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-' - @9 . THREE AMORAIM N LEO B
v <5 \fiECKCOLLE Y o ch anen, R a b an d Aehi~ . EQEQR}, (H3
The death of Judah the Prince was a tu:ning-point in Jewish
history, both ;eligiously ana politically. Religiously on account
of the Mishnah. ’Now, for the first time, the Jews possessed
an euthovttative, up-to—date text—book of their religious laws.
It was no longer neéessary to memorise the Oral Law, for every
scholar had aficess to a copy of Judah's Mishnah} An; it was no
longer necessary to the sam: extenfi to search the ntten Law,
the Pantateuch, for scriptural proof—text: whereby the Oral Law
'might be justified and elucidated} With some exxaggeration
it might be said that the Mishnah-becamé e substifute'foi the
Pentateuch. The Pentateuch, of course, was still studied, as
was the rest of the Bible. But it was used more as a source of
homilies, midra him, and less as a legal code. The Mighnah wés
3g; legal code, incorporating most, though not all, of the civil
and ritual léws derivable from the Pentateuch. Nevertheless the
Mishnah was not_complete. It was Judah's seléction from the
almost unlimited store of legal decisions and discussions whiqh
had taken place in the Palestinian sbhools during the first two
centuries of the Common Era. Many traditipns had been excluded
0: ignored by Judah the Prince. These were known as Baraitot
(singular Baraita). deny of them were later éollected in a béok
called the Tosgfta, a kind of apoeryphal Mishnah, and many found
their way into the Talmud. Moreover, the Mi§1nah was often I m | jncinclusive. It recarded divergent opinions, and its language was sometimes unclear. It even used words whose meaning was latgr forgotten. Furthermore, no legal code can stand still. New problems always arise, unforeseen by previous generations, and these problems have to be solved by new decisions, and by the arglication to the existtng code of certain well—defined methods of legal interpretation. For all these reasons Jewish
Law continued to grew, and the scholars who conducted its growth were known as Amoraim, "Expositors". They are diéugnguiShéd fiom the earlier scholars, who were givén the name Tenneim, "Teachers".
The task of the Tanneim had been to build up a Code of Jewish Law; the task of the Amoraim was to straighten out its rough edges, and to develop it further, in matters of detail, on the basis-of the Mispnah. The work of the Amoraim continued for severél centuries and was finally collected in the two Talmuds, the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. The death of Judah the Prlhce is therefore the dividing line between the age of the Taxmaim, or or the Misnnah, and the Age of the Amoraim, or of the Tahnud. Camgared with about
150 Tannaim whose names have been handed dewn to us, there were about 5000 Amoraim. Of these we shall turn the spotlight on three of the most outstanding, namely Yochaaan, Rev and Ashi. \
Politically, the 2nd century also brought many changeg.
Above all, it witnessed a gradual transfer‘of the centre of Jewish life from Palestine to babylonia; an& that meant a trénsfer from the Roman Empire to the Eergian Empire. Several causes contributed to that development. Politically and economically the condition .. 5 _ of the Jews in Palestine grew steadily worse. The two rebellions against Rome, in the 605 and the 150s, had resulted in the decimation of the Jewish pepulation and the devastation of the land. Jerusalem was do longer a Jewish city. Many Jews emigrated to other parts of the Roman Empire and to Babylonia. There is evidence of a progressive desiccation, or diminution of rainfall. The GentiLe- population of Palestine became more powerful and competed economically. mmmwwmymggxggmxmmmm Roman. taxatioh continued and often became an intolerable burden. Christianity was gaining in force. In the 4th century it became the o£:icial religion 6f the Roman Empire, and already before that time Christian bishoys were often able to prevail 6n the Emperor tb issue anti—Jewish edicts. most of the time convérsion to Judaism was a criminal offence, and JewiSh religious freedom was burtailed though not suppressed. A local rebellion in 351 made things still worse.
There were brighter episodes, as when the Emperor Caracalla, in 212{ raised the Jews to the status of Roman‘citizeHS, and when, in 361, Julian the Apostate showed greater favour to the Jews than to the Christians, eVen making an unfulfilled offer to rebuild the
Temple, But in the main the horizon darkefled for Palestinian
Jewry. The Patriarché continued to exercise local rule, and were sunetimes accorded royal honours. But they were less learned men thah their predecessors, and there developed an increasing gap between the Patriarch as éecular ruler and the scholar as intellectual and religious leader. Under these circuflstances some of the greatest scholars sought in Babylonia a more congenial atmosphere for fiheir activities. In 425 the last or the Patriarchs, Gamalial VI, -4— died without male issue, and the Emperor, Theoddsius II, took the opporténity of abclishing the P.triarchate altogether. VThat mean: the finél eclipse of Palestinian Jewry, though it did not fade out without leavihg behind a monument of its religious and legal achievemnmts, the Palestinian Talmud. The person main}y responsible, innthe days after Judah the Prince, for the activity “hich culminated in the Palestinian Talmud, was Rabbi Yochanani
YOCHANAN
Rabbi Yochannn was the greatest Palestinian Amoré of the
51d century and of succeéding centuries. His full name was Iochenan bar Nappacha, that is Yochanan, the gen 6f the gnith, his father being referred to by his trade. Yochanan is probably quoted more frequently than any other Rabbi in the Rabbinic Literature. In the
Babylonian Talmug alone his name is mentioned about 2000 times.
Usually be is referred to simply as Rabbi Yochaaan, sometimes és
Bar Nappache. mfiiégifigéfie is quoyed simply for an oyénion on some very intiicahe and_technical point of law; Therefore EKEXMKIEKEKEK
figequotations, despite their multitude, do not permit us tb form a very full impression of his life and wofk. Nevertheless there are a good many anecdotes and legends about him, varying in their degree
of historicity, which reveal to us a man of great intellect and
saintly character, and incidgntally of great physical héndsomcness.
He was born at Sepphoris at the and of the 2nd century.
Sepphoris, it will be remembered, was the place in Galilee where
Judah the Prince had estcbbiShed his school fowards the end of his life. Yochenan's father died before he was born, while his mqther ' (1:16.. 511)) died in giving birth to him. Thus Yochanan began life as an qrphan, and was brought uy by his grandfather.
This grandfather gave him the oyportunity of studying from his boyhood. he must have been very young when, as tradition relates, he attended some lectures by Judah the Prince, but could hardly understand a word. (Chullin 137b) Navertheless it seems that Judah perceived in him a very prdmiSing student. (Yoma 82b)
deh was succeeded as Patriarch by his sbn Gamaliel Ill (217—235) and he was succeeded by his son Judah 11 (255—250){
Probably the most important years of Yochanan's life.were sggnt during the patriarchate of-Judah II, with whom he cc—operatefl closely in several imgortant gieées of legislation, affecting
fispecially the purchase of various goods from Gentiles; Such purchases were made consifierably easier.~
Judah II revived a good deal of the splendour which surrounded the Patriarchate in his grandfather's time, and there is cohsiderable doubt, conperning the many stories about the respect sh0wn to the
Patriarchate by the Roman authoritieS, whether they refer £0 Judah I or Judah II.' On the other hand Judah II passessed less private wealth than his grandfather, and had to araw his revenue from a system of taxes imposed on the Jewish communities in Ealestine and abroad. nevertheless, like his grandfather, he used that wealth, not.for personal luxuries, but for the public good, and espenially for the maintenance of scholars and for the consolidation of -6- the system of elementary education._ Yochanan himself benefittad from the Patriarch's generosity when he was granted a regular salary as a lecturer. Judah, incidentally, mo ved the éeat of the Patriarhhate from Sepphoris to Tiberias, which remained for many centuries the chief centre.of JewiSh learning in Palestine.
It was here that‘Yochman established his school, and in that city he taught and lived until his death in‘mne year 279.
Many of the stories about Yochaaan bar Nappacha bear a striking resemblance to those related of Yochanan ben Zakkai, the Tanna of the first century. Clearly the identity of name has caused some confusion in the transmission of these anecdotes.
Both, fbr exa;ple, are reported to have been exceptionally handsome.
m" " RREWXM Hammmmmm' "AT
"Rabbi Yochaaan said: I am the only one remaining of
Jerusalem's men of outéfianding beauty. (This is clearly a confusion XXXX with Yoahanan,ben Zakkai; but what follows probably relates to 9g; Ioehanan.) He who desires to see Rabbi
Yochanan's beauty, let him take a goblet of refined silver, and fill it with the seeds of a red pomegranate, adorn its rim with a garland of re& roseS, and place it between the sun and the shadé — the same eélendour-issues from the appearance of Rabbi Yochanan." (Elm. 842)'
Of our Yochanan, as of Yochenan ben Zakkai, it is related that at one time in his life he supported himself from agricultural or horticultural pursuits, but he sold his meagre possessions in _.7 _ _
‘ order to devote himself to study.
"It once happéned that Rabbi Yochanan was walking from
Tiberias to Sepphoris, and leaning on the shoulder of his pupil
Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba. when they came to a field, Rabbi Yochenan said: 'Do you see that field?- It was mine and I sold it in order to occupy myself with the study of the Torah.‘ They came to an olivé—grove, afid he said: 'Dé you see that olive—grove? I was mine, and I sold it in order to occupy myself with the study of
the Torah.’ They came to a-vineydard, and he said: 'Do you See
that vineyard? It was mine, aha I sold it in order to occupy myself with the study of the Toreh.‘ Then Rabbi Chiyya began to
weep. He said to him: 'Why do you weep?‘ 'I weep,‘ he said,
'because you have nothing laid up for your old age.’ He answered:
'My son Chiyya, is then this Which I have done a sgall thing in
your eyes, that I have sold something that was KKEéEgg in six
days and bought something which was given in forty days? For
the whole world was created only in six days, but the Torah was
given in forty déys, as it sevs: 'And he was thefe with the Lord
forty days and forty nights.'"(Exodus 34:28, Exodus R. 47, etc.)
It seems, however, fihet the life of study provca ton great
an economic strain, and for a while Yochanan took up some commercial occupation. But soon he realised that it was his
éuty to return to study. A legend relates how the; realisation
came to him. _ s _
"life and Rabbi Eochanan studied togethsr the Torah and they
found themselves in great want and they said to one another:
'Let us engage in commerce so that 5f us may be fulfilled the
verse, 'There shall be no needy among you'. _Thcy went and sat
down under a ruinous wall 836 while they were having their meal
two ministering angels came and Rabbi Yochanan overheard one
saying to the other, 'Let us throw this wall upon these people
and kill them; because they forsake 112K eternal life and pccupy I themselves with temporal life! T he other angel xeylied: "Leave
them alone, because one of thefi has still much to achieve.‘
Rabbi Yachanan heard this, but Ilfa did nbt. Nhereupon Rabbi
Yochanan said to Ilfe: 'Master, have you heard anything?' He
replied: 'No'. ihereupon Rabbi Yochanan said to himself:
"Seeing that I heard this and Ilfa did not; if is evident that
I am the one who has still much to achieve.’ Rabbi Yochanan then
said. to 1135: 'I will‘ go back, that of we may b: fulfilled the
verse: 'For the poor shall never cease out of the land.’ " (Taan.218)
Yochanan soon became an extremely popular teacher, and
pupils flocked to him from all parts of Palestine and even from
babylenia. Once his former teacher; Chanina, was surprised to
see large crowds making their way to the school in SepphoriS.
Upon being ififormed that they were going to attend a lecture by
Yochanan, he exclaimed: "Praise be to God who has permitted me
to see my life's work bearing such bleSSed fnuit." _ _ 3
Apart from Chanina, Yochaaan's principal teachers were
Yannai and Hughaiah. with both Yochnan maintained the closest obntact even after he had become a teacher in his own right..
He paid frequent viSits, especially to Hoshéiah, who had set up a school in Caesarea. At first the purpose of these vifiits we$ to consult his former teacher on difficult problems; later they assumed the nature of merely social cells. For, as Yochanan said, "He that pays respect to his teacher is éonsiderea as one who waits on the Divine Presence". (J. San. 11: 50b)
Among Yochanen's colleagues the most important was Rabbi
Shim‘on ben Lakish, knewn as Resh Lakish. The story is told that Resh Lakisp had been a gladiator, or a circus—attend9nt, end that it wés Yochanan who persuaded him to give up that un—Jewish occupation-end to beunne a scholar. A close friendship grew up betwean the two den, and Resh Lakish married Yochanen's sister. M&ny tales are told abauc this friendship.
"Qne day Rabbi Yochaneh was bathing in the edan, when
Rash Lakish saw him and jumped into the Jordfin after him. Said
Rabbi Yochanan to him: 'Your Strength should be for the Torah.‘
'Your beauty,’ he repliéd, 'should be for women.’ 'If you will repent, 'said Yochanan, 'I will give ydu my sister in marriaéfié, who is more beautiful thén I." fiB.fi; 849)
When Resh Lakish died, Yochanan rent his garments and wept: 'Whefe are you, 0 son of LakiSha, where are you, 0 son of Lakisha.' And he cried thus until his mind was turned. (ibid.) _ lo _
But it appears that Yocfianan regained'his mental balance.
Yochanan had the greatest respect for his §K§£KX§ superiors, or these whom he recognised as such. And he also treated his inferioré with the greatést courtesy and kindliness. But he seems to have been less magnanimous in his dealings with his cblleagues and equals. One exception was Rev, or Abba Arekha, with whom I shall deal more fully presefitly. Rav had been a co—pupil with Yochanan in the échool of Judah the Prince, only slightly more advanced.
He had.gone to Babylonia where he achieved so great a reputation that Yochanan gladly acknowledged his sugeriority. But he was reluctant to accord the same reverence to Rav's colleague, Samuel.
"During the lifetime of fiav, Rabbi Yochanen used to address him thus in his letters: 'Greetings to our Master in Babylon!’
Arter Rav's death Rabbi Yochanan used to address Samuel thus:
'Greetinge to our colleague in Babylon!‘ Said Samuel to hifiself,
'Is there nothing in which I am his master?‘ He'thereupon sent to
Rabbi Yochanen his calcdlations for the calendar for sixty years.
Said Rabbi Yochanan: 'Ze is merely good at arithmtic.‘ 50 Samuel
wrote and sent thiiteen camel loads (perhaps the text should read
'parchment scrolls') of questions concerning doubtful cases of
tgrefeh. Then Rabbi Yachanan said: ‘It is clear that I have a
Master in Babylon; 1 must 30 and éee him.'" (Ehullin 95b)
Ehe journey, however, did not take place. He heard a child
quoting from the Bible, 'How Samuel was dead' and thought that
Rev Samuel of Babylonia haé died. And this misunderstanding, says
the TaLmud, Was deliberately arranged so that Yoehanan should not _ 11 _ trouble himself to make the journey.
Yochanan's greatest achievement lay, of course, in the sphere of Jewish Law. His kn0wledge of it was Immifififi déc; and broad, and he applied the most precise analytical methods to thc solution of prublcms left undecided or unclear by the Mishnah. Indeed he laid down a number of rules for the solutioh of legal problems which have remained authoritative to our day where the traditional
Jewish Law is dispensed. He-thus gave the impetus t9 an intellectual activity in Palestine which, though surpassed in Babylonia, maintained Jewish learning in its ancient centre at a high level for several generations and resulted, as already mentioned, though not till that the 5th century, in the Palestinian Talmud. It is notefiorthy Yochanan's nax attitude in legal mattérs was a comparatively liberal one. I have already mentioned that he permittgd purchases from Gentiles in certain céseS. He also permitted, what had previouSly beén considered against the Law, th; interior decoiatiofi of walls in
eofile‘s8 houses.
But as with host Rabbis, Yochanan's greatness resided partly
in his personality and his ethical teachings. One of the finest ' servant examples is the way in which he treated his KXKKH. For it is
recorded that of every dish prepareé for his meals, he allowed
his servant to partake also. And he qfiified this procedure
most aypropriately by referring to the verse in the Book of Job
(51:15): "Did not He that made me in the womb make him? and did
not one fashion us in the womb?" (J. Ket. 85:5) -12-
He demanded a high standard of piety of himself, and even i3 his years of infirmity he observed the minutiae of personal Observances with thesgreatest care. Only in one respect did he allow hinself some latitude. For it is related in the Palestinian
Talmud that
"Rabbi Y0chanan used to put on both Tefillin in the winter when he did not suffer from heedeache; but in the summer, when he did suffer frbm headache, he put on bhly the Tefilla of the hand, not the Tefillah of the head." (Bpr. 82:3)
Nevertheless he did not feel free from guilt on this account.
For in a discussion on "the profanation of the Name" Yochanan confesses:
"I am an example of the profanaticn of the name; in that I walk four dubits without studying Torah and withaut wearing Zefillin."
(Yoma 868)
His humility is also illustrated by the following legend.
"Rabbi Yochanan, when he came to the following verse, wept:-
'Behold> fie putteth no trust in His holy ones'. (Job 15:15) xxmmém gxmxxmixx , 'If He does not put His trust in His holy ones, in whom will he put his trust?' One day he was going on a journey and saw a man gathering figs; he was leaving those that were ripe and was taking
those that were unripe. So he said to him: ' Are not thuse better?‘
3e replied: 'I need these for a journey: these will keep, but the.
others will not keep.‘ (Cheg. 59) _ l5 _.
Tnen R. Yochanan understood the meaning of the verse,
*Behold He putteth no trust in His holy ones'. Ene rignteous, like the ripe figs, are in danger or losing tne;r EXCELLEUCG;
But the inwerfect have, like himself, the chance to perfect themselves.
One of the finest uaits in Yoehanan's character is indicated by the way in Which, according to several stories, he used to comfort thosé who were mourning the death of a member of the family. Yochanan himself, the Story goes, had ten sons, all of wnom died. “hen the last one died he kept of him a small bone, which he used to show to anyone in grief and say "Behold, all that new remains of.the last of my ten sonS."
And the mourner, astounded by the magnitude of Judah's misfortune, would feel less acutely his own sorIOW.
Ehen Rabbi Yochanan died, in ripe old age, that day was declared to be as great a calamity as that on which the sun gKfiEX
flafifi goes dawn at midday (aced Kevan 25b), and his lové for the
Torah was compared with the love described in the song of Songs:—
"Many waters cannot quench 1: love, neither can floods drawn it. I; a men offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned." (8:7) 5&3! CNIA ‘ From Palestine we must now turn to Babylonia. Jews had
resided there since the firét deportation of Judean caytives
in 597 B.C.E. when Kiné Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Palestine most of them remained in their new homeland.
In Babylonia Jewish life continued comparatively unmolested for hany éenturies.v From Qime to time waves of Jewish immigrants arrived fnom Palestine. Ibis must have happened when the Hesmonean kingdom EEEXHE collapsed in 63 B.C.E., when fhe Temple was destroyed in 70 0.3., and sgain after the Bar Kochba Rebellion
'in 135. On the cer hand the Jews of Babylonia iooked to Palestine 3% the religiods centre. They had their own séhoolé, butzmny. scholars went from Babylonia-tq Palestine to complete their education. That was_true, for example, of the great Hillel in the lét éentury B.C.E., and many others followed his example.
fiillel had remained in Pélestine to become the Head of the Sanhedrin.
Other babylonian scholars returned t0 their native land to teach.
The most famous of these was Abba Arikha with whqn we Shall deal
presently. ' XKEXXKfiEXEEXEfififiAEEEE .
The Jews of Babylonie were, for the.moét part; farmers and
Shepherds, Wine—growers and date—growers. ‘Some wers'merchents — for there was an active trade nbt only internally, along the irrigation canals linking the Tigris and Euphrates, but also externally with the Roman Empire, and wi£h India and China.
Many Jews, too, were artisans: masons, carpenters, tailOrs, potters, weavers. All these occupations are mentioned in the Babylonian Télmud. Most of the Jews were comparatively poor, though not suffering severe hardship, and some had becane quite _'15 _
Politically, they enjoyed é ponsidereble Measure of autonomy.
They were ruled by a person called the Been ualuta, or Bxilarch, whc claimcfl descent from the House of bevid. He had seven advisers who, with the heads bf the various Jewush municipalities, farmed the Community Council. The total Jewish pppulation of babylonia has been estimated as about one million in the lst century, and two million KEXWKE in the Amoraic period, that is between 200 and 500 C.E.
The Babylonian Jews developed quite an efficient system of elementary education, modelled on that of Palestine, and maintained a vigorous religious life, centrins round the synagogues whiéh were the mosf conscipuous buildings in every Jewish community cehtre.
There were also somé schools of higher learning. Before the days of Rev there was at least one: at Nehardea, fiflfifiXEEgfifid about 50 miles south—west of Bagdad, on the river Euphrates. Rev, 6n his return
firom Palestine, founfléd a second school at Sure, also on the Euphrates, but 200 miles nearer to the Persian Gulfi. In 226 a civil war broke out, andfizhe consequent distunbances lasted until 260. Then £0110wed a war against the Romans and the Palmyrans, during_which the School of Nehérdea was destroyed. Almost immediately it was re—established at Pumgeéipha, 50 miles further up the Euphrates. From now on
Sure and Pumbeditha became the Oxford and Cambridge of Babylonian
Jewry. Each had a Principal called Bosh Yeshiéa, and for many years Rev and Samuel occupied this position at Sure and Pumbeditha respectively. The Talmud records innumerable differences of opinion between these two mén, though they entertained very friendly feelings, and even a great admiration, for each other. _ 15 _
A very interesting feature of these schools was XKEK the institution of the Kbllah. Every Ellul and Adar, the months before new Year and Passover, a study-course was held which was attended by Very large numbers of Jews who were not full—time scholars, and who abandoned their secular occupations for the puiposa of undergoing an intensive "University Extension Gourse" in the study of the Torah.
Soon the material accumulated in the Rabbinic discussions and researches grew so vast that a need arose to commit it to w&iting, exactly 95 had happened in the case of the Mishnah.
That task was prbbably begun by Rev Ashi, head of the Academy of Sure from the end of the ath century. He did not complete the Babylonian Talmud, but hé organised a great part of the material which later became the Babylonian Talmud; It was a lifetime's work. At the end 95 the 5th century there was another ‘persecution Which interfered considerably with Jewish religious life. The academies were closed, even the recitation of the Shema
was forbidden, and several scholars were put to death. at this
time the young Exilarhh, Mar Zutia, led a successful rebellion
which enabled him, for a short period, to establish an indepegdent
Jewish kingdom. But the rebellion was supprssed and Mar Zutra was
publicly executed. Scon, however, the academies of Sara and
Pumbeditha wer: re—opened, and the¥e, in the 6th and 7th centuries,
the finiShing touches were put to the Babylonian.Talmud. 3A1
Rév was born in Babylonia about the same time as Yochanan was/born in Palestine, perhaps a little earlier. He is mentioned in the Taimud many hundreds of times, usually simply as Rav,
Master. That is to say he was accorded the same respect in
Babylonia as had been accorded to Judah in Palestine 9 generatiaI
earlier. Bis proper name was Abba, and he is also referred to I as Abba Arikha, that is to say, Abbé the T911. But already in
the Tahnud some scholars took the word 'Arékha' to be, not
a description :f his physique, but an honorific title. It may
then come from a word meaning 'toflarrange' and so signify
'an arranger of arguments' (so Jastr0w), in which case we might translate "frofessor Abba".
Rev came from a diétinguished Babylonian family. His father, _ Afibo, had besn one of the teachers under Judah the Prince; and
it was therefore not surpriSing that Rev himself should be sent
to Palestine for the completion of his education.. He came to
Seppporis and studied-under Judahlthe Prince. There he also,made
the acquaintance of Yochanan, who was a fellow-pupil, junior to
himself, and therefore sitting several rows behind him. He soon
acquired so much knowledge that he was recognised as an outstanding
authority in Jewish Law.
"Rabbi Yochanan enquired: 'Who is the Head of the Academy
in Babylon?‘ 'Abbe Arikha' reglied Isi ben Hini. ‘And you simily
call him Abba Ariké!’ said Rabbi Yochanan. 'I remember when
I was sitting before Rabbi, seventeen rows behind Rev, seeing _ 18 _
sparks.of fire 168915; from the mouth of Rabbi into the mouth of
Rat, find from the mouth of Rev into the mouth of Rabbi, and I
could not understand what they were saying; anfi you Simply call himlAbba Arikha!” (Chullin 13%)
3003 after Judah's death, in the year 2;9,.Rev returned
to his native Babylonia. That date was long remembered as a
turning point in the history of Babylonian Jewry. Rev was
immediately recognised as the greatest scholar in the country.
For a time he taught at the already existing College of Nehardea.
Then he founded his own College at Sure. Eater he was offered
the post of Principal of the Nehardea College, but he declined
it'in favour of his great colleague Samuel. But he remained in
close contact with Samuel, and the disputes between these two men
occupy-a Very large part of the Babylonian Talmud. Rev, in virtue
of the fact that he was a disciple of Judah the Prince, was regarded
as a kind of link between the Tennaim and the Amoraim. He is one
of the very Iew_Amoraim whb were permitted the right to dispute
the dpinions of the earlier Rabbis redorded in the Mishnah.
In couréé of time Rav's authority became so great that he was
able to secure f9! Rhe Babylonian Jewish community, for the first
time, a large meesdxe of religious indepecnge>of Palestine.
Previously many matters of Jewish 28% could be decided only in
Palestine; Now Babylonia became the eAuai and soon the superior
centre of Jewish learning and jurisdiction. Rav @evoted himself '
systematically to the raising of the general level both of knowledge and of morality among his brethren in Babylonia; -19-
and they, in turn, referred to him as "our great Master".
He tkevelled a gdod deal among the variqus Jewish settlements
in his country, lecturémg, preaching and advising; in the schoolé
and in the synagoguee. But his home iemained in Sure until his
death in 247. He was probably fairly wealthy, and it aypears
that for a time he engaged in commerce, and later in agricukture.
He gave his attention to nearly every aspect of Jewish Law,
especially marriage aha divorce, and prayer. fie composed a
number of prayers, including the Masai—service for Rosh Hashanah,
.and perhaps the Aleynu,'ané the prayer to be recited on the Sabbath before the New Moon. He was an excellent Haggadist,
the greatest of the Bébylcnian Amoraim, and he delightea
especially in basing beautiful hgmiliés on the stories and
personages of the Bible.
"When they said to Samuel: 'Rav's soul has gone to rest',
he rent on account of him thirteen garments and said: 'Gone is
the man before whom I trembled (on account of his great lea:ning)'.
(Moed Katan 248)
Many of Rav's ethical sayings have_become famdus. Here is
a small selection from them.
"The commandments of the Torah were only given to purify
men's morals." (Gen.R. 44) "Whatever may not properly be done
in public is forbidden even in the most secret chamber." (Shab.64b)
"It is well that people busy themselves with the study of the
Torah ana the performance of kind deeds, even when not entr ely
‘ _ 20 _
disinterested; for th: habit of right-doing will finally make the
intention pure." (Pes. 50b) "Mhosoever has not cofipassion on his "It is better fellow—man is no child of Abraham." ( Betsah 52b)
to cast oneself into a fiery £¢rnace than’publicly to put to shame
one's fellOW—ciaature." (EM 598) "A father should never refer
one child to another; the example of Joseph shOWS what evil reallts
follow from that." (shah. 10b) "Man will be called-to account for
having depribed himself of the good things which the world offeied."
Jr Kid. end) "There is nothing on earth to compare with the life
to come. In the world to come theré will be neither eating nor drinking, neither trading no: toil, neither hatred nor envy; but
the righteous shall sit with crowns upon their heads, and rejoice
in the radiance of the divine presence." (Ber 178)
-The prayer for the New Moon already referréd to. which is recited
in Orthodox Synagogues. used to be recited by Rev every day after the xxmxflxhx Amidah; It reads as follows:'
"May it be thy will, C_Lord our Goa aha God of our fathers,
to renew unto us this coming month for good and for blessing;l 0
grant us long life, a life of peace, of good, of blessing, of
sustencnce, or bodily vigour, aslife marked by the fear of Heaven
and the dread of Sin, 2 life free from Shame and reproach, a life
of prosperity and honour, a life in which the love of the Law and
the fear of Heaveh shall cleave to us, a life in which the desires
of our heart shall be fulfilled for ggod. Amen. (Selah.)
E “F A “E; RAV ASH;
0: Rev Ashi's personal life, veiy little is known.
Nor he is respofisible for many ethiéal sayings of particular
interest or beauty. His importance lies mainly in the fact
that he has long been regarded as one\of the principal editors
of the Babylonian Talmud; This assumptidn has been based on
one or two isolated references in the Talmud, whose interpretation
has recently been doubted. But even if these gm references do
not bear the interpretation which has been placed on them, it is
still likely that Ashi had a great deal to do with the mxgxm
collection and organization of the material which was later
embodied in the Talmud. He was in an admirable position to do
:o,nfor he was head of the Academy of Sure for about 50 years,
until his death in the yeér 427. During that period he was the
acknowledged authority in Jewish law throughout Babylonia, and he
was held in great respect by the principals and lecturers of the
two other great academies. ' He was also a very wealthy man and
on frie'ndly: terms with the Persian king. Indeed it was said of him that since the days of Judah the Prince, learning xkn and social
'diStinction were neyer so united in one person as in Ashi.
(SAN 56A)
The traditional aséumption has been that Ashi was the main
compiler of the Talmud, which was completed by Rabina at the and
5th century, while the finishing touches were put to it by the
so!called noraim or interpreters, in the 6th century. It is
now considered more likely that several written collections existed -32- and that the Babylonian Talmud in its preseht form was not completed until the 7th century. However much or ltttle ‘
Ashi may have had to do with it, he was undoubtedly the leading scholar in Baylonia during a long period round abput the year 400.
And he built up the Academy of Sure both architecturally and intellectuayy as the supreme Centre of Jewish learning. It retained that position for several centuries, throughout the period of the Geonim to which , we will turn when thé series is resumed after the summer recess. \ M wv-L Ngfifi W1”) YWV
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