Hanina Ben Dossa

Rabbi Hanina ben Dossa ( Hebrew ) was a master of the Mishna of the first generation, disciple and colleague of Yohanan ben Zakkai "and himself as the" last miracle "in Israel . He lived in the ^first century.

Hanina ben Dossa lived with 'Arab, in Galilee , where he had been attracted by the reputation of Yohanan ben Zakkai , and was buried alongside his wife. The Talmud he knows a girl , and a treaty outside mentions a son ; Saadia Gaon in Sefer account HaGalou among his ancestors.

He founded a school, is often mentioned along with his disciples . However, it has been retained no halakha him, and only a few aggadah . The few maxims he has bequeathed are those of a Hasid , pious and devout man, a remarkable moral elevation: one of his contemporaries, Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'in , teaches About Exodus 18: 21 as Hanina ben Dossa and his colleagues are illustrative of the range of "men of truth "and, two centuries later, a aggadic , glossing over Isaiah 3:3 says, "'people considered' refers to those we respect the generation with them above . "

The merit and reputation of Hanina spread to those around him long after the death of his wife, sailors saw a basket crafted with diamonds and pearls. One member of the crew wants to plunge to seize it, but a bat kol is heard saying that the basket is for the woman of Hanina ben Dossa, who will fill the tekhelet for just the world to come .
Even his ass is superior to other donkeys, according to Rav Zeira , who says of his predecessors that " . The Talmudic passage goes on to explain that the donkey in question ate only foods on which the tithe was outstanding; robbers were in their charge, and after trying unsuccessfully to feed the beast captured not taken with food The relaxed, whereupon the donkey returned home the most natural

In Praise of Virtue

Rabbi Hanina ben Dossa, by which merit is the world is poor, not eating a Sabbath to another as carob bread . One day a traveler passing through two hens leave home. Rabbi's wife sees an opportunity to enhance the ordinary, but he forbade him, these chickens are not their property, he decided instead to keep them until the return of these travelers for their visit. The hens lay eggs, which hatch new chicks, with which it will purchase goats (which gore bear lurking in the country) it will restore to man . This aggadah abundantly reflected in the Jewish folklore , will be developed in different versions: in one of them characterized as a "variant of the fable of Pierrette , "the Rebbe accepted after many scruples and with many thanks a share of profits. In another variant, he refuses, and uses a parable to justify its decision.

Hanina seems little troubled by poverty, especially since it does not miracles. One day when his daughter complains that he poured vinegar into the lamp to burn, Hanina assured him that "he who told the oil to burn, say vinegar burn," and the lamp burns all day . Another time, while preparing to take his Hanina meal Shabbat in frugality, the table from him. Pondering about the cause of it, he remembers spices borrowed from a neighbor without having removed the tithe ; soon rectified the situation, the table returns to its owner .
His wife, however, embarrassed in front of her neighbors, trying to keep up appearances, making burning oven to empty every sixth day of the week , a suspicious neighbor enters her home, to confuse and, opening the oven, is filled with loaves. Rabbi Hanina ben Dossa still tell him not to hope that the miracle happens again .

His wife asked him later to still receive a share in the world of the future world. Hanina agreed, and in answer to his prayer, appears out of nowhere a table leg in gold. his wife, but that night a vision of heaven where the righteous eat at tables of three feet, while her husband's table has only two. She then asked her husband to pray that the stand back to his place, and will again be heard. This miracle, the Talmud says he was taller than the previous one as the heavens give but did not recover . This aggadah are also many popular variations.

A servant in the palace of Heaven

Rabbi Hanina ben Dossa, like all former Hasidim, pray intensely and frequently, and often heard her prayers to Heaven.

About the intensity of his devotion, the oral tradition that relates everything to his prayer, he does not feel a snake bite him and when his disciples found the dead snake, they exclaim: "Woe to the man bites a serpent, and woe to the snake Ben Dossa death ^, ! In the first version of the miracle, it is explained that when one is bitten by a snake, it depends on who the person or the snake reached the water first, and in the case of Ben Dossa, a source opened miraculously under the feet and in the second, he said to his disciples that this proves that this is not the snake, but sin that kills .

Like its predecessor Honi haMe'aguel , his prayer is particularly effective for the rains to the point it is said that "next to the prayer of Ben Dossa, those of the Kohen Gadol himself are worthless . "
Caught in a downpour while traveling, he exclaims, " Master of the world , the world has fun, while only Hanina is troubled, "and the rain stops instantly. Arriving home, he said this time "master of the world, the world must suffer while he is Hanina in comfort? "And the rains fall abundantly .

Hanina ben Dossa is also known as a miracle worker. It is narrated that one day the son of Yohanan ben Zakkai was seriously ill, the father sought the prayers of his disciples, who were again heard. Yohanan ben Zakkai, all of his joy, keeps saying that he could pray all day, without result. His wife, surprised, asked: "Would it Hanina greater than you? To which he replied that it was like the king's minister, to wait until unwelcome, while Hanina was like a servant of the king, having access to it at any time without having to ask permission , while a difficult prayer was rejected. The messengers, who noted the statement of Hanina exactly when he did, could ensure its veracity back to the house of the patriarch .

It happened that Hanina is greatly chagrined at not being able to bring something to the temple with other Hasidim. He wandered out of town when he saw a large rock, he vowed to bring to Jerusalem , a gift to the Holy City. He smoothed and polisher, before seeking help for transport. Five laborers appeared, and offered to transport the rock destination for a hundred pieces of gold. Hanina, who did not have half the money, turned away in despair. However, other laborers soon appeared, and not asked for their pains that doctors sela'm, but only Hanina himself involved in transportation. Once the deal, they seized all the rock, and found themselves in an instant to Jerusalem. When Hanina turned to pay them, they were nowhere. He appealed to the Sanhedrin to know the willingness to take over the unpaid wages. The members of the Sanhedrin concluded after hearing his testimony that he had dealt not with men but with heavenly messengers , and so was free to dispose of the money according to his understanding. Hanina insisted, however, offer it to the Temple .

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