Is Rabbi Yossi (ben Chalafta) being Chutzpadik to his Teacher?
On Sanhedrin 38b:
הָתִינַח כּוּלְּהִי, ״עַד דִּי כׇרְסָוָן רְמִיו״ מַאי אִיכָּא לְמֵימַר? אֶחָד לוֹ וְאֶחָד לְדָוִד, דְּתַנְיָא: אֶחָד לוֹ וְאֶחָד לְדָוִד, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יוֹסֵי: עֲקִיבָא, עַד מָתַי אַתָּה עוֹשֶׂה שְׁכִינָה חוֹל? אֶלָּא אֶחָד לְדִין וְאֶחָד לִצְדָקָה.
The Gemara clarifies: This works out well for almost all the verses, as they describe an action taken by God, but what is there to say concerning the verse: “I beheld till thrones were placed”? The Gemara answers: One throne is for Him and one throne is for David, i.e., the messiah, as it is taught in a baraita: One throne is for Him and one throne is for David; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Yosei said to him: Akiva! Until when will you desacralize the Divine Presence by equating God with a person? Rather, the correct interpretation is that both thrones are for God, as one throne is for judgment and one throne is for righteousness.
This is strange because Rabbi Yossi is fifth-generation and Rabbi Akiva is fourth-generation. Further, Rabbi Yossi is Rabbi Akiva’s student. Would he call him plain Akiva? Would he employ such a tone when disagreeing?
The parallel sugya appears in Chagiga 14a, where the identity makes more sense:
כָּתוּב אֶחָד אוֹמֵר: ״כׇּרְסְיֵהּ שְׁבִיבִין דִּינוּר״, וְכָתוּב אֶחָד אוֹמֵר: ״עַד דִּי כׇרְסָוָן רְמִיו וְעַתִּיק יוֹמִין יְתִיב״! לָא קַשְׁיָא: אֶחָד לוֹ וְאֶחָד לְדָוִד. כִּדְתַנְיָא: אֶחָד לוֹ וְאֶחָד לְדָוִד, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַגְּלִילִי: עֲקִיבָא, עַד מָתַי אַתָּה עוֹשֶׂה שְׁכִינָה חוֹל?! אֶלָּא: אֶחָד לְדִין וְאֶחָד לִצְדָקָה.
The Gemara poses another question: One verse states: “His throne was fiery flames” (Daniel 7:9), and another phrase in the same verse states: “Till thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat,” implying the existence of two thrones. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. One throne is for Him and one is for David, as it is taught in a baraita with regard to this issue: One throne for Him and one for David; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Yosei HaGelili said to him: Akiva, how long shall you make the Divine Presence profane, by presenting it as though one could sit next to Him? Rather, the two thrones are designated for different purposes: One for judgment and one for righteousness.
So it is Rabbi Yossi HaGlili, who is a contemporary, so that this makes sense.
Indeed, here are the six instances where this type of language is directed at Rabbi Akiva by colleagues:
Regardless, we don’t even need to look at the parallel sugya. It turns out that it is jsut the printings (Vilna, Venice, Barco) that have plain Rabbi Yossi. All the manuscripts on Hachi Garsinan here in Sanhedrin have Rabbi Yossi HaGlili.
