person · P0132

Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa רבי חנינא בן דוסא

Wonder-working chasid of the generation of the destruction, a disciple of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. Renowned as a man of deed and prayer rather than legal dialectic: he prayed over the sick and knew from the fluency of his prayer who would live, and a heavenly voice declared that the whole world is sustained for his sake while he subsists on a measure of carobs from one Shabbat eve to the next. In Avot he teaches that fear of sin must precede wisdom.

I. Who

Hebrew: רבי חנינא בן דוסא
Also known as: Chanina ben Dosa, Hanina ben Dosa
Era: tannaim
Generation: T1

Received the mesorah from: Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai

Teachers: Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai

II. When

Traditional: c. 3780–3850 AM
Academic: c. 20–90 CE
Lifespan (traditional): ≈70 years
Precision: approximate

V. How do we know

Claim	Evidence	Confidence	Sources
Taught: "Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom endures; and anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom does not endure."	rabbinic	★★★★★	Pirkei Avot 3:9
Would pray over the sick and say "this one will live and this one will die," knowing by whether his prayer was fluent in his mouth; he prayed successfully for the son of Rabban Gamliel and the son of his teacher Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. The mishnah (Berakhot 5:5) records the practice; the gemara adds the aggadic episodes with Rabban Gamliel's and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai's sons.	rabbinic	★★★★☆	Berakhot 34b
A heavenly voice declares daily: "The whole world is sustained for the sake of Chanina My son, and Chanina My son suffices with a kav of carobs from one Shabbat eve to the next."	rabbinic	★★★★☆	Taanit 24b
While praying he was bitten by an arod (a venomous reptile) and was unharmed — the arod died — teaching that it is not the arod that kills but sin. Aggadic miracle narrative.	rabbinic	★★★☆☆	Berakhot 33a
Later tradition locates his tomb in Arraba (Arav) in the Lower Galilee, where he lived. The tomb identification is a late visited-site tradition without an early rabbinic source; recorded for its significance as a site.	tradition	★☆☆☆☆	Later burial tradition (Arraba, Lower Galilee)
Traditional placement c. 3780–3850 AM (c. 20–90 CE), inferred from his appearance as a younger contemporary and disciple of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and a contemporary of Rabban Gamliel. Schematic traditional dating.	tradition reconstruction	★☆☆☆☆	Berakhot 34b (contemporaneity with Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabban Gamliel)