Hanina bar Hama
Encyclopedia
- For the 3d generation Amora sage also of the Land of IsraelLand of IsraelThe Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
, sage, see HaninaHaninaR. Hanina was second and third generation Amora Sage of the Land of Israel, a pupil of Rabbi Yannai and R. Yochanan bar Nafcha , brother of the famous Amora sage R. Hoshaiah.R. Hanina was the scion of a family of great sages...
.
Hanina bar Hama (died ca. 250) (Hebrew: חנינא בר חמא) was a Jewish Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ist, halakist and haggadist frequently quoted in the Babylonian
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
and the Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
, and in the Midrashim.
He is generally cited by his prænomen alone (R. Ḥanina), but sometimes with his patronymic (Ḥanina b. Ḥama), and occasionally with the cognomen "the Great" ("ha-Gadol"; Ta'an. 27b; Pesiḳ. R. v. 15a). Whether he was a Palestinian by birth and had only visited Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
, or whether he was a Babylonian immigrant in Palestine, cannot be clearly established. In the only passage in which he himself mentions his arrival in Palestine he refers also to his son's accompanying him (Yer. Soṭah
Sotah
Sotah deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery as described and prescribed in the Book of Numbers in...
i. 17b), and from this some argue that Babylonia was his native land. It is certain, however, that he spent most of his life in Palestine, where he attended for a time the lectures of Bar Ḳappara and Ḥiyya the Great (Yer. Sheb. vi. 35c; Yer. Niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
ii. 50a) and eventually attached himself to the academy of Judah I. Under the last-named he acquired great stores of practical and theoretical knowledge (Yer. Niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
ii. 50b), and so developed his dialectical powers that once in the heat of debate with his senior and former teacher Ḥiyya he ventured the assertion that were some law forgotten, he could himself reestablish it by argumentation (Ket. 103b).
Relations with Judah I
Judah loved him, and chose him in preference to any other of his disciples to share his privacy. Thus when AntoninusAntoninus
Antoninus is an Ancient Roman family name which derived from the given name Antonius the Latin form of Anthony.*Any of the Antonines, including:**Antoninus Pius **Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus *Caracalla...
once visited Judah, he was surprised to find Ḥanina in the chamber, though the patriarch had been requested not to permit any one to attend their interview. The patriarch soothed his august visitor by the assurance that the third party was not an ordinary man (Ab. Zarah 10a). No doubt Ḥanina would have been early promoted to an honorable office had he not offended the patriarch by an ill-judged exhibition of his own superior familiarity with Scriptural phraseology (see Hamnuna
Hamnuna
Hamnuna is the name of several rabbis in the Talmud.* Hamnuna Sabba . Mid third century of the common era. A pupil of Rav . After Rav, he became the head of the rabbinical academy at Sura. The Talmud contains many halakhic rulings, aggadot and prayers from him...
of Babylonia). However, the patriarch, on his death-bed, instructed Gamaliel
Gamaliel
Gamaliel the Elder , or Rabban Gamaliel I , was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid 1st century CE. He was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem...
, his son and prospective successor, to put Ḥanina at the head of all other candidates (Yer. Ta'an. iv. 68a; comp. Ket. 103a). Ḥanina modestly declined advancement at the expense of his senior Efes
Efes Daromi
Epes the Southerner or Rabbi Epes, was a scholar of the 3rd century, secretary to the patriarch Judah I , and one of the last tannaim. After Judah's death, while Efes conducted a college in southern Judea, on account of which he was called "Efes Daromi" Epes the Southerner or Rabbi Epes, was a...
, and even resolved to permit another worthy colleague, Levi b. Sisi, to take precedence. Efes was actually principal of the academy for several years, but Sisi withdrew from the country, at which time Ḥanina assumed the long-delayed honors (ib.; Shab. 59b). He continued his residence at Sepphoris, where he became the acknowledged authority in Halakah (Yer. Sheḳ. i. 46a; Yer. Beẓah i. 60a; Yer. Giṭ. iv. 46b), and where also he practised as a physician (Yoma
Yoma
Yoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
49a; comp. Yer. Ta'an. i. 64a).
His unpopularity
According to Hanina, 99% of fatal diseases result from colds, and only 1% from other troubles (Yer. Shab. xiv. 14c). He therefore would impress mankind with the necessity of warding off colds, the power to do so, he teaches, having been bestowed upon man by Providence (B. M. 107b). But neither his rabbinical learning nor his medical skill gained him popularity at Sepphoris. When a pestilence raged there, the populace blamed Ḥanina for failing to stamp it out. Ḥanina heard their murmurs and resolved to silence them. In the course of a lecture, he remarked, "Once there lived one Zimri, in consequence of whose sin twenty-four thousand Israelites lost their lives (see Num. xxv. 6-15); in our days there are many Zimris among us, and yet ye murmur!" On another occasion, when drought prevailed, the murmurs of the Sepphorites again became loud. A day was devoted to fasting and praying, but no rain came, though at another place, where Joshua ben LeviJoshua ben Levi
Joshua ben Levi or Yehoshua ben Levi was an amora who lived in the land of Israel of the first half of the third century. He headed the school of Lydda in the southern Land of Israel. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha and Resh Lakish, who presided over the school in Tiberias...
was among the suppliants, rain descended; the Sepphorites therefore made this circumstance also to reflect on the piety of their great townsman. Another fast being appointed, Ḥanina invited Joshua b. Levi to join him in prayer. Joshua did so, but no rain came. Then Ḥanina addressed the people: "Joshua b. Levi does not bring rain down for the Southerners, neither does Ḥanina keep rain away from the Sepphorites: the Southerners are soft-hearted, and when they hear the word of the Law, they humble themselves, while the Sepphorites are obdurate and never repent" (Yer. Ta'an. iii. 66c).
As a haggadist Ḥanina was prolific and resourceful—often, indeed, epigrammatic. Among his ethical aphorisms are the following:
- "Everything is in the power of Heaven, except the fear of Heaven." He bases this doctrine of free will on the Scriptural dictum, "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require (Hebr. שאל = "request") of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God" (Deut. x. 12; Ber.Berakhot (Talmud)Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
33b). - With reference to Ps.PsalmsThe Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
lxxiii. 9, "They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth," he says, "In general, man sins either against the sojourner on earth or against Heaven, but the evil-tongued sins against both" (Eccl. R. ix. 12; comp. Yer. Peah. i. 16a). - "Whoso avers that God is indulgent (that is, leaves sin unpunished) will find the reverse in his own life's experience; God is long-suffering, but 'his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment'" (Deut. xxxii. 4; B. Ḳ. 50a). He predicts everlasting punishment for him who seduces a married woman, or who publicly puts his neighbor to shame, or who calls his neighbor by a nickname (B. M. 58b).
His family and pupils
Of Hanina's family, one son, Shibḥat, or Shikḥat, died young (B. Ḳ. 91b), but another, Ḥama, inherited his father's talents and became prominent in his generation (see Ḥama b. Ḥanina). One of his daughters was the wife of a scholar, Samuel b. Nadab by name (Ar.Kodashim
Kodashim or Qodhashim is the fifth Order in the Mishna . Of the six Orders of the Mishna, it is the third longest...
16b); another died during Ḥanina's lifetime, but he shed no tears at her death, and when his wife expressed astonishment at his composure he told her that he feared the effects of tears on his sight (Shab. 151b). He lived to be very old, and retained his youthful vigor to the last. He attributed his extraordinary vitality to the hot baths and the oil with which his mother had treated him in his youth (Ḥul. 24b). In his longevity he recognized a reward for the respect he had shown his learned elders (Eccl. R. vii. 7). Among his pupils were such men as Johanan b. NappaḤa and Eleazar II, both of whom became rabbinical authorities in their generation, and in whose distinction he lived to rejoice. One morning, while walking, leaning on the arm of an attendant, Ḥanina noticed throngs of people hurrying toward a certain place. In answer to his inquiry, he was informed that R. Johanan was to lecture at the academy of R. Benaiah, and that the people were flocking thither to hear him. Ḥanina thereupon exclaimed, "Praised be the Lord for permitting me to see the fruit of my labors before I die" (Yer. Hor. ii. 48b).
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. i. 1 et seq.;
- Frankel, Mebo, p. 86b;
- Grätz, Gesch. 2d ed., iv. 254 et seq.;
- Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, ii. 74d, Warsaw, 1897;
- Halévy, Dorot ha-Rishonim, ii. 129b et seq.;
- Weiss, Dor, iii. 44 et seq.;
- Zacuto, Yuḥasin, ed. Filipowski, pp. 141b et seq.