A striking contrast to the stubbornness of Eliezer, and the no less unbending despotism of Gamaliel, is offered by Joshua ben Chananya. He was the yielding, pliable, peaceable element in this newly constituted Jewish body. He protected the Law and the people from one-sided and exaggerated ideas, and became the promoter of the study of the Law and the benefactor of his people. As a young Levite of the choir he had seen the glory of the Temple, and had sung the psalms in its halls. Together with his teacher he had left Jerusalem, and after the death of the latter had founded a school in Bekiin. Here he taught his pupils, and carried on the humble handicraft of making needles, by which he maintained his family. Through his twofold occupation Joshua was brought into communication both with scholars and the common people; and he endeavored to unite the two, and was the only man who possessed power over the minds and will of the masses. He was personally so ugly that an empress's daughter once asked him how it was so much wisdom was incorporated in so ugly a form. Whereupon Joshua answered that wine was not kept in casks of gold. Besides an acquaintance with tradition, he seems to have possessed some astronomical knowledge, which enabled him to calculate the irregular course of the comets. This knowledge was once of great use to him when he was on a journey. He had started on a voyage with Gamaliel, and had laid in more provisions than were usually necessary for the journey. The ship took an erratic course for some time, because its captain, deceived by the sight of a certain star, had steered in a wrong direction. Gamaliel's provisions having been consumed, he was astonished that this was not the case with his companion, but that, in fact, he could even spare some for him. Thereupon Joshua informed him that he had calculated on the return of a star (a comet), which reappeared every seventy years, and which would mislead the ignorant sailor, and that therefore he (Joshua) had provided himself with extra food for this emergency. This astronomical knowledge of Joshua appears the more surprising, as the cycles of the comets were known not even to the learned of antiquity. But Joshua was yet more distinguished for his modesty and gentleness than for knowledge and wisdom, and these qualities he displayed also in teaching. He was opposed to all exaggeration and eccentricity, and gave heed to the circumstances of daily life when making a legal decision.