Abba Arika

Overview

His surname, Arikha (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 Arekha, 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 I, 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 Shimei, brother of King David (Sanhedrin 5a; Ketubot 62b). His father, Aibo, was a brother of Chiyya, who lived in Palestine, 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 Babylonia, where he at once began a career that was destined to mark an epoch in the development of Babylonian Judaism.

The Aleinu prayer first appeared in the manuscript of the Rosh Hashana liturgy by Rav. He included it in the Rosh Hashana mussaf service as a prologue to the Kingship portion of the Amidah. For that reason some attribute to Rav the authorship, or at least the revising, of Aleinu.

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 era. As the scene of his activity, Rav first chose Nehardea, where the exilarch appointed him agoranomos, or market-master, and Rabbi Shela made him lecturer (amora) of his college (Jerusalem Talmud Bava Batra v. 15a; Yoma, 20b). Then he removed to Sura, on the Euphrates, 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. Samuel, 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 marriage and divorce, 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 liturgy of the synagogue. He is reputed to be the author of one of the finest compositions in the Jewish prayerbook, the Mussaf service of the New Year. In this noble prayer are evinced profound religious feeling and exalted thought, as well as ability to use the Hebrew language 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 Amoraim. He is the only one of the Babylonian teachers whose haggadistic utterances approach in number and contents those of the Palestinian haggadists. The Jerusalem Talmud has preserved a large number of his halakic and aggadistic utterances; and the Palestinian Midrashim also contain many of his aggadot. Rav delivered homiletic discourses, both in the Beth midrash (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 aggadah, 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 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" (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 shows what evil results may follow therefrom".

Rav reproves extreme asceticism

Rav loved the Book of Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), and warned his disciple Hamnuna 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 transcendental 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). He is referred to as the son of noblemen (Shabbat 29a) but it is not clear if this is an affectionate term or a true description of his status. Rashi does tell us that he is being described as the son of great men. That he was highly respected by the Gentiles as well as by the Jews of Babylonia is proved by the friendship which existed between him and the last Parthian 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 Ardeshir, founder of the Sassanian dynasty, although Samuel of Nehardea probably did so. Rav became closely related, through the marriage of one of his daughters, to the family of the exilarch. Her sons, Mar Ukba 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 Huna. Two of his grandsons occupied in succession the office of exilarch (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).