Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai's Three Forty-Year Periods
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai spent forty years in business, forty learning and forty leading, and won Vespasian's permission to set up a yeshiva in Yavneh.
The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 31b) relates that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai lived for 120 years. For the first 40 years, he was engaged in business. During the next 40 years, he was exclusively engaged in studying Torah. And for the last 40 years of his life, he taught Torah and was a leader of K’lal Yisrael. In fact, his leadership came at a crucial time for the Jewish nation. General Vespasian, who was in charge of the legions attacking Yerushalayim, met with Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai. Upon Rabban Yochanan’s request, Vespasian permitted him to set up a yeshiva in Yavneh, and the Sanhedrin was eventually reestablished there. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai’s actions ensured Torah leadership for an orphaned generation bereft of the Beis HaMikdash.