Nittai of Arbela
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]