Skip to content
This English version of the site was translated with AI assistance. We apologise for any errors and are working to improve it.

29 Tammuz · Yahrzeit

Yahrzeit/Hillula of the Tanna Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar

Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar (approximately 100 CE - 150 CE) - a Tanna of the 4th generation
Yahrzeit – 29 Tammuz Burial place – Meron, 200 meters from the grave of the Rashbi. Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar (Yochanan the shoemaker, or Yochanan of Alexandria) was a Tanna of the 4th generation and one of the principal disciples of Rabbi Akiva and a colleague of the Rashbi. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and was a descendant of King David and a great-grandson of Rabbi Gamliel the Elder. Rashi was a descendant of Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar (they share the same yahrzeit – 29 Tammuz) in the 33rd generation. Due to harsh Roman decrees, Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua decided to leave the Land of Israel and go to study with Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira in Nezivin, Bavel. When they reached Sidon, they began to miss Eretz Yisrael so much that they started to weep and tear their garments. They then turned back and went home, saying that living in Eretz Yisrael is equivalent to all the Mitzvot of the Torah. A famous saying of Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar in Pirkei Avot: "Every assembly that is for the sake of Heaven will endure, but one that is not for the sake of Heaven will not endure." Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar is buried in Meron, above the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. A tziyun (marker) has been built over the entrance to a sealed cave, within which the actual grave is located. Next to the grave is a cave in which Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar used to process the hides used to make the leather for his shoes. May the merit of the Tzadik protect our people!   (https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/449-Johanan-HaSandlar)