(cf., e.g., b. Ber. 34b) all sorts of miracles are said to have been performed by Hanina, but most scholars recognize these as legendary, a later generation’s attempt to build up the reputation of Hanina, perhaps in competition with the increasingly influential Gospel traditions. It is rather amazing how uncritical Vermes can be at times, even relying on very late traditions from the eighth or ninth century A.D., material in the Pirque Rabbi Eliezer, to fill out the evidence for some of Hanina’s