Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair רבי פנחס בן יאיר

Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair lived in Lod, was son-in-law to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and was known for severity towards himself. Out of that severity came the list that outlived everything else known about him:

"Torah leads to watchfulness, watchfulness to zeal, zeal to cleanliness, cleanliness to abstinence, abstinence to purity, purity to piety, piety to humility, humility to fear of sin, fear of sin to holiness, holiness to the holy spirit, the holy spirit to the resurrection of the dead" (Avodah Zarah 20b; Mishnah, Sotah 9:15 in a close form).

Fifteen centuries later Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto took this list as the table of contents of Mesillat Yesharim—the book by which work on oneself is taught in every yeshiva to this day. So one list became a whole school.

Of Rabbi Pinchas himself it is told that he would not accept hospitality even from Rabbi Yehuda haNasi, and that his donkey refused untithed fodder (Chullin 7a–b)—the tale of that donkey became a parable that a master's strictness passes to his whole household.