To escape Alexander Jannaeus's persecution of the Pharisees, Judah ben Tabbai, who was already a prominent Pharisee scholar, fled to Alexandria. After Jannaeus's death in 76 BCE, Salome Alexandra became queen of Judea. The Pharisees now became not only a tolerated section of the community, but actually the ruling class. Salome Alexandra installed as high priest her eldest son, Hyrcanus II, a man who was wholly supportive of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin was reorganized according to their wishes. This body had hitherto been, as it were, a "house of lords," the members of which belonged to the highestrabbinical court. From this time it became a "supreme court" for the administration of justice and religious matters, the guidance of which was placed in the hands of the Pharisees. As part of the reorganization, Salome appointed her brother Simeon ben Shetach as prince of the Sanhedrin. Simeon ben Shetach wrote a flattering letter to Judah ben Tabbai, who was still in Alexandria, inviting him to return to Jerusalem to become the Chief Justice of the Sanhedrin.
According to the Torah, if a witness testifies falsely in court against a defendant, the punishment for the false witness is the same as the punishment would have been for the defendant had he been convicted. According to the Talmud, the Sadducees held that the false witness is punished only if the defendant has already been punished. However, according to the Pharisees, the false witness could be punished even if the defendant was never punished. Because Judah ben Tabbai opposed the Sadducees, in a particular capital case in which a false witness testified, he ordered that the false witness be executed even though the defendant was not punished. According to the Talmud, this was wrong, since, under Pharisaic rules, a false witness could only be punished if there were two or more false witnesses, and in this particular case, only one of the witnesses was deemed to be a false witness. Upon realizing this error, Judah spent time at the grave of the false witness that he ordered to be executed, crying and seeking forgiveness.
Association with Karaite Judaism
According to medieval scholars, such as Judah Halevi, Moses ben Elijah Bashyazi, and Solomon Jedidiah ben Aaron, Judah ben Tabbai was the founder of Karaite Judaism. Because Alexander Jannaeus persecuted the Pharisees, and later Salome Alexandra expelled the Sadducees, once Simeon ben Shetach began restoring the Sanhedrin, there was little check on his power. As part of Simeon's reorganization of the Sanhedrin, he introduced new laws that were hitherto unknown, but which he claimed originated with Moses. These new laws came to be known as the Oral Torah. Judah ben Tabbai, on the other hand, continued to apply only the Written Torah, the written law which was known since ancient times. Thus, Simeon and his followers became the founders of Rabbinic Judaism, which is Judaism based on the new Oral Torah, whereas Judah and his followers, and all the Pharisees who continued to follow only the Written Torah, became the founders of Karaite Judaism. This split occurred in approximately 57 BCE.
Students
Among Judah ben Tabbai's students were the next zugot, Shmaya and Abtalion.
Sayings
In Pirkei Avot, Judah ben Tabbai is quoted as saying:
