Rabban Gamliel II, the great-great-grandson of Hillel, is often called “Gamliel of Yavneh”. This is because Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai brought him to Yavneh is his youth. Although Jerusalem, the Temple, and the autonomous kingdom of the Herodians had all been destroyed by the Romans, the city of Yavneh had been established by R. Yohanan as a sanctuary. The Talmud¹ informs us that R. Yohanan, who had been trapped in the besieged city of Jerusalem, had himself smuggled out of the city in a coffin and brought before the Roman general Vespasian, whom he greeted as emperor. Almost immediately thereafter, messengers from Rome arrived, informing Vespasian that the Senate had indeed proclaimed him emperor, in opposition to the rebel Vitellius. Impressed by R. Yohanan’s knowledge and prophetic abilities, Vespasian offered him any favor that he asked for. R. Yohanan’s response was, “Give me Yavneh and its Sages!”, a request that Vespasian fulfilled.

(This nonetheless led to a profound spiritual crisis that lasted the rest of R. Yohanan’s life. Yavneh and the Hillelic dynasty of nesi’im (patriarchs) had been saved, but Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. Ever after, R. Yohanan wondered if he had done enough or, if he had asked for more, Vespasian would have reneged and given him nothing. On his deathbed, R. Yohanan confessed in tears that he did not know how he would be judged in the World to Come.)

Rabban Gamliel grew into a learned but arrogant man. He freely employed herem (banning or excommunication) to force other rabbis to submit to his authority and the authority of the Sanhedrin (even placing his brother-in-law, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus haGadol under a ban), although he was gracious and forgiving to those who did submit. Finally, the Sanhedrin could stand no more, and deposed Rabban Gamliel as nasi, replacing him with Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah. The Talmud² relates that

[O]n that very day³, they got rid of the door-guard and permission was given to the students to enter; since R. Gamliel used to say that any student whose inside [motivation, character] is not like his outside [the way he presents himself] may not enter the bet midrash⁴. On that very day, more benches were brought in…some say 400 benches were added, others say 700 benches were added. R. Gamliel became depressed, saying ‘Have I kept [words of] Torah from Israel?’ In a dream, he was shown white barrels, filled with ash – but that was not accurate, they only showed him that to restore his spirits (i.e., the dream indicated that all of these new students amounted to nothing; the truth was that they were competent students)

Rabban Gamliel thought that he was doing a great work – using his power and authority to see to it that only worthy men would study Torah, and that frauds and hypocrites would not be allowed to use their studies as a pretext to oppress and deceive others. When he was removed from power, however, and R. Elazar reversed his policy, he became depressed, not out of mere pique at being opposed, but because he realized that what seemed like a good idea to him was actually harmful: “Have I kept Torah from Israel?”, “Has my policy to guarantee integrity among talmidei hakhamim⁵ actually prevented men from rising to great knowledge and spiritual stature?” So upset was he by the realization of what he had done that Heaven sent him a comforting (although false) dream.

(It should be noted that, after his deposition, Rabban Gamliel became a humble man, and was eventually reinstated as nasi. Although he pronounced many halakhot⁶, he is perhaps remembered most for his funeral arrangements. At the time, it was the custom to vie for status through the extravagance of one’s funeral. Many were bankrupted, arranging for the funerals of their parents; some even fled, abandoning the bodies, rather than be faced with such a crushing burden. On his deathbed, however, Rabban Gamliel commanded that, despite his wealth and position, he be buried in a simple shroud of coarse white cloth, so that people could say, “If this was sufficient for Rabban Gamliel, how much more should it be sufficient for me!” It became the custom for a cup of wine to be drunk in houses of mourning in memory of this.)

¹Gittin 56.

⁶Legal decisions.