Rabbi Yose the Chorem
On Menachot 37a:
רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַחוֹרָם אוֹמֵר: מָצִינוּ יָמִין שֶׁנִּקְרָא יָד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף כִּי יָשִׁית אָבִיו יַד יְמִינוֹ״. וְאִידַּךְ – ״יַד יְמִינוֹ״ אִיקְּרִי, ״יָד״ סְתָמָא לָא אִיקְּרִי.
Rabbi Yosei HaḤorem says: This is no proof, as we have found that the right hand is also called yad, as it is stated: “And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand [yad yemino]” (Genesis 48:17). The Gemara asks: And the other tanna, who maintains that the right hand is not called yad, how does he respond to this proof? He maintains that the right hand is called “his right hand [yad yemino],” but it is not called a yad without further specification.
Who is this person, and what is the meaning of his appelation hachorem? Rashi writes:
ר’ יוסי החורם - חוטמו משוקע כדאמרי’ בבכורות (דף מג:) חרום זה שחוטמו משוקע:
His nose was sunken, as we see in Bechorot 43b, that a charum is someone with a sunken nose.
Tosafot don’t like this interpretation. They write:
רבי יוסי החורם. פי’ בקונטרס חוטמו היה שקוע כעין חרום דבכורות (דף מג:) ותימה הוא לומר שכינהו בלשון גנאי אלא על שם מקומו נקרא כן. מ”ר:
That is, we don’t imagine that the Sages would give someone an unflattering nickname based on a physical deformity. Rather, they suggest that he was named based on his place.
In the Torah Forum website, someone notes a pattern of Rashi and Tosafot, in which Rashi explains names based on physical appearance and the Tosafists explain based on place of origin.
ArtScroll, in a footnote, quotes Seder HaDorot who proposes that it is based on the special halacha that Rabbi Yossi HaCharum taught. Thus, in that very gemara in Bechorot, we see:
גְּמָ׳ תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״חָרוּם״ — שֶׁחוֹטְמוֹ שָׁקוּעַ, חוֹטְמוֹ סוֹלֵד, חוֹטְמוֹ בּוֹלֵם, חוֹטְמוֹ נוֹטֵף, מִנַּיִן? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״אוֹ חָרוּם״. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר: אֵין ״חָרוּם״ אֶלָּא הַכּוֹחֵל שְׁתֵּי עֵינָיו כְּאַחַת. אָמְרוּ לוֹ: הִפְלַגְתָּ,
GEMARA: The Sages taught in a baraita: When it is stated that a ḥarum is considered a blemished priest (Leviticus 21:18), this is referring to a priest whose nose is sunk. If his nose retreats, i.e., it is very short and contracted upward, or if his nose is blocked, or if his nose is so long that it droops, from where is it derived that he is considered blemished? The same verse states: “Or a ḥarum.” The term “or” serves to include all blemishes of the nose. Rabbi Yosei says: A ḥarum is only one who can paint both of his eyes as one. They said to him: You have gone too far in limiting your definition of a ḥarum.
So, it is not that Rabbi Yossi was a charum. Rather, he taught the explanation or halacha about charum and was named for this.
ArtScroll then quotes Toledot Tannaim veAmoraim who suggests that this may even have been Rashi’s intent. However, I don’t think Rashi’s wording supports that interpretation.
Regardless, this proposal aligns well with an idea expressed e.g. by Maharatz Chajes that some Amoraim are named for the halacha that they teach. The example to think of can be Rabbi Yitzchak Magdela’a, who taught about stacks / towers of coins. Though he might well not be named for this halacha. And I have my general response to the idea of pseudepigraphic attributions in my article It’s the Eponymy, Stupid.
My problem is that nothing in Bechorot says that this Rabbi Yossi who taught the definition of charum was a different Rabbi Yossi that the plain, famous one, who is the fifth-generation Tanna, Rabbi Yossi ben Chalafta. If it were a separate individual, then I would have expected him to be named. If we are indeed saying that Rabbi Yossi ben Chalafta taught the definition of charum, then why should we specifically tap this nickname in this place in Menachot?