It is unlikely that Yehoshua ben Gamla would make very many listings of the five or even ten most important Sages of Talmudic times – let alone in all of Jewish history. Yet according to the Talmud itself, it would seem that with the possible exception of Moshe Rabbeinu (and perhaps Ezra HaSofer), Yehoshua ben Gamla is the most important figure in all of Jewish history.
Yehoshua ben Gamla was not a Sage at all, but rather one of many high priests who attained his position through bribery. Yet to the surprise of many, perhaps all, he turned out to be the one who literally saved Jewish history. Without his efforts, the story of the Jewish people would likely have come to an end with the destruction of the Temple in the year 70CE.
“A store in the courtyard: [a neighbour] can protest and say ‘I cannot sleep due to the noise of those coming and going’. However, he can make vessels [in the courtyard] and go and sell them in the marketplace and [the neighbour] may not protest and say ‘I cannot sleep from the noise of the hammer, the noise of the windmill or from the noise of children’” (Bava Batra 20b).
Zoning laws throughout the world ensure that commercial activities do not take place in a residential area. It is for good reason our Rabbis forbade one from opening a store in a residential complex. Balancing the needs of the individual and the community and recognizing that the noise involved is much less, the Sages did allow one to do commercial work in one’s own home and then take the product to market.
“Remember that man for good and Yehoshua ben Gamla is his name, for if not for him, Torah would have been forgotten from the Jewish people” (Bava Batra 21a). What did he do to merit such praise? Yehoshua ben Gamla decreed that each community set up locally funded public schools for all Jewish children. It was this decree that was the most significant in all of Jewish history, saving Torah from oblivion.
It was not Rav Yochanan ben Zackai—who had the foresight to forego Jerusalem so he could rebuild Judaism from the sleepy coastal city of Yavne—who is credited with saving Torah. Nor was it Rabbi Akiva, who reestablished Torah after the Hadrianic persecutions; it wasn’t Rebbe Yehuda Hanasi, who took the crucial decision to commit the Oral Law to writing; nor Rav and Shmuel, who established the centers of Torah learning in Bavel; and not Ravina and Rav Ashi, who are the “final teachers” of the Oral Law.
While all the above played indispensible roles in ensuring the development and growth of Torah, Torah would have survived (albeit weakened) without them. It is only Yehoshua ben Gamla about whom it is said that without him ‘Torah would have been forgotten from Israel’. As implausible and even heretical as it sounds, our Talmudic Sages had no problem saying it – because it is the truth.
The Talmud relates that the three previous methods of Torah teaching had all failed. Initially, in keeping with a narrow understanding of the verse “'and you shall teach it to your children'”, those who had a [learned] father would learn Torah, and those who did not have a [learned] father, did not.” Only the lucky few born into the right families received a Jewish education. This was a terrible situation and one that explains how the future Rabbi Akiva was a total ignoramus until the age of forty. While we have all heard of Rabbi Akiva, we have not heard of the thousands of others who were not so lucky.
As home schooling did not work well, they tried a different approach, one based on the verse, “Out of Zion shall come forth Torah and the word of G-d from Jerusalem.” It was thus decreed “that teachers of children should be stationed in Jerusalem.” This too was a failure, as not everyone had a father who could take his children to Jerusalem.
They then instituted Plan C[1], whereby they appointed teachers in every province who would teach those who were “16 and 17.” Yet beginning formal education at 16 does not work and “one whose teacher got angry with him, he would kick him and leave.[2]”
This was the deplorable situation until Yehoshua ben Gamla – refusing to accept "three strikes and you’re out”—established teachers in each and every city and required students to enter school at the age of six or seven[3].
It is not the Torah of great scholars or important rabbis that ensures the survival of Torah but rather, the Torah learning of the young– all of them. And at this young age, it is quantity that matters most. The Talmud (Shabbat 119b) declares “that the world exists only because of the hevel tinokot shel beit rabban, learning of the little children.” What is fascinating is the use of the word hevel to describe the learning of children. Hevel translates as “nothingness" (as in havel havalim amar Kohelet) and while much of the learning of the children may be on the lowest of levels, it is the fact that they are learning that keeps the world going.
Apparently, Yehoshua ben Gamla’s decree had an instant impact. With thousands of students finally given a chance to receive a Jewish education, schools could not be built fast enough and ad hoc classes were held in courtyards. Hence, while the members of the courtyard could prevent one from operating a business in it, they could not prevent the opening of a school. After all, the future of Torah and the Jewish people depends on it.
We today face a situation no less dire than the one faced by Yehoshua ben Gamla. With tuition costs unaffordable for all but the 1%, thousands are dropping out, or not joining the system in the first place[4]. Moreover, thousands of Jewish babies are not being born as day school tuition continues to be the most effective means of birth control.
While the non-Jewish world has Warren Buffet and Bill Gates raising hundreds of billions of dollars through The Giving Pledge, we have no such fund to support Jewish causes. No modern-day Yehoshua ben Gamla has emerged to ensure that Jewish communities can do what every country in the world does, provide public education for its children. And this in the wealthiest Jewish community in world history. Yehoshua, where are you?
[1] No verse is quoted for this plan. After realizing one does not decide public policy from a literal reading of a verse in the Chumash, they tried to use common sense.
[2] It is not clear if it is the teacher kicking the student and throwing him out or the student kicking the teacher and leaving. With both results being terrible (not sure if we can use the word “equally”), it matters little. The end result was guaranteed to be even worse than the first two attempts at Jewish education.
[3] I must say I don’t understand why it took so long to figure out that we need public schools for all Jewish children. Did the decision makers actually believe that home schooling for all or having teachers in Jerusalem would actually work? Isn’t Yehoshua ben Gamla’s approach rather obvious? While this may not provide a complete answer, it is important to remember that many great ideas seem obvious – after the fact. Furthermore, we should never make the mistake of assuming that our cultural norms were – or even should have been – practiced by those who lived in a milieu much different than ours.
[4] While one could move to Israel, this is not a realistic solution for most. And frankly, it is irrelevant. It is the duty of each Jewish community to provide free Jewish education for all.