JOSEPH B. JOSHUA B. LEVI:
Amora of the third century; educated by his father (Shab. 68a; Ber. 8b; Yeb. 9a). He was the son-in-law of Judah ha-Nasi; and therefore his father, Joshua b. Levi, did him the honor to rise at his approach, in order to show his (Joshua's) esteem for the house of the patriarch (Ḳid. 33b).
Once Joseph was at the point of death, and fancied he had a glimpse of the mysteries of the world beyond. When he awoke from his vision he declared he had seen the highest abased and the lowest exalted, implying the existence of a world in which men are judged according to standards far different from earthly ones. There he had also heard the greeting: "Blessed is the man who came here with his Talmud [that is, with the proof of his devotion to the study of the Torah] in his hands" (Pes. 50a).
- Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. ii. 105.
