Hanina ben Dosa

That each of these different elements that exist in our world are really just Hashem's pawns to get us to do His will.

And, um, that seems similar to a famous Gemara in Berachot on daf lamed gimel, lamed alef, where Rav Chanina ben Dosa, we are told that there was once a snake that used to injure people, and they came, they told Rav Chanina ben Dosa, and he said to them, "Show me the hole." And they showed him the hole, and he put his heel over the hole.

The snake came out and bit him, and the snake died.

And so then he put it on the shoulder, brought it to the Beis Midrash, and said to the people there, "Take a look.

It's not the snake that kills.

It's the avera that kills." Right? And so they said, uh, at that point in time, "Woe to the person who a snake meets, but woe to the snake that meets Rav Chanina ben Dosa." Right? So Yeshayahu HaNavi also says, um, uh, uh, Ashur, in Perek here he says, Ashur is shevet api, the rod of my anger.

And so the, the truth is, uh, enemy attacks, it's not just maintaining competent forces, but rather you have to devote Hashem-- to Hashem, and you have to get into more chesed, and that's how you're going to be able to do things.

The enemy's attacks are just a reminder from Hashem that we're not meeting our spiritual and social Torah goals, and we first have to correct ourselves.

It discusses the kinnor of Dovid, and it says, "Where did this kinnor of Dovid come from? Where did Dovid make such a kinnor?" And this has to be understood what, what the Pirkei D'rabbi Eliezer is trying to say.

Reb Chanina ben Dosa said, "Osei ho'ayil, the ayil of Akeidas Yitzchak lo yotza mimenu davar levatalah".

Nothing of it went to waste.

Nothing of that ayil, nothing of the ayil of Dovid-- of Avraham Avinu's Akeidas Yitzchak went to waste.

Each one of these avos injected into Klal Yisroel qualities and midos that became permanent fixtures embedded into Klal Yisroel's neshamah.

The ten nisyonos of Avraham Avinu, says Rav Chaim Volozhiner, not only were personal to Avraham Avinu, but the achievements and the levels that he attained became part of Klal Yisroel, Avinu.

Therefore, Akedat Yitzchak, [Hebrew] Rav Chanina ben Dosa says.

Something came from it.

Mm-hmm

... who were doing similar kinds of things, uh, Hanina ben Dosa and, and other kinds of, Shimon Bar Yochai.

So we have other kind of Galilean...

I mean, they even have a term for them in Hebrew.

Indeed, the Galilee was known for producing just these kinds of figures.

One can think of the rabbinical figures of Chanina ben Dosa, the great miracle worker and healer found in the Mishnah, but also Choni the circle maker, the famous Jewish theurgist of the same time period.

So it's unsurprising that we would have Jesus of Nazareth, the famed exorcist, along with other rabbinical figures like Chanina Bendoza and Choni the Circle Maker, all sort of figuring into a Galilean story about the various kinds of miracle workers from that region.

The exorcisms that Jesus performed are among his most prevalent miracles.