Hanina ben Dosa's Prayer That Pulled a Son Back from Fever

Gaster, Exempla of the Rabbis, no. 166; cf. Berakhot 34b

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·April 19, 2026

R. Hanina b. Dosa prays for the son of R. Johanan b. Zakkai who was ill and he recovered in consequence.

Themes

Rabbis Prayer Healing Miracles Humility

Continue Reading

The Exempla of the Rabbis (1924)Hanina ben Dosa Knows by His Prayer That the Fever Has BrokenHanina ben Dosa, the humble hasid of the first century, was known for prayers that went through the roof. When Rabban Gamliel's young son lay gravely ill, burni Hebraic Literature (1901)The Burning Bush Formula Against FeverTractate Shabbat (folio 66, column 2) preserves something most modern readers will find startling: a rabbinic prescription against fever that is half incantatio The Exempla of the Rabbis (1924)When the Sun Moved Backward for HezekiahKing Hezekiah of Judah lay dying. The prophet Isaiah came to his bedside with what should have been the last message: set your house in order, for you shall die The Exempla of the Rabbis (1924)The Adder That Died While Biting Rabbi Hanina ben DosaRabbi Hanina ben Dosa, the first-century miracle worker whom the Mishnah (Berakhot 5:5) calls a man whose prayers could heal from a distance, was once deep in t The Exempla of the Rabbis (1924)Why Akiva Blessed the Lost Lamp, the Ass, and the RoosterRabbi Akiva had a saying he repeated so often his disciples knew it by heart: Kol de'avid Rachmana letav avid, "Whatever the Merciful One does is done for the b Hebraic Literature (1901)Maimonides at the Egyptian Court and the Rank He RefusedWhen Maimonides. Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, known to Jewish tradition as the Rambam, fled the persecutions in Andalusia and reached the court of Egypt in the late