Amora

Rebbi Chanina bar Chama

רבי חנינא בר חמא

Leading talmid of Rebbi and head of the yeshiva in Tzippori, the first-generation Amora who taught that everything is in Heaven's hands except fear of Heaven.

YahrzeitNot recorded

Lifetime2nd–3rd century CE (passed away in the mid-3rd century, at a great age)

Passed away inTzippori (Sepphoris), Eretz Yisroel

Biography

Early Life

Rebbi Chanina bar Chama zy"a was born in Bavel in the second century, the son of a man named Chama, of whom nothing else is known. As a young man he learned Torah in Bavel before Rav Hamnuna, and the precision of that early training stayed with him all his life. Years later, in the beis medrash of Rebbi, he would still remember exactly how each word of Tanach was to be read.

While still young he left Bavel and went up to Eretz Yisroel, bringing his son Chama with him, to learn Torah from Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi, the great leader known simply as Rebbi. He arrived already a talmid chacham of stature, and he would spend the rest of his long life in the Land, above all in the Galilean city of Tzippori.

His Teachers

In Eretz Yisroel Rebbi Chanina sat before the greatest sages of the age. He heard the lectures of Bar Kappara and of Rebbi Chiya, and he learned from Rebbi Yishmael, the son of Rebbi Yosi. Above all, he attached himself to Rebbi, the editor of the Mishnah, and under him he gained a vast mastery of Torah, both in learning and in practice.

Rebbi held him in the highest esteem. The Gemara relates that the Roman ruler Antoninus used to visit Rebbi in secret, on condition that no one else be present. Once he found Rebbi Chanina in the room and objected. Rebbi reassured him that this was no ordinary man; he was like an angel.

His mind was sharp and his memory exact. Once, when Rebbi quoted a verse from Yechezkel with a slightly different reading, Rebbi Chanina corrected him on the spot. Rebbi asked where he had learned the verse, and he answered: before Rav Hamnuna in Bavel. It is told that because of this public correction his ordination was held back, and he understood that he would not be ordained in Rebbi's lifetime.

He was also a fierce debater. When he once disputed with his teacher Rebbi Chiya, he declared that if the Torah were ever forgotten from Israel, he could restore it through the power of his reasoning. Rebbi Chiya answered that he was working so that it would never be forgotten at all, by teaching Chumash and Mishnah to young children in towns that had no teachers.

Head of the Yeshiva in Tzippori

Before his passing, Rebbi divided his responsibilities among his sons and talmidim. His son Shimon would be the chacham, his son Gamliel the Nasi, and "Chanina bar Chama will sit at the head." Yet Rebbi Chanina would not take a place ahead of Rebbi Afes, who was two and a half years his senior. Only after Rebbi Afes passed away did he take his place at the head of the yeshiva. The Gemara notes that Rebbi's words had to be fulfilled in the end, for when a tzaddik decrees a matter, it stands.

In Tzippori he became the city's halachic authority. It is told that he supported himself by trading in honey and used his earnings to build a yeshiva. He was also skilled in medicine, and other sages consulted him about remedies. He taught that most illness comes from cold and that a person must guard his health. Among his talmidim were Rebbi Yochanan and Rebbi Elazar, who became the leading sages of the next generation. It is told that when he saw crowds hurrying to hear Rebbi Yochanan teach, he thanked Hashem for letting him see the fruit of his labor before he died.

His relationship with the people of Tzippori was not always easy. When a plague struck the city but spared the street where he lived, people grumbled that the old man sat in peace while the town suffered. He answered that in the days of Zimri one sinner had brought death to thousands, and asked how many such sinners there were among them now. In a drought, rain fell in the south when Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi fasted, but not in Tzippori. Rebbi Chanina brought Rebbi Yehoshua to fast with them, and still no rain came. He told the people that neither sage controlled the rain: the people of the south listened to rebuke and softened their hearts, while theirs stayed hard.

He greeted each Shabbos like royalty. As the sun set on Erev Shabbos he would wrap himself in his garment, stand, and say: Come, let us go out to greet Shabbos the Queen.

His Enduring Legacy

Rebbi Chanina was blessed with an unusually long and vigorous life. At eighty he could still stand on one foot to take off or put on a shoe. He credited the hot water and oil with which his mother had bathed him as a child, but he also wondered aloud whether he had merited long life because he had stepped aside for Rebbi Afes, or because, on his way from Teveria to Tzippori, he had once gone out of his way to greet Rebbi Shimon ben Chalafta.

He knew sorrow too. He lost his son Shivchat in his lifetime, and a daughter as well. His son Rebbi Chama bar Chanina became a great sage in his own right. Rebbi Chanina passed away in Tzippori in the middle of the third century, at a great age. It is told that Rebbi Yochanan, traveling up from Teveria to Tzippori, met a man who told him that a great sage had died there. He understood that it was Rebbi Chanina, sent for his finest Shabbos garment and tore it in mourning. The day of his passing and the place of his kever were not recorded.

His words fill the Gemara, where he is usually called simply Rebbi Chanina, and sometimes Rebbi Chanina the Great. Jews still repeat his teaching that everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven, and his reminder that our praise of Hashem must be measured and humble. The Noam Elimelech, in Parshas Vayeira, builds a teaching on his rebuke to the man who added praises in davening. And every Erev Shabbos, a Jew who goes out to greet Shabbos the Queen follows in his footsteps.

Stories

Have You Finished Your Master's Praises?

When a chazzan heaped extra praises on Hashem, Rebbi Chanina taught him that true praise is humble.

It is told that one day a man went down to lead the davening in the presence of Rebbi Chanina. When he reached the opening blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei, he did not stop at the familiar words. He went on and on: the great, the mighty, the awesome, the powerful, the strong, the fearless, the steadfast, the honored.

Rebbi Chanina waited patiently until the man had finished his tefillah. Then he turned to him and asked: Have you completed all the praises of your Master? Why do we need all of this?

He explained. The three words we say, great, mighty and awesome, we would not dare to say on our own. We say them only because Moshe Rabbeinu used them in the Torah, and the Men of the Great Assembly placed them in our tefillah. And you went ahead and added all of these.

Then he gave a parable. Imagine a king who owned thousands upon thousands of gold coins, and people praised him for owning silver ones. Is that not an insult to him? Whatever words a person can find for Hashem are no more than a few silver coins beside His true greatness. Piling them up does not add to His honor; it only shows how little we can grasp.

The lesson was not that a Jew should hold back his love for Hashem. It was that before the King, humility speaks louder than many words.

Source: Talmud Bavli, Berachos 33b (parallel in Megillah 25a)

Practical lessonLet the fixed words carry you

When you reach the words "HaKel hagadol hagibor vehanora" in the first blessing of Shemoneh Esrei today, slow down. Remember that you are saying them only because Moshe Rabbeinu said them first, and let that make you a little humbler. You do not need to impress Hashem with many words. Say the words our sages gave us, slowly and with your whole heart, and trust that they are enough.

Content to Be Third

Rebbi named him head of the yeshiva, but Rebbi Chanina stepped aside for an older sage and even accepted third place.

It is told that as Rebbi lay on his deathbed, he gave instructions for the generation after him. His son Shimon would be the chacham, his son Gamliel would be the Nasi, and Chanina bar Chama would sit at the head of the yeshiva.

It was the highest honor a talmid could receive, and it came from the greatest man of the age. Yet Rebbi Chanina would not accept it. In the same beis medrash sat Rebbi Afes, who was two and a half years older than he. Rebbi Chanina could not bring himself to sit above an older sage.

So Rebbi Afes took the place at the head, and Rebbi Chanina sat outside. He did not want to sit before Rebbi Afes as an ordinary student, nor to take the place Rebbi had promised him. The sage Levi came and sat outside with him, and the two learned together.

When Rebbi's son wished to ordain him, Rebbi Chanina again would not go first; Rebbi Afes had to be ordained before him. Then another elderly sage said that he too must come before Rebbi Chanina, and Rebbi Chanina agreed to be third.

Only after Rebbi Afes passed away did Rebbi Chanina finally take his seat at the head of the yeshiva, just as Rebbi had said. In his old age, Rebbi Chanina wondered aloud whether his long life was a reward for stepping aside that day.

Source: Talmud Bavli, Kesubos 103a–103b; Talmud Yerushalmi, Taanis 4:2

Practical lessonLet someone else go first

Look this week for one small place where you could take the front, and give it to someone else instead: the first turn to speak at a meeting, the better seat at the table, the credit for a shared idea. Do it quietly, without pointing it out. If an older person is present, let them go ahead of you. Rebbi Chanina believed such moments added years to his life.

The Servant at the Door

Asked to call a servant who had been killed, Rebbi Chanina found a way to spare both the king's feelings and his honor.

It is told that the Roman ruler Antoninus used to visit Rebbi in secret, and he asked that no one else be present when he came. One day he arrived and found Rebbi Chanina bar Chama sitting there. He reminded Rebbi of his request. Rebbi answered that this was not an ordinary person; he was like an angel, and there was nothing to fear from him.

Antoninus then turned to Rebbi Chanina and asked him to wake the servant sleeping at the entrance and send him in.

Rebbi Chanina went to the door and found that the servant had been killed. He stood there and thought. If he went back and told the king that his servant was dead, he would be bringing bad news, and a person should not be the bearer of distressing tidings. Yet if he simply walked away and left the matter, he would be treating the king's request with disrespect.

So he did neither. He prayed to Hashem for mercy, the servant came back to life, and Rebbi Chanina sent him in to Antoninus.

Antoninus understood what had happened. He said to Rebbi that he knew even the least among them could bring the dead back to life. But still, he asked, when I come, let no one be here with you, not even a man as great as Rebbi Chanina bar Chama.

Source: Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 10b

Practical lessonFind the third way

Sometimes it seems you must choose between hurting someone and being disrespectful to them. Before you choose, stop and look for a third path, as Rebbi Chanina did. If you must share hard news this week, think first about how to say it gently, at the right time, and with a solution in hand. A short tefillah before a difficult conversation can open a way you did not see.

Teachings

Everything Is in Heaven's Hands but One Thing

Rebbi Chanina teaches that everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven. Hashem decides a person's health, his wealth and the circumstances of his life, but whether he stands in awe of Hashem is the one thing left completely to him. He learns this from the verse "And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you, but to fear Hashem your G-d." Hashem asks it of us because it is in our hands to give. The Gemara adds that this fear is the most precious thing in Hashem's treasury. So the one thing we truly own is the one thing Hashem treasures most, and each person's choice to give it is his own.

Talmud Bavli, Berachos 33b (on Devarim 10:12); parallel in Megillah 25a

Practical lessonSpend what is yours

Much of today is out of your control: the traffic, the news, other people's moods. One thing is fully yours. Choose a single moment today, before you eat, before you speak in anger, or as you begin Shemoneh Esrei, and pause for a breath to remember that Hashem is watching and cares. That small act of yiras Shamayim (awe of Heaven) is the gift only you can give.

Not Even a Finger Is Bruised by Chance

Rebbi Chanina teaches that a person does not bruise even his finger here below unless it has been declared about him on high. He learns it from the verse that a man's steps are established by Hashem, and asks what a person can really understand of his own way. Even the smallest scrape is part of Hashem's plan. Rebbi Chanina lived by this faith. When a woman tried to take dust from under his feet to cast a spell on him, he told her to go ahead, for "there is none besides Him." The Gemara explains that his great merit protected him. A person who knows that nothing happens by chance can face life with calm instead of fear.

Talmud Bavli, Chullin 7b (on Tehillim 37:23 and Mishlei 20:24; Devarim 4:35)

Practical lessonSay it over the small things

The next time something small goes wrong today, a stubbed toe, a missed bus, a spilled cup, stop before you react and say quietly, "This too is from Hashem." You do not have to understand why. Practicing that sentence on small things builds the trust you will need for bigger ones, and it turns a moment of irritation into a moment of emunah (faith).

Talmidei Chachamim Increase Peace

Rebbi Elazar taught in the name of his teacher Rebbi Chanina that talmidei chachamim increase peace in the world. The proof is the verse "All your children shall be taught of Hashem, and great shall be the peace of your children." The sages read "your children" as "your builders": those who learn Torah are the builders of the world, and what they build is peace. Torah learning is not a private escape from the world's quarrels. When people learn Hashem's ways, they learn to listen, to weigh another view, and to live together. This teaching closes Maseches Berachos and appears in the siddur, so that Torah and peace are spoken of in one breath.

Talmud Bavli, Berachos 64a (on Yeshayahu 54:13)

Practical lessonLearn something, then make peace

After your next learning session, even a few minutes, let it lead to one act of peace. Send a kind message to someone you have drifted from, or let go of a small argument at home. If you learn with a chavrusa (study partner), end by thanking him for disagreeing with you. That is how Torah builds peace, one person at a time.

Family & talmidim

Teachers: Rebbi Yehuda HaNasi (Rebbi), Rebbi Chiya, Bar Kappara, Rebbi Yishmael ben Rebbi Yosi, Rav Hamnuna of Bavel

Talmidim: Rebbi Yochanan, Rebbi Elazar ben Pedas, Rebbi Chama bar Chanina (his son)

Children: Rebbi Chama bar Chanina, Shivchat

Historical sources