NITTAI OF ARBELA

NITTAI OF ARBELA (= arbel in Lower Galilee; second half of second century B.C.E.), one of the zugot ; a colleague of Joshua b. Peraḥyah . He was a pupil of yose b. joezer of Zeradah and yose b. johanan of jerusalem , the first of the zugot, whom he and Joshua succeeded with Nittai serving as avbet din (Ḥag. 2:2; Avot 1:6). All that is known of his teaching is that he took part in the only halakhic dispute of his time: whether the placing of the hands upon a sacrifice (semikhah) during a festival is permitted. Nittai held that it was permitted, in contrast to Joshua b. Perahyah who forbade it (Ḥag. 2:2). His saying preserved in Avot is, "Keep at a distance from an evil neighbor; do not make yourself an associate of a wicked man; do not abandon faith in (divine) retribution" (Avot 1:7). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hyman, Toledot, S.V. (David Joseph Bornstein)