Abba Arika (175–247) (
Talmudic AramaicJewish Babylonian Aramaic is the form of Middle Aramaic employed by Jewish writers in Babylonia between the 4th century and the 11th century CE. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talmud and of post-Talmudic literature, which are the most important cultural...
:
) (born Abba bar Aybo) was a
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish
TalmudThe Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ist who lived in
BabyloniaBabylonia was a civilization in Lower Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad...
, known as an
amoraAmora , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara...
(commentator on the
Oral LawAn oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted....
) of the 3rd century who established at
SuraSura was a city in the southern part of ancient Babylonia, located west of the Euphrates River. It was well-known for its agricultural produce, which included grapes, wheat, and barley...
the systematic study of the
rabbinicRabbinic may refer to:* Rabbinic literature, Rabbinic texts, writings, and works* Rabbinics or rabbinic traditions - see Oral Torah* Rabbinic Judaism, Rabbinics , Rabbinic Jews, or Rabbinic beliefs...
traditions, which, using the
MishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah" and the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
as text, led to the compilation of the
TalmudThe Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
. With him began the long period of ascendancy of the great academies of Babylonia , around the year 220. He is commonly known simply as
Rav (or
Rab,
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
:
).
Overview
His surname,
Arika (English, "Long"— that is, "Tall"; it occurs only once—
Hullin 137b), he owed to his height, which, according to a reliable record, exceeded that of his contemporaries. Others, reading
Areka, consider it an honorary title, "Lecturer" (Weiss,
Dor, iii. 147; Jastrow,
Dictionary under the word). In the traditional literature he is referred to almost exclusively as
Rav the Master (both his contemporaries and posterity recognizing in him a master), just as his teacher,
Judah IRabbi Judah haNasi, , also known as Rebbi and Rabbeinu HaKadosh , was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century CE, during the occupation by the Roman Empire. He is best known as the chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah...
, was known simply as Rabbi. He is called Rabbi Abba only in the
tannaitic literature (for instance,
Tosefta,
Beitzah 1:7), where a number of his sayings are preserved. He occupies a middle position between the
Tannaim and the
Amoraim, and is accorded the right, rarely conceded to one who is only an
'amora, of disputing the opinion of a
tanna (
Bava Batra 42a and elsewhere).
Rav was a descendant of a distinguished Babylonian family which claimed to trace its origin to
ShimeiShimei is the name of a number of persons referenced in the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinical literature.*The second son of Gershon and grandson of Levi...
, brother of King David (
Sanhedrin 5a;
Ketubot 62b). His father, Aibo, was a brother of
ChiyyaRabbi Hiyya was a rabbi and Jewish religious scholar of the Mishnaic period. Active in Tiberias, Hiyya was the primary compiler of the tosefta. He was the uncle of Abba Arika....
, who lived in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
, and was a highly esteemed scholar in the collegiate circle of the patriarch Judah I. From his associations in the house of his uncle, and later as his uncle's disciple and as a member of the academy at Sepphoris, Rav acquired such an extraordinary knowledge of traditional lore as to make him its foremost exponent in his native land. While Judah I was still living, Rav, having been duly ordained as teacher—though not without certain restrictions (
Sanhedrin 5a)—returned to
BabyloniaBabylonia was a civilization in Lower Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad...
, where he at once began a career that was destined to mark an epoch in the development of Babylonian Judaism.
Beginning of the Talmudic Age
In the annals of the Babylonian schools the year of his arrival is recorded as the starting-point in the chronology of the Talmudic age. It was the 530th year of the Seleucidan and the 219th year of the
common eraCommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
. As the scene of his activity, Rav first chose
NehardeaNehardea or Nehardeah was a city of Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka , one of the earliest centers of Babylonian Judaism. As the seat of the exilarch it traced its origin back to King Jehoiachin...
, where the
exilarchExilarch refers to the leaders of the Diaspora Jewish community following the deportation of the population of Judah into Babylonian exile after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah...
appointed him
agoranomosAgoranomos was an electable official position in the cities of Ancient Greece and Byzantine Empire that controlled the order of the marketplace...
, or market-master, and
Rabbi ShelaShela was a Babylonian teacher of the latter part of the tannaitic and the beginning of the amoraic period, and head of the school at Nehardea . When Abba Arika visited Babylon, he once officiated as an expounder for R. Shela at his public lectures...
made him lecturer (
amora) of his college (
Jerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud or Talmud Yerushalmi , often the Yerushalmi for short, is a collection of Rabbinic notes about the Jewish Oral tradition as detailed in the 2nd-century Mishnah...
Bava Batra v. 15a;
Yoma, 20b). Then he removed to
SuraSura was a city in the southern part of ancient Babylonia, located west of the Euphrates River. It was well-known for its agricultural produce, which included grapes, wheat, and barley...
, on the
EuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and historically one of the most important rivers of Southwest Asia. Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
, where he established a school of his own, which soon became the intellectual center of the Babylonian Jews. As a renowned teacher of the Law and with hosts of disciples, who came from all sections of the Jewish world, Rav lived and worked in Sura until his death.
SamuelSamuel of Nehardea or Samuel bar Abba was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea. He was a teacher of halakha, judge, physician, and astronomer. He was born about 165 at Nehardea, in Babylonia...
, another disciple of Judah I, at the same time brought to the academy at Nehardea a high degree of prosperity; in fact, it was at the school of Rav that Jewish learning in Babylonia found its permanent home and center. Rav's activity made Babylonia independent of Palestine, and gave it that predominant position which it was destined to occupy for several centuries.
Rav as teacher
The method of treatment of the traditional material to which the Talmud owes its origin was established in Babylonia by Rav. That method takes the
Mishnah of Judah ha-Nasi as a text or foundation, adding to it the other
tannaitic traditions, and deriving from all of them the theoretical explanations and practical applications of the religious Law. The legal and ritual opinions recorded in Rav's name and his disputes with Samuel constitute the main body of the Babylonian Talmud. His numerous disciples—some of whom were very influential and who, for the most part, were also disciples of Samuel—amplified and, in their capacity as instructors and by their discussions, continued the work of Rav. In the Babylonian schools, Rav was rightly referred to as "our great master." Rav also exercised a great influence for good upon the moral and religious conditions of his native land, not only indirectly through his disciples, but directly by reason of the strictness with which he repressed abuses in matters of
marriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
and
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
, and denounced ignorance and negligence in matters of ritual observance.
Ethical teaching
Rav, says tradition, found an open, neglected field and fenced it in (
Hullin 110a). Special attention was given by him to the
liturgyA liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish services...
of the
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
. He is reputed to be the author of one of the finest compositions in the
Jewish prayerbookA siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed...
, the
Musaf service of the
New YearRosh Hashanah is a Jewish holiday commonly referred to as the "Jewish New Year." It is observed on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, as ordained in the Torah, in...
. In this noble prayer are evinced profound religious feeling and exalted thought, as well as ability to use the
Hebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
in a natural, expressive, and classical manner (
Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah i. 57a). The many homiletic and ethical (haggadistic) sayings recorded of him show similar ability. As a haggadist, Rav is surpassed by none of the Babylonian
AmoraAmora , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara...
im. He is the only one of the Babylonian teachers whose haggadistic utterances approach in number and contents those of the Palestinian haggadists. The
Jerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud or Talmud Yerushalmi , often the Yerushalmi for short, is a collection of Rabbinic notes about the Jewish Oral tradition as detailed in the 2nd-century Mishnah...
has preserved a large number of his halakic and
aggadisticAggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in classical rabbinic literature - particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...
utterances; and the Palestinian
Midrashim also contain many of his
aggadot. Rav delivered homiletic discourses, both in the
Beth midrashBeth Midrash is a study hall...
(college) and in the synagogues. He especially loved to treat in his homilies of the events and personages of Biblical history; and many beautiful and genuinely poetic embellishments of the Biblical record, which have become common possession of the
aggadahAggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in classical rabbinic literature - particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...
, are his creations. His
aggadah is particularly rich in thoughts concerning the moral life and the relations of human beings to one another. A few of these utterances may be quoted here: (
Shabbat 10b)
- "The commandments of the Torah
The term "Torah" , refers either to the Five Books of Moses or to the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts...
were only given to purify men's morals" (Genesis Raba 44).
- "Whatever may not properly be done in public is forbidden even in the most secret chamber" (Shabbat 64b).
- "It is well that people busy themselves with the study of the Law and the performance of charitable deeds, even when not entirely disinterested; for the habit of right-doing will finally make the intention pure" (Pesahim 50b).
- "Man will be called to account for having deprived himself of the good things which the world offered" (Jerusalem Talmud Kiddushin end).
- "Whosoever hath not pity upon his fellow man is no child of Abraham
Abraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
" (Beitzah 32b).
- "It is better to cast oneself into a fiery furnace than publicly to put to shame one's fellow creature" (Bava Metzia 59a).
- "One should never betroth himself to a woman without having seen her; one might subsequently discover in her a blemish because of which one might loathe her and thus transgress the commandment: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'" (Kiddushin 41a).
- "A father should never prefer one child above another; the example of Joseph
Joseph or Yosef , was the eleventh son of Jacob and first son of Rachel according to the Hebrew Bible...
shows what evil results may follow therefrom".
Rav reproves extreme asceticism
Rav loved the
Book of Ecclesiasticus (
SirachSirach, by Ben Sira, also known as Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, the Wisdom of Ben Sira, or Ecclesiasticus, is a work from the second century BC, originally written in Hebrew....
), and warned his disciple
HamnunaHamnuna is the name of several rabbis in the Talmud.* Hamnuna Sabba . Mid third century of the common era. A pupil of Rav . After Rav, he became the head of the rabbinical academy at Sura. The Talmud contains many halakhic rulings, aggadot and prayers from him...
against unjustifiable asceticism by quoting advice contained therein—that, considering the transitoriness of human life (
Eruvin 54a), one should not despise the good things of this world. To the celestial joys of the future he was accustomed to refer in the following poetic words: (
Berakhot 17a)
- "There is naught on earth to compare with the future life. In the world to come there shall be neither eating nor drinking, neither trading nor toil, neither hatred nor envy; but the righteous shall sit with crowns upon their heads, and rejoice in the radiance of the Divine Presence".
Rav also devoted much attention to mystical and
transcendentalIn religion, transcendence is a condition or state of being that surpasses physical existence and in one form is also independent of it. It is affirmed in the concept of the divine in the major religious traditions, and contrasts with the notion of God, or the Absolute, existing exclusively in the...
speculations which the rabbis connect with the Biblical account of creation (
Genesis 1,
Ma'aseh Bereshit), the vision of the mysterious chariot of God (
Ezekiel 1,
Ma'aseh Merkabah), and the Divine Name. Many of his important utterances testify to his tendency in this direction (
Hagigah 12a,
Kiddushin 71a).
Status in life
Concerning the social position and the personal history of Rav we were not informed. That he was rich seems probable; for he appears to have occupied himself for a time with commerce and afterward with agriculture (
Hullin 105a). That he was highly respected by the
GentileThe term Gentile refers to non-Israelite tribes or nations in English translations of the Bible, most notably the King James Version....
s as well as by the Jews of Babylonia is proved by the friendship which existed between him and the last
ParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
n king, Artaban (
Avodah Zarah 10b). He was deeply affected by the death of Artaban (226) and the downfall of the Arsacid dynasty, and does not appear to have sought the friendship of
ArdeshirArdeshīr, Ardashīr, or Ardashēr is Middle Persian for "whose reign is through arda " and may refer to:* the throne name of several emperors:** Ardeshir I Papakan, r. 224 - 241, founder of the 2nd Persian Empire....
, founder of the Sassanian dynasty, although
Samuel of NehardeaSamuel of Nehardea or Samuel bar Abba was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea. He was a teacher of halakha, judge, physician, and astronomer. He was born about 165 at Nehardea, in Babylonia...
probably did so. Rav became closely related, through the marriage of one of his daughters, to the family of the exilarch. Her sons,
Mar UkbaMar Ukba, an exilarch at Baghdad in the first half of the tenth century; the second exilarch to die in banishment. When Kohen Ẓedeḳ II was appointed gaon of Pumbedita he became involved in a controversy with Mar 'Uḳba over the revenues from Khorasan; and the calif Al-Muḳtadir was induced by...
and Nehemiah, were considered types of the highest aristocracy. Rav had many sons, several of whom are mentioned in the
Talmud, the most distinguished being the eldest, Chiyya. The latter did not, however, succeed his father as head of the academy: this post fell to Rav's disciple
Rav HunaRav Huna was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; He was born about 216, died in 296-297 ).-Youth:...
. Two of his grandsons occupied in succession the office of
exilarchExilarch refers to the leaders of the Diaspora Jewish community following the deportation of the population of Judah into Babylonian exile after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah...
(
resh galuta) (
Hullin 92a).
Rav died at an advanced age, deeply mourned by numerous disciples and the entire Babylonian Jewry, which he had raised from comparative insignificance to the leading position in Judaism (
Shabbat 110a,
Mo'ed Katan 24a).