רבי חידקא

Rabbi Chidka was a tanna, a student of Rabbi Akiva. He appears across several tractates of the Talmud, often presenting a distinctive position alongside the views of his colleagues. In Sanhedrin he adds the prohibition of castration to the list under discussion, and in Taanit he teaches that a person’s own soul testifies about him, citing the verse in Michah, “Guard the openings of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.”

His best-known ruling concerns the meals of Shabbat: where the Sages hold that one is obligated to eat three meals, Rabbi Chidka teaches that one must eat four. Rabbi Yochanan notes that both derive their view from the same verse in Shemot, “Eat it today, for today is a Shabbat to Hashem,” disagreeing only on how to count the word “today.” This dispute carries practical consequences elsewhere in Shabbat, as in the discussion of how much food one must possess before drawing from the communal charity fund.

Rabbi Chidka also brings teachings he heard from others. In Bava Batra he relates that Shimon HaShikmoni, a fellow student of Rabbi Akiva, was his companion, and quotes his teaching about Moshe Rabbeinu’s knowledge regarding the inheritance of the daughters of Tzelafchad and whether they receive a firstborn’s portion.