Samuel ben Nahman
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Samuel ben Nahman(Hebrew:שמואל בן נחמן) orSamuel [bar] Nahmani(Hebrew:שמואל [בר] נחמני) was arabbiof theTalmud,known as anamora,who lived in theLand of Israelfrom the beginning of the 3rd century until the beginning of the 4th century.
Biography[edit]
He was a pupil ofJonathan ben Eleazar[1]and one of the most famousaggadistsof his time.[2]He was a native of theLand of Israeland may have knownJudah ha-Nasi.[3]
It appears that he went toLower Mesopotamia,calledBabyloniaby theRabbinic Jews,in his youth, but soon returned to Israel.[4]He seems to have gone to Babylon a second time in an official capacity to determine the intercalation of the year, which, for political reasons, could not be done in Israel.[5]As an old man he went to the court ofZenobia(267-273), the powerful queen ofPalmyrawhoinvaded Roman Egypt,to petition her to pardon an orphaned youth who had committed a grave political crime.[6]In the days of the patriarchJudah II,Samuel ben Nahman appears among the most intimate associates of the patriarch, with whom he went (286) toTiberiasatDiocletian's order; later he joined the emperor atPaneas.[7]
Of Samuel's sons two are known by name—Nahman and Hillel; sayings of both have been preserved.[8]
Teachings[edit]
Samuel held a position of authority in the academy; to him is ascribed the rule that during the heat of the day instruction should be suspended.[9]Due to his fame as an aggadist, questions were addressed to him by such authorities as the patriarchJudah II,[10]Simeon ben Jehozadak,[11]Rabbi Ammi,[12]Hanina ben Pappa,[13]andHelbo.[14]
Among the transmitters of Samuel's sayings wereHelbo,Levi II,Abbahu,[15]andEleazar ben Pedat.[16]
Samuel ben Naḥman's decisions and sayings concern the study of dogma,[17]prayer,[18]andShabbatregulations;[19]the history of Israel and the nations and empires;[20]the laws regarding converts;[21]Scripture;[22]halakic exegesis;[23]and Biblical characters and narratives.[24]One concept conceived by Samuel b. Naḥman recorded in Midrash Tanchuma is known asdirah betachtonim,which refers to the divine desire to manifest itself in the material world, later became a foundational concept inChabad philosophy.
Other teachings of Samuel b. Naḥman refer to homiletics,[25]to God and the world,[26]and toeschatology.[27]
Dirges[edit]
Especially noteworthy is Samuel b. Naḥman's description of the grief of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and of Rachel, over the destruction of theTemple.[28]It is written in beautifulHebrewprose, and is accompanied by dramaticdirgesinAramaic.Then follow the dirges of all the Patriarchs, which they intone when Moses for the second time has communicated to them the sad tidings. Finally, Moses himself chants a lament, addressed partly to the sun and partly to the enemy.
References[edit]
- ^Pesachim24a
- ^YerushalmiBerachot12d;Midrash TehillimtoPsalms9:2
- ^Genesis Rabbah9
- ^Sanhedrin96b
- ^YerushalmiBerachot2d;Pesachim54b
- ^YerushalmiTerumot46b
- ^YerushalmiTerumot9,end;Genesis Rabbah63
- ^Genesis Rabbah 10, 32;Midrash Tehillimto Psalms 52; Yerushalmi Shevuot 36b; YerushalmiKiddushin61c;Ecclesiastes Rabbah1:4;Midrash Shmuel15 (on Nehemiah 8:17).
- ^Lamentations Rabbah1:3,end;Midrash TehillimtoPsalms91:6
- ^Genesis Rabbah12,end
- ^Genesis Rabbah 3,beginning;Leviticus Rabbah31;Pesachim145b;Midrash Tehillimto Psalms 104;TanhumatoVayakhel,beginning;Exodus Rabbah50, beginning
- ^Leviticus Rabbah31,beginning; Lamentations Rabbah 1:13
- ^Pesachim157a; Midrash Tehillim to Psalms 65;Lamentations Rabbah3:45; YerushalmiShevuot35b
- ^Bava Batra123a,b
- ^Leviticus Rabbah35,end; YerushalmiTa'anit3
- ^Pesachim159b
- ^YerushalmiPeah17a;Megillah74d;Hagigah76d
- ^Pesachim157a,b;Deuteronomy Rabbah2; YerushalmiBerachot7a;Genesis Rabbah68
- ^Genesis Rabbah 11,end;Pesikta Rabbati23; YerushalmiShabbat15a
- ^Pesachim 15b, 151b; Leviticus Rabbah 2,beginning, 24,end, 39;Numbers Rabbah2,end; Yerushalmi Shevuot 35b; YerushalmiAvodah Zarah44b
- ^Shir haShirim Rabbah6:2; Yerushalmi Berachot 5b,c
- ^Avodah Zarah25a;Bava Batra15a; Genesis Rabbah 6,end; Shir haShirim Rabbah 1:1, end
- ^YerushalmiShekalim45d; Yerushalmi Shabbat 9b; YerushalmiHallah57b
- ^B. B. 123a; 'Ab. Zarah 25a; Yer.Yeb.9c; Yer.Ber.4b;Tosef.,Shab. vii., 25; Gen. R. xlii., xlix., lxii., xcviii.;Ex. R.xliii.; Lev. R. xi.; Pes. vi.; Eccl. R. vii. 1; Midr. Shemu'el xxiii.
- ^Genesis Rabbah14, 20, 43; Bava Batra 123b;Hullin91d; Shabbat 113b
- ^Genesis Rabbah33; Pesachim 139a; Eruvin 22a; Bava Kamma 5a,b)
- ^Genesis Rabbah8;Midrash TehillimtoPsalms73,end; Pesachim 156b;Midrash Shmuel19;Ecclesiastes Rabbah1:8
- ^Lamentations Rabbah,Pref. 24, end
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Samuel ben Nahman".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.It has the following bibliography:
- Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. i. 477-551, ii., and iii. (see Index);
- Frankel, Mebo,pp. 146 et seq.;
- Weiss, Dor,iii. 66;
- Jellinek,B. H. vi. 104.
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