הרב בן הא הא

Ben He He — Ben Hei Hei, also written Bar Heihei — was a talmid chacham of the period of the Zugot and a contemporary of Hillel HaZaken. He is mentioned once in the Mishnah, in masechet Avot, as the author of the saying “lefum tzaara agra” — the reward is according to the effort.

According to Tosafot, Ben He He and his colleague Ben Bag Bag were gerim, and this is hinted in the name: they were children of Avraham and Sarah, to each of whose names the letter heh was added. Rabbi Shmuel di Uzeda holds that these names were meant to hide the two men from the Roman authorities, who persecuted gerim.

The Talmud states that Ben He He merited a revelation of Eliyahu HaNavi. According to the Ari, he is buried in the area of Ein Zeitim, but his grave has never been located.

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