Lesson 2: Zuggot and Tannaim - Animated Talmud Introduction

After the anchetagdullah, the task of teaching and leading the Jewish people moved to the zugot. Zugote means pairs. In those days, there were always two great teachers who guided the Torah sages and led the people. The gathering of these Torah sages was called the Sanhedrin. The first leader of the Sanhedrin was called the Nasi, which means high up or president. He was something like a king because it was his job to help the Jewish people live according to the Torah with love and peace. The second leader was called the Avetin, which means head of the court of law. His job was to help the sages during their discussions and make sure that proper decisions were reached. Over the next 250 years, there were five zooat who led the Jewish people. The last of the zooat were Hillel and Shami. Hillel was Nasi and since he was from the family of King David, he began a chain of Torah leaders that lasted for many years. The students of Hillel and Shamai began to have many arguments. The sages believed that everybody's Torah thoughts and opinions were important to remember and understand. So the students of Hillel and Shami remembered all the words of all the sages even when there was an argument. They also made new rules to protect the Torah and help the Jewish people stay connected to Hashem. Over time the Torah Shabba Alpe grew and grew. Sadly, the second beta mikdash was destroyed and the Jewish people suffered under Roman rule. That did not stop the sages from their holy work. They continued teaching Torah laws, explaining the mitzvot, thinking and talking and arguing about how Hashem's will should be done. The sages in the days after the zooot are called tanim. The word tana means repeater in Aramaic. Even though they were very wise, the tanim always felt that they were just repeating the Torah Shabba ale. The period of the Tanim lasted for five generations.