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5 unusual facts about Joshua ben Hananiah


Joshua ben Hananiah

He was of Levitical descent (Ma'as. Sh. v. 9), and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers (Arakhin 11b).

They were both present at the celebration of the circumcision of Elisha b. Abuyah (Acher), in Jerusalem, and diverted themselves by connecting passages in the Pentateuch with others in the Prophets and the Hagiographa (Yer. Hagigah 77b).

Once a dispute in pantomime took place in the emperor's palace between Joshua and a Judæo-Christian ("Min"), in which Joshua maintained that God's protective hand was still stretched over Israel (Hagigah 5b).

After Gamaliel's death (comp. Mo'ed Katan 27a; Yer. M. K. 83a), the first place among the scholars fell to Joshua, since Eliezer b. Hyrcanus was under a ban.

Joshua esteemed Eleazar very highly, and on one occasion called out in his emphatic manner: "Hail to thee, Father Abraham, for Eleazar b. Azariah came forth from thy loins!" (Tosef., Sotah, vii.; Hagigah 3a; Yer. Hag., beginning).



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