The Eponymous Ben Rechumi

A while back, I wrote an article for the Jewish Link exploring eponymous statements of Tannaim and Amoraim. For instance, Rabbi Abba bar Memel explains what a memel is, or Rabbi Zuhamai says a filthy person is excluded from Temple service.

Some scholars took these eponymous statements as evidence that the gemara is just fabricating these names. However, there are several other possible explanations. And, while I don’t believe any one answer will cover all cases, I do think that multiple overlapping explanations do provide a convincing explanation.

Read the article for the full list, but these reasons can include:

• Random chance. A prolific Sage (like Rav Chisda) who says lots of statements might eventually say something about a popular Jewish idea (like chesed).

• The law of large numbers, so that with sufficient rabbis and statements, eventually names and topic will overlap.

• We are living in a simulation / Hashem has a sense of humor

• Scribal errors, where bleed from the topic carried over into the name (so Rav could accidentally turn into Rav Chisda).

• The Sages, who were focused on the nuances of Biblical and Mishnaic language, and engaged in derashot involving wordplay, would gravitate towards topics that involve their names.

• Multiple Sages said something but because it was orally transmitted, it is easier to recall when Rabbi Abba bar Memel spoke of memels.

One such Sage under discussion is Ben Rechumi on Nazir 20a who says twice rachimna, “I love” as part of the analysis, and are discussing the birth of a ben. While Rabbi Louis Jacobs thought this to be obvious name fabrication, I point out that all our (two) manuscripts have Rav Rechumi, and only our printed texts have ben Rechumi.

Also that we know from elsewhere that Rav Rechumi exists, exactly in contexts like this.

Anyway, I am parking this post here, together with a link / image of my old article. Enjoy!