born AD 135
died 0441; 220
Palestinian Jewish scholar.
A descendant of the great sage Hillel , he was patriarch of the Jewish community in Palestine and head of its Sanhedrin, and he became an important figure in early rabbinic Judaism . He spent over 50 years studying the oral law and is said to have compiled it into six sections divided by subject matter, thus creating the Mishna . His exact role in the Mishna's redaction is not known; other scholars such as Meïr and Akiba ben Joseph were probably also involved.