רבי חנינא בן דוסא והעלאת האבן למקדש–הרקע הריאלי מאחורי המעשה הפלאי

Tales of wonders and miracles are a universal feature of sacred sites and pilgrimagecenters, and not a few such stories were also told about the Temple in Jerusalem. There is no doubt that these stories were of great importance in raising the stature of the holy site in the eyes of the believers and in adding an aura of sanctity and wonder to the place.If we look beyond the miraculous and mythological dimension of these stories, we maybe able to identify the realistic background in which the wondrous plot unfolds. I will focus on one case study, the story of the miraculous deed of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa inraising a stone to the Temple (Song of Songs Rabbah 1:4; Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:1;Yalkut Shimoni 980:19). I will propose to locate the ancient core and the realisticfoundation of the deed in the written sources from the end of the Second Temple period,in the historical occurrence of the time, and in the archaeological evidence.