רבי נהוראי

Rabbi Nehorai was a tanna of Eretz Yisrael in the fourth generation, in the second half of the second century, and among the great darshanim and baalei aggadah of his day. His name comes from the Aramaic nehora, light, and the Gemara expounds it: why was he called Rabbi Nehorai? Because he would light up the eyes of the chachamim in halachah. He brings teachings in the name of Rabbi Shimon and exchanges words with Rabbi Yosi, and the Tosefta tells that he once came on Shabbat before the beit din at Usha to testify to the fitness of a witness for kiddush hachodesh.

Three of his teachings stand in the Mishnah. In Kiddushin: “I set aside every trade in the world and teach my son nothing but Torah” — for every other trade fails a man when sickness or old age comes, while Torah guards him from all evil in his youth and gives him a future and hope in his old age, as Avraham Avinu, who kept the whole Torah before it was given, was blessed with everything in his old age. In Avot: “Exile yourself to a place of Torah, and do not say that it will come after you… and do not lean on your own understanding.” Further sayings of his appear across the literature of Chazal — among them, in Masechet Kallah, that whoever shames his fellow will himself come to shame in the end.

The Gemara holds that Nehorai was a kinnuy rather than a given name, and offers identifications with Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Nechemiah, or Rabbi Elazar ben Arach; the mefarshim note chronological difficulties with each, and some conclude that more than one tanna carried the title.