Hanina ben Hakinai or Hanania ben Hakinai (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: חנינא בן חכינאי) was a
Tanna of the 2nd century; contemporary of
Ben 'Azzai and
Simeon the Yemenite. Sometimes he is cited as "ben Hakinai".
Life
The identities his early teachers are not known. From some versions of the
Tosefta
The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...
it appears that
Tarfon
Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon ( he, רבי טרפון, from the Greek Τρύφων ''Tryphon''), a Kohen, was a member of the third generation of the Mishnah sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE) and t ...
was one of them, but that his regular teacher was
Rabbi Akiva
Akiva ben Yosef (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''ʿĂqīvāʾ ben Yōsēf''; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second c ...
. It is related that he took leave of his wife and attended Akiva 12 or 13 years without communicating with his family, whom he recovered in a remarkable way. He was one of the few who, though not regularly ordained, were permitted to "argue cases before the sages".
From a comparatively late date comes the statement that Hananiah b. Ḥakinai was one of the
Ten Martyrs
The Ten Martyrs ( he, עֲשֶׂרֶת הָרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת ''ʿAsereṯ hāRūgēi Malḵūṯ'', "The Ten Royal Martyrs") were ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Roman Empire in the period after ...
.
Teachings
Several
halakhot
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical command ...
have been preserved in his name, owing their preservation to Eleazar b. Jacob II. He also left some
halakic midrashim.
Hananiah delved into the "mysteries of the Creation," concerning which he consulted
R. Akiva.
According to him, God's relation to distressed Israel is expressed in
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
's words: "A brother is born for adversity"; by "brother" is understood "Israel," for it is elsewhere said: "For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee".
With reference to
Leviticus 5:21 ("If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbor," etc.), he remarks, "No man lies
cts dishonestlyagainst his fellow man unless he first becomes faithless to God".
[ Tosef., Shebuot 3:6]
''Jewish Encyclopedia'' bibliography
*
W. Bacher
Wilhelm Bacher ( hu, Bacher Vilmos; yi, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בּאַככֿר, he, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בכר ''Benjamin Ze'ev Bacher''; 12 January 1850 – 25 December 1913)Z. Frankel
Zecharias Frankel, also known as Zacharias Frankel (30 September 1801 – 13 February 1875) was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau. He was the foun ...
, Darke ha-Mishnah, p. 136;
*
Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot
Jehiel ben Solomon Heilprin ( he, יחיאל היילפרין; c. 1660 – c. 1746) was a Lithuanian rabbi, kabalist, and chronicler.
Biography
He was a descendant of Solomon Luria, and traced his genealogy back through Rashi to the tanna Johan ...
, ii.;
*
Zacuto
Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal.
...
, Yuḥasin, ed.
Filipowski, pp. 36a, 65b
References
External links
Jewish Encyclopedia article for Hanina ben Hakinai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanina Ben Hakinai
Mishnah rabbis
2nd-century rabbis
Jewish martyrs
People executed by the Roman Empire