Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta

Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta often gets the wrong end of the stick, because of that one argument he had with Rabbi Akiva.

People tend to diss him and write him off because he's mentioned a lot less in Chazalic sources than Rabbi Akiva. What many people tend to forget is that our Mishna was based off of compositions by Rabbi Akiva and his students, with Rebbi - Rabbi Yehudah Ha'nasi being a spiritual successor to Rabbi Akiva's legacy. So it's quite natural that we would find an emphasis on Rabbi Akiva and his teachings in our sources. Undoubtedly, Rabbi Akiva was a giant - but I'm not sure we have any way of measuring other, less-mentioned sages' greatness.

I bring this up because all too often I see reference to Rabbi Yochanan b. Torta and Rabbi Akiva's argument over whether Bar Kochva was the Mashiach or not, with Rabbi Yochanan being regarded a nothingburger of a sage. I made that mistake once, and later came to the above realization and have since greatly regretted what I had uttered at the time. At the end of the day:

a. Rabbi Yochanan b. Torta received smicha and given the title rabbi! And he was a tanna of all things! Not that many people can say they were tannaitic sages (technically neither could he because that term wasn't used in that manner at that time, but you get the point...)?

b. מה לעשות, what can you do? Rabbi Akiva's belief here was wrong. Bar Kochva might have had messianic qualities, but in the end, we haven't yet reached geulah shelemah, the full, final redemption.