רבי יוחנן בן תורתא

Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta was a tanna who lived in the Land of Israel. He appears in the aggadic Midrashim, where his teachings are brought in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem and the reasons Israel was sent into exile.

In Eichah Rabbah his name is associated with the lament over Jerusalem and the recounting of the many synagogues that once stood in the city, while in Bamidbar Rabbah his words are cited within the discussion of how Israel’s transgressions brought about the exile. The passages that preserve his teachings center on themes of churban, galut, and the consequences of straying from the mitzvot.