Hanina bar Hama

For the 3rd generation Amora sage also of the Land of Israel, sage, see Hanina.

Hanina bar Hama (died c. 250) (Hebrew: ‫ )חנינא בר חמא‬was a Jewish Talmudist, halakist and haggadist frequently quoted in
the Babylonian and the Jerusalem Talmud, and in the Midrashim.

He is generally cited by the name R. Hanina, but sometimes with his patronymic (Hanina b. Hama), and occasionally with the
cognomen "the Great".[1]

Contents
Biography
Relations with Judah I
His unpopularity
His family and pupils
Teachings
References
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

Biography
Whether he was a Judean by birth and had only visited Babylonia, or whether he was a Babylonian immigrant in Judea, cannot be
clearly established. In the only passage in which he himself mentions his arrival in Judea he refers also to his son's accompanying
him,[2] and from this some argue that Babylonia was his native land. It is certain, however, that he spent most of his life in Judea,
where he attended for a time the lectures of Bar Kappara and Hiyya the Great[3] and eventually joined the academy of Judah
haNasi. Under Judah, he acquired great stores of practical and theoretical knowledge,[4] and so developed his dialectical powers
that once in the heat of debate with his senior and former teacher Hiyya he ventured the assertion that were some law forgotten,
he could himself reestablish it by argumentation.[5]

Relations with Judah I

Judah loved him, and chose him in preference to any other of his disciples to share his privacy. Thus when Antoninus once visited
Judah, he was surprised to find Hanina 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.[6] No doubt
Hanina 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 of Babylonia). However, the patriarch, on his death-bed,
instructed Gamaliel, his son and prospective successor, to put Hanina at the head of all other candidates.[7] Hanina modestly
declined advancement at the expense of his senior Efes, and even resolved to permit another worthy colleague, Levi ben Sisi, to
take precedence. Efes was actually principal of the academy for several years, but Sisi withdrew from the country, at which time
Hanina assumed the long-delayed honors.[8] He continued his residence at Sepphoris, where he became the acknowledged
authority in Halakah,[9] and where he also practised as a physician.[10]
His unpopularity
According to Hanina, 99% of fatal diseases result from colds, and only 1% from other troubles.[11] 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.[12] But neither his rabbinical learning nor his medical skill gained him popularity at Sepphoris. When a pestilence
raged there, the populace blamed Hanina for failing to stamp it out. Hanina 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;[13] 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 Levi 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,
Hanina invited Joshua ben Levi to join him in prayer. Joshua did so, but no rain came. Then Hanina addressed the people:
"Joshua ben Levi does not bring rain down for the Southerners, neither does Hanina 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".[14]

His family and pupils

Hanina had one son, ShibHat or ShikHat, who died young,[15] but another, Hama, inherited his father's talents and became
prominent in his generation. One of his daughters was the wife of a scholar, Samuel b. Nadav by name.[16] Another daughter died
during Hanina'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.[17]

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.[18] In his longevity he recognized a reward for the respect he had shown
his learned elders.[19]

Among his pupils were Johanan ben Nappaha and Eleazar II, both of whom became rabbinical authorities in Hanina's lifetime.
One morning, while walking, leaning on the arm of an attendant, Hanina 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 there to hear him. Hanina thereupon exclaimed, "Praised be the Lord for permitting me to see the fruit of my labors
before I die".[20]

Teachings
As an aggadist, Hanina was prolific and resourceful—often, indeed, epigrammatic. Among his aphorisms are the following:

"Everything is determined by Heaven, except one's fear of Heaven." He bases this doctrine of free will on the
Scriptural dictum, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require (Hebrew ‫" = שאל‬request") of you, but to
fear the Lord thy God"[21]
With reference to Psalms 73:9, "They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks 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".[22]
"Whoever says 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'".[23]
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.[24]

References
 1. "ha-Gadol"; Taanit 27b; Pesikta Rabbati 5:15a
2. Yerushalmi Sotah 1 17b
3. Yerushalmi Shevuot 6 35c; Yerushalmi Niddah 2 50a
4. Yerushalmi Niddah 2 50b
5. Ketuvot 103b
6. Avodah Zarah 10a
7. Yerushalmi Taanit 4 68a; compare Ketuvot 103a
8. ibid.; Shab. 59b
9. Yerushalmi Shekalim 1 46a; Yerushalmi Beitzah 1 60a; Yerushalmi Gittin 4 46b
10. Yoma 49a; compare Yerushalmi Taanit 1 64a
11. Yerushalmi Shab. 14 14c
12. Bava Metzia 107b
13. See Numbers 25:6-15
14. Yerushalmi Taanit 3 66c
15. Bava Kamma 91b
16. Arachin 16b
17. Shabbat 151b
18. Hullin 24b
19. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:7
20. Yerushalmi Horayot 2 48b
21. Deuteronomy 10:12; Berachot 33b; Niddah 16b
22. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 9:12; compare Yerushalmi Peah. 1 16a
23. Deuteronomy 32:4; Bava Kamma 50a
24. Bava Metzia 58b

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–
1906). "Hanina b. Hama" (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=H&artid=241). The Jewish
Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

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, YuHasin, ed. Filipowski, pp. 141b et seq.

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