ניתאי הארבלי

Nittai HaArbeli was one of the early Sages of the Zugot, the era of the “pairs” and Anshe Knesset HaGedolah, who led the people in the generations before the tannaim. He stood as one half of such a pair in the chain of leadership during this formative period. He served as Av Bet Din, of the sanhedrin along with Yehoshua ben Perachiah, his pair.

His name appears among the Sages whose differing positions are recorded in tractate Chagigah regarding the laying on of hands (semichah) on a festival offering — there Nittai HaArbeli holds that one does place his hands. He is listed among the line of the Zugot whose successive pairs took opposing views on this question, a debate that runs through the generations of these leaders.