Haninah ben Teradion
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Haninah ben Teradion or Hananiah ben Teradion (Hebrew: חנניה בן תרדיון) was a teacher in the third Tannaitic
generation (2nd century). He was a contemporary of Eleazar ben Perata I
and of Halafta
, together with whom he established certain ritualistic rules (Ta'anit
ii. 5). He was one of the Ten Martyrs
murdered by the Romans
for ignoring the ban on teaching Torah
.
says: "The saying (Deuteronomy
16:20), 'That which is altogether just shalt thou follow' may be construed, 'Follow the sages in their respective academies. ... Follow Rabbi Haninah ben Teradion in Siknin'" (Sanhedrin
32b). Haninah administered the communal charity funds, and so scrupulous was he in that office that once when money of his own, designed for personal use on Purim
, chanced to get mixed with the charity funds, he distributed the whole amount among the poor. Eleazar ben Jacob II
so admired Haninah's honesty that he remarked, "No one ought to contribute to the charity treasury unless its administrator is like Haninah ben Teradion" (Bava Batra
10b; Avodah Zarah
17b).
Comparatively few halakot are preserved from him (Ta'anit
ii. 5, 16b; Rosh Hashanah
27a; Tosefta
, Miḳ. vi. 3; see also Yoma
78b; Menachot
54a). Haninah ingeniously proved that the Shekhinah
rests on those who study the Law (Avodah Zarah iii. 2).
ic persecutions decrees were promulgated imposing the most rigorous penalties on the observers of the Jewish law, and especially upon those who occupied themselves with the promulgation of that law. Nevertheless, Hananiah conscientiously followed his chosen profession; he convened public assemblies and taught Torah.
Once he visited Jose ben Kisma
, who advised extreme caution, if not submission. The latter said: "Haninah, my brother, seest thou not that this Roman
people is upheld by God Himself? It has destroyed His house and burned His Temple
, slaughtered His faithful, and exterminated His nobles; yet it prospers! In spite of all this, I hear, thou occupiest thyself with the Torah
, even calling assemblies and holding the scroll of the Law before thee." To all this Haninah replied, "Heaven will have mercy on us." Jose became impatient on hearing this, and rejoined, "I am talking logic, and to all my arguments thou answerest, 'Heaven will have mercy on us!' I should not be surprised if they burned thee together with the scroll." Shortly thereafter Haninah was arrested at a public assembly while teaching with a Torah scroll
before him. Asked why he disregarded the imperial edict, he frankly answered, "I do as my God commands me."
For this he and his wife were condemned to death, and their daughter to degradation. His death was terrible. Wrapped in the scroll, he was placed on a pyre of green brush; fire was set to it, and wet wool was placed on his chest to prolong the agonies of death. "Woe is me," cried his daughter, "that I should see thee under such terrible circumstances!" Haninah serenely replied, "I should indeed despair were I alone burned; but since the scroll of the Torah is burning with me, the Power that will avenge the offense against the law will also avenge the offense against me."
His heartbroken disciples then asked: "Master, what seest thou?" He answered: "I see the parchment burning while the letters of the Law soar upward."
"Open then thy mouth, that the fire may enter and the sooner put an end to thy sufferings," advised his pupils. But Haninah replied, "It is best that He who hath given the soul should also take it away: no man may hasten his death." Thereupon the executioner removed the wool and fanned the flame, thus accelerating the end, and then himself plunged into the flames (Avodah Zarah 17b et seq.).
It is reported that, on hearing his sentence, Haninah quoted Deuteronomy
32:4, "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment"; while his wife quoted the second hemistich
, "A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he"; and his daughter cited Jeremiah
32:19, "Great in counsel, and mighty in work; for Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings" (Sifre
, Deut. 307; Avodah Zarah loc. cit.; Semachot
viii.).
, who became the wife of Rabbi Meir
; and the one marked for degradation, whom Rabbi Meïr succeeded in rescuing (Avodah Zarah 18a).
Haninah had also a learned son. It is related that Simon ben Haninah applied to this son for information on a point of ritual, and that the latter and his sister, presumably Bruriah, furnished divergent opinions. When Judah ben Baba
heard of those opinions, he remarked, "Haninah's daughter teaches better than his son" (Tosefta, Kelim, Bava Kama iv. 17).
Elsewhere it is reported of that son that he became a degenerate, associating with bandits. Subsequently he betrayed his criminal associates, wherefore they killed him and filled his mouth with sand and gravel. Having discovered his remains, the people would have eulogized him out of respect for his father, but the latter would not permit it. "I myself shall speak," said he; and he did, quoting Proverbs
5:11 et seq. The mother quoted Proverbs 17:25; the sister, Proverbs
20:17 (Lamentations Rabbah
iii. 16; comp. Semachot xii.).
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
generation (2nd century). He was a contemporary of Eleazar ben Perata I
Eleazar ben Perata I
Eleazar ben Perata I was a tanna of the third generation , junior contemporary of Eleazar of Modi'im Eleazar ben Perata I (Hebrew: אלעזר בן פרטא) was a tanna of the third generation (2nd century), junior contemporary of Eleazar of Modi'im Eleazar ben Perata I (Hebrew: אלעזר בן פרטא) was a tanna...
and of Halafta
Halafta
Halafta was a rabbi who lived in Sepphoris in the Galilee during the late 1st and early 2nd century CE. He was the father of Jose ben Halafta, and one of the latter's teachers of halakha....
, together with whom he established certain ritualistic rules (Ta'anit
Ta'anit (Talmud)
Ta'anit or Taanis is a volume of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and both Talmuds. In Judaism these are the basic works of rabbinic literature.The tractate of Ta'anit is devoted chiefly to the fast-days, their practices and prayers...
ii. 5). He was one of the Ten Martyrs
Ten Martyrs
The Ten Martyrs refers to a group of ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Romans in the period after the destruction of the second Temple...
murdered by the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
for ignoring the ban on teaching Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
.
Life and work
His residence was at Siknin, where he directed religious affairs as well as a school. The latter came to be numbered among the distinguished academies with reference to which a baraitaBaraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
says: "The saying (Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
16:20), 'That which is altogether just shalt thou follow' may be construed, 'Follow the sages in their respective academies. ... Follow Rabbi Haninah ben Teradion in Siknin'" (Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin (Talmud)
Sanhedrin is one of ten tractates of Seder Nezikin . It originally formed one tractate with Makkot, which also deals with criminal law...
32b). Haninah administered the communal charity funds, and so scrupulous was he in that office that once when money of his own, designed for personal use on Purim
Purim
Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
, chanced to get mixed with the charity funds, he distributed the whole amount among the poor. Eleazar ben Jacob II
Eleazar ben Jacob II
Eliezer ben Jacob II was a Tanna of the 2nd century, quoted among R. Akiba's younger disciples who survived the fall of Bethar and the subsequent Hadrianic persecutions, including Judah b. 'Illai, R. Meïr, Simon b. Yoḥai, Eliezer b. Jose ha-Gelili...
so admired Haninah's honesty that he remarked, "No one ought to contribute to the charity treasury unless its administrator is like Haninah ben Teradion" (Bava Batra
Bava Batra
Bava Batra is the third of the three tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of property. It is part of Judaism's oral law...
10b; Avodah Zarah
Avodah Zarah
Avodah Zarah is the name of a tractate in the Talmud, located in Nezikin, the fourth Order of the Talmud dealing with damages...
17b).
Comparatively few halakot are preserved from him (Ta'anit
Ta'anit
A ta'anit or taanis or taʿanith in Classical Hebrew is a fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water...
ii. 5, 16b; Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah (Talmud)
Rosh Hashanah is the name of a text of Jewish law originating in the Mishnah which formed the basis of tractates in both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud of the same name. It is the eighth tractate of the order Moed...
27a; Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
, Miḳ. vi. 3; see also 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...
78b; Menachot
Kodashim
Kodashim or Qodhashim is the fifth Order in the Mishna . Of the six Orders of the Mishna, it is the third longest...
54a). Haninah ingeniously proved that the Shekhinah
Shekhinah
Shekinah is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.-Etymology:Shekinah is derived...
rests on those who study the Law (Avodah Zarah iii. 2).
Martyrdom
Haninah's life proved that with him these were not empty words. During the HadrianHadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
ic persecutions decrees were promulgated imposing the most rigorous penalties on the observers of the Jewish law, and especially upon those who occupied themselves with the promulgation of that law. Nevertheless, Hananiah conscientiously followed his chosen profession; he convened public assemblies and taught Torah.
Once he visited Jose ben Kisma
Jose ben Kisma
Jose ben Kisma was a Jewish Tanna sage of the third Generation.Jose ben Kisma held moderate views, and had objected the rebellion against the Roman Authority. In that conjunction, the Midrash depicts a debate between him and Rabbi Haninah ben Teradion, one of the Ten Martyrs, over Torah stdying...
, who advised extreme caution, if not submission. The latter said: "Haninah, my brother, seest thou not that this Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
people is upheld by God Himself? It has destroyed His house and burned His Temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
, slaughtered His faithful, and exterminated His nobles; yet it prospers! In spite of all this, I hear, thou occupiest thyself with the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, even calling assemblies and holding the scroll of the Law before thee." To all this Haninah replied, "Heaven will have mercy on us." Jose became impatient on hearing this, and rejoined, "I am talking logic, and to all my arguments thou answerest, 'Heaven will have mercy on us!' I should not be surprised if they burned thee together with the scroll." Shortly thereafter Haninah was arrested at a public assembly while teaching with a Torah scroll
Sefer Torah
A Sefer Torah of Torah” or “Torah scroll”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish services...
before him. Asked why he disregarded the imperial edict, he frankly answered, "I do as my God commands me."
For this he and his wife were condemned to death, and their daughter to degradation. His death was terrible. Wrapped in the scroll, he was placed on a pyre of green brush; fire was set to it, and wet wool was placed on his chest to prolong the agonies of death. "Woe is me," cried his daughter, "that I should see thee under such terrible circumstances!" Haninah serenely replied, "I should indeed despair were I alone burned; but since the scroll of the Torah is burning with me, the Power that will avenge the offense against the law will also avenge the offense against me."
His heartbroken disciples then asked: "Master, what seest thou?" He answered: "I see the parchment burning while the letters of the Law soar upward."
"Open then thy mouth, that the fire may enter and the sooner put an end to thy sufferings," advised his pupils. But Haninah replied, "It is best that He who hath given the soul should also take it away: no man may hasten his death." Thereupon the executioner removed the wool and fanned the flame, thus accelerating the end, and then himself plunged into the flames (Avodah Zarah 17b et seq.).
It is reported that, on hearing his sentence, Haninah quoted Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
32:4, "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment"; while his wife quoted the second hemistich
Hemistich
A hemistich is a half-line of verse, followed and preceded by a caesura, that makes up a single overall prosodic or verse unit. In Classical poetry, the hemistich is generally confined to drama. In Greek tragedy, characters exchanging clipped dialogue to suggest rapidity and drama would speak in...
, "A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he"; and his daughter cited Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
32:19, "Great in counsel, and mighty in work; for Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings" (Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Deut. 307; Avodah Zarah loc. cit.; Semachot
Evel Rabbati
Ebel Rabbati is one of the later or minor tractates which in the editions of the Babylonian Talmud are placed after the fourth order, Neziḳin; it treats of mourning for the dead...
viii.).
Notable family members
Of the surviving members of Haninah's family are mentioned two daughters: the learned BruriahBruriah
Bruriah is one of several women quoted as a sage in the Talmud. She was the wife of the Tanna Rabbi Meir and the daughter of Rabbi Hananiah Ben Teradion, who is listed as one of the "Ten Martyrs." She is greatly admired for her breadth of knowledge in matters pertaining to both halachah and...
, who became the wife of Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
; and the one marked for degradation, whom Rabbi Meïr succeeded in rescuing (Avodah Zarah 18a).
Haninah had also a learned son. It is related that Simon ben Haninah applied to this son for information on a point of ritual, and that the latter and his sister, presumably Bruriah, furnished divergent opinions. When Judah ben Baba
Judah ben Baba
Judah ben Baba was a rabbi in the 2nd century who ordained a number of rabbis at a time when the Roman government forbade this ceremony. The penalty was execution for the ordainer and the new rabbis. The rabbis ordained by Rabbi Judah ben Baba include Judah ben Ilai. Rabbi Judah ben Baba was killed...
heard of those opinions, he remarked, "Haninah's daughter teaches better than his son" (Tosefta, Kelim, Bava Kama iv. 17).
Elsewhere it is reported of that son that he became a degenerate, associating with bandits. Subsequently he betrayed his criminal associates, wherefore they killed him and filled his mouth with sand and gravel. Having discovered his remains, the people would have eulogized him out of respect for his father, but the latter would not permit it. "I myself shall speak," said he; and he did, quoting Proverbs
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
5:11 et seq. The mother quoted Proverbs 17:25; the sister, Proverbs
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
20:17 (Lamentations Rabbah
Lamentations Rabbah
The Midrash on Lamentations or Eichah Rabbah , like Bereshit Rabbah and the Pesiḳta ascribed to Rab Kahana, belongs to the oldest works of the Midrashic literature. It begins with 36 consecutive proems forming a separate collection, certainly made by the author of the Midrash...
iii. 16; comp. Semachot xii.).
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- W. Bacher, Ag. Tan. i.397;
- Brüll, Mebo ha-Mishnah, i.140;
- Z. Frankel, Darke ha-Mishnah, p. 133;
- Hamburger, R. B. T. ii.132;
- Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, ii;
- Zacuto, Yuḥasin, ed. Filipowski, p. 32a.