Like his father,
Hanina bar Hama, he directed a school at
Sepphoris, and was well known in the circles of the halakhists. He was a contemporary of
Rabbi Yochanan. Hama's ancestors were wealthy, and built many synagogues. On one occasion, while visiting the synagogues of
Lod with his colleague
Hoshaiah II, he proudly exclaimed, "What vast treasures have my ancestors sunk in these walls!" To this Hoshaiah responded, "How many lives have your ancestors sunk here! Were there no needy scholars whom that treasure would have enabled to devote themselves entirely to the study of the Law?" ==Teachings==