Person
Rabbi Nechunya ben HaKanah רבי נחוניא בן הקנה
tanna; his prayer on entering the study house is said to this day
The Mishnah keeps his short prayer for entering and leaving the study house—"that I not stumble in a matter of law" (Berakhot 4:2); it is still said today on going in to learn. He taught: whoever takes on the yoke of Torah is relieved of the yoke of rulers and of worldly cares. Rabbi Yishmael received from him the method of the general and the particular; through that school he entered every page of the Talmud.
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Places
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Berakhot 28b — the prayer on entering the study house
- Avot 3:5 — “whoever takes on the yoke of Torah”
- Shevuot 26a — Rabbi Yishmael “attended” him — the teaching link
- Mishnah, Berakhot 4:2 — the prayer on entering the study house
Basis: Talmud and midrash.