רבי יהודה בן קנוסא

Rav Yehuda ben Kenosa was an amora of Eretz Yisrael in the generation that bridged the tannaim and the amoraim, of the first generation of the amoraim of Eretz Yisrael, and a talmid of Rav Chiya. He is named three times in the Talmud Bavli, and in Bava Kama he is described as a chasid of the highest order, all of whose deeds were for the sake of Heaven.

That description comes from a story bound up with the ten takanot that Yehoshua bin Nun enacted when the Land was divided, most of them made to settle peace between a man and his fellow once Yisrael would dwell in it. One of them permits a man, when the road has grown broken and hard to walk, to step onto the neighboring field so that he can pass in comfort — without asking the owner’s leave, against his will, and without its being counted as theft. Rav Yehuda ben Kenosa wished to be stringent upon himself and would not enter his fellow’s field even where it was permitted. Seeing this, Rebbi wanted to penalize him, since such conduct carries a concern of yuhara, appearing to set oneself above the other chachamim as though more righteous than they. Rav Chiya, his rebbi, answered that because all of Rav Yehuda’s deeds were for the sake of Heaven, there was no yuhara in it at all.