was reestablished. A traditional Scribe (sofer) by profession, he once wrote an Esther scroll from memory and often set down brief interpretive comments on the edges of Torah scrolls that he penned. His attempt, with R. Nathan Ha-Bavli, to depose the nasi (patriarch), Simeon ben Gamaliel, led to disciplinary measures against him, and he died in exile.The chief importance of R. Meir lies in his role as an architect of the Mishnah, where he figures in many halakhic controversies, and it was largely on the basis of his formulation that Judah Ha-Nasi edited the Mishnah's definitive text. Meir's name appears upward of 330 times in the Mishnah and 452 times in the Tosefta; most of the anonymous (unascribed) Mishnaic statements are attributed either to Meir or to R. Nathan, whose names were traditionally removed from such passages in consequence of their abortive attempt to depose the nasi. As a preacher, R. Meir drew women as well as men to the Academy whenever he gave a public discourse. His method was to devote a third of his talk to Halakhah, a third to Aggadah, and the remaining third to fables and parables. Meir's political realism, after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE), led him to adopt a conciliatory approach toward the Romans and to display a generally liberal attitude toward Gentiles such as the Cynic philosopher Oenomaus (Abnimos) of Gadara (Hag. 15b). For Meir, Torah study was the supreme religious value. Thus, when asked how he continued to respect and learn from a heretic (Elisha Ben Avuyah), he declared that "a Gentile who observes the Torah (i.e., leads a righteous life] is equal to a High Priest" (BK 38a).A number of stories about Meir in the Talmud and Midrash point to his saintliness and deep humility. While frequently differing with his colleagues in halakhic matters, R. Meir had regard for their views. For additional details, concerning his wife and tragic family life, see Beruryah.

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