Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, known simply as "Rabbi" or "Rabbeinu HaKadosh", was the leader (Nasi) of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel at the end of the 2nd century. The son of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, he was born, according to tradition, on the very day Rabbi Akiva was executed.

His great achievement was the redaction of the Mishnah. Fearing that the Oral Torah would be lost amid persecution and dispersion, he gathered and organized the teachings of earlier generations into six orders. The Mishnah became the foundation of the Talmud and of all halacha.

Wealthy and, according to the Talmud, close to the Roman emperor Antoninus, he nevertheless lived in great holiness. He led the Sanhedrin in Beit She'arim and later in Tzippori, where he died. The Talmud relates that on the day of his death "holiness ceased." He was buried in Beit She'arim.