Avot158

נושא: Avot

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

Rabbi Ĥanina ben-Ĥakhinai says: one who stays awake at night, who travels alone and who empties his thoughts to no purpose – such a person is endangering his soul.

1:
The author of our present mishnah is Rabbi Ĥanina ben-Ĥakhinai. (In some versions his name is given as Ĥananya ben-Ĥakhinai, but these are just variations on the same name.) Before we examine his teaching in our present mishnah perhaps it would be useful to review what we know of his biography.

2:
Rabbi Ĥanina ben-Ĥakhinai was a student of Rabbi Akiva, a contemporary of Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai. In many ways Rabbi Shim'on bar-Yoĥai can be considered to be extreme in his views and in his behaviour; but Rabbi Ĥanina ben-Ĥakhinai was certainly the more extreme of the two. Apparently, he studied with Rabbi Akiva not only halakhah but also the mystical tradition that was taking hold in the circles of the sages at that time (see Avot 131).

3:
There is a mishnah [Ketubot 5:6] which seeks to define to what extent a woman may require the sexual attentions of her husband. (When we studied Tractate Kiddushin we noted that one of the rights that the Torah [Exodus 21:10] accords the married woman is onah, regular sex. Since this is a right, the sages needed to define the parameters of this right.) The mishnah in question seeks to define how long a husband may absent himself from his wife's company (assuming that he is healthy etc) thus depriving her temporarily of the right of onah.

One who deprives his wife of sexual intercourse: Bet Shammai say two weeks, Bet Hillel say one week. Students may go off to study Torah without [the spouse's] permission for thirty days… What is required by onah as stipulated by the Torah? – Self-employed – daily; manual labourers – twice a week; ass-drivers – once a week; camel-drivers – once a month; sailors – once in six months…

Here the mishnah makes it quite clear that students who were away from home studying Torah with their chosen sage were required to return home at least once a month.

4:
The midrash [Vayyikra Rabbah 21:8] relates the following:

Rabbi Ĥanina ben-Ĥakhinai and Rabbi Shim'on ben-Yoĥai went to study Torah with Rabbi Akiva in Bné Brak. They spent thirteen years there. Rabbi Shim'on ben-Yoĥai was in regular contact [with his home] and knew what was happening; Rabbi Ĥanina was not in contact to know what was happening at home. His wife sent him [a message] which said: "Your daughter is now of age; come [home] and see to her espousals."

But Rabbi Ĥanina was so engrossed in his studies that he ignored the message! Somehow or other Rabbi Akiva got to hear of the situation and announced in class: "Anyone who has a daughter of marriageable age must go [home immediately] and see to her espousals." Of course, Rabbi Ĥanina had to obey his teacher and went home. We have already recounted what happened after that [Yadayyim 022], but it would be useful to repeat here the story as given in the Gemara [Ketubot 62b]:

By the time he returned home the paths in his village had changed and he didn't know how to get home. So he went and sat down on the banks of the river where he heard one girl calling to another, "Bat-Ĥakhinai, bat-Ĥakhinai! Fill your basket [with laundry] and let's go!" He said to himself, "That must mean that this girl is ours." He followed her. His wife was sitting kneading flour; she happened to look up and caught sight of him. She swooned and fainted. He [thinking that she had died] said, "Dear Lord, is this the reward of this poor woman?" He prayed for her and she revived.

5:
According to a very late midrash (from the post-Talmudic period) Rabbi Ĥanina ben-Ĥakhinai died a martyr's death during the Hadrianic persecutions after the collapse of the disastrous Bar-Kokhba revolt in 135 CE. However, other sources omit his name from the list of ten sages who perished in that persecution.

To be continued.

I still have in my mailbox messages from you that have lain there far too long. In Avot 153 I mentioned that Akavya ben-Mehalal'el refused the offer of the sages to become Av Bet Din. Todd Stone has a most interesting thought on this:

If Akavya ben-Mahalal'el had not refused to back down then we may have never had the debates between the House of Hillel and House of Shammai without which Judaism as we know it would not exist. Thus by sticking to his principles he may have saved Judaism.

I respond:

This is a Ĥiddush – a new perception. I have never thought of that before!

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