YOSE BEN ḤALAFTAʾ (second century CE), Palestinian tanna. Born in Sepphoris, Yose was a student of Yoḥanan ben Nuri, ʿAqivaʾ ben Yosef, and Ṭarfon. Like many of his contemporaries, he worked at a humble occupation—he was a tanner (B.T., Shab. 49a–b)—but he was also a leader of the rabbinic court at Sepphoris (B.T., San. 32b). He is associated with early mystical traditions, and it is said that he studied with Elijah the prophet (B.T., Ber. 3a, Yev. 63a).

Numerous traditions attributed to Yose are preserved in rabbinic literature. He is one of the most frequently quoted authorities of his generation, along with Meʾir, Shimʿon, and Yehudah. Jacob Epstein believes that the corpus of his traditions was one of the primary documents used in the redaction of the...