Rav Avira, Attendant of Rabbi Rabba -- full article
Life is sometimes hectic, and I haven’t had opportunity to post on this site. I hope to catch up soon. Regardless, here is my recent Jewish Link article, on daf Yomi (but a bit behind — Chullin 51a…)
Once, Rav Safra told Abaye that a scholar (tzurba meirabbanan) named Rav Avira had arrived from the Land of Israel with an interesting first-hand report. A case had come before Rabbi involving a needle found protruding from the thickness of a cow’s second stomach (the reticulum) and Rabbi had pronounced it a tereifa. This novel ruling contradicted standard halachic assumptions in Bavel. Therefore, Abaye, presumably at this time quite prominent as the head of Pumbedita academy in this fourth Amoraic generation, summoned Rav Avira to appear before him, so that he could hear the report firsthand and interrogate Rav Avira as to the particulars.
Rav Avira didn’t answer the summons, so Abaye decided to visit him. Rav Avira was standing on the roof and Abaye called for him (“Master”) to descend, but Rav Avira demurred. (It seems that he was reluctant to be interrogated.) Abaye therefore ascended to the roof and asked him for details. Rav Avira said, “I’m the director of assemblies in the study hall. I was standing above Rabbi Rabba, with Rav Huna of Tzippori and Rabbi Yossi of Media sitting in front of him. A needle came before Rabbi which was found in the thickness of the reticulum, protruding from one side. Rabbi turned it over and found a drop of blood on the outside, and deemed the animal a tereifa. He (Rabbi) argued that if there was no wound on the outside, where did the drop of blood come from?” Abaye was annoyed, because this was no novel ruling – it accords with what is stated expressly in the Mishnah. See Chullin 51a.
Generational Difficulties
There is a seeming generational difficulty in this story. Rabbi is commonly understood to be Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who is a sixth-generation Tanna and who died in 217 CE. After him comes the transitional generation between Tannaim and Amoraim, then first, second, and third generation Amoraim. Rav Safra spanned the third and fourth scholastic generations, and traveled between the Land of Israel and Bavel. Abaye was fourth-generation, was born around 278 CE and died around 338 CE. Abaye was not a newborn in this incident. He assumed leadership in the last fourteen years of his life. Even with approximate dates, 338 - 14 - 217 = 107. Meanwhile, Rav Avira is described as a tzurba meirabbanan, which usually refers to a young Torah scholar, and his demeanor is perhaps that of a bashful youth. How could he tell us stories about Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi?
Before we resolve that question, let us establish the identity of this Rav Avira. He is presumably Rav Avira I, a third- and fourth-generation Amora like Rav Safra. We know from elsewhere that he was third-generation Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi’s student (Pesachim 119b). There is also a Rav Avira II, who is a fifth-generation Amora, a student of fourth-generation Rava and a colleague of fifth-generation Ravina I. It would be nifty if it is Rav Avira II, as it would explain the tzurba meirabbanan description relative to Abaye. Based on our partial information regarding associations with the Land of Israel, Rav Avira I seems the likelier match.
Next, at least once in the story, the person ruling on the needle-pierced reticulum was “Rabbi Rabba”. Other places, in the Vilna printing, we have Rabbi spelled in full. In manuscripts it seems to be a resh with a diacritic stroke. These could be authentic plain Rabbi. Alternatively, רבי is orthographically similar to רבה, so a scribe could easily omit the second word, erroneously considering it an erroneous duplicate. This process might be described as haplography.
Who is Rabbi Rabba? Rashi explains this as referring to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. He presumably bases this partly on Chullin 54a. There, Reish Lakish asks, “who is this Rav and who is this Rav? I have never heard of him.” Rabbi Yochanan replies, “Don’t you remember that student who served Rabbi Rabba and Rabbi Chiyya? But by Gosh! All those years that student served in the academy, I also served (but only) while standing. And who was greater? He was greater in everything.” Reish Lakish replied, “Indeed, that man is remembered for good, for they say the following halacha in his name…” Rav famously served and studied under Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, as well as his uncle, Rabbi Chiyya. Rabbi Rabba thus refers to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Also, Rabbi by itself refers to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and “Rabba” or “Rubba” as a suffix is an honorific meaning “the Great” and refers to prominent figures in approximately the late Tannaic (as here) or early transitional era. Rav’s uncle is sometimes called Rabbi Chiyya Rabba / Rubba.
There is an interesting parallel in the people employing the phrase Rabbi Rabba. Both Rav Avira and Reish Lakish stood in service, while others in the story were serving and learning while seated. Also, Rabbi Yochanan was much younger than the others who studied under Rabbi. He was orphaned and brought into Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s house, and was 15 years old when Rabbi died. If Rav Avira was also a young tzurba meirabbanan, alongside his role as director of assemblies, it could also explain his standing above Rabbi Rabba. Regardless, as above, the generational gap between Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and Rav Avira seems too large.
Four Alternatives
We can resolve the generational gap by transforming Rabbi Rabba into a later Sage. He likely is not an otherwise unknown figure, but there are four more plausible candidates. These are Yehuda Nesia I, Yehuda Nesia II, Yehuda Nesia III, and Rabbi Yochanan.
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi had a son, Rabban Gamliel beRabbi, whom he appointed as Nasi, and another son, Rabbi Shimon beRabbi, as Chacham. Rabban Gamliel beRabbi’s son was Rabbi Yehuda Nesia I, an early first-generation Amora. He also was a Nasi of the Sanhedrin in Tzippori, and learned from his father and Rabbi Chiyya. Many early Amoraim, such as Rav, Shmuel, and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, were his students. Rav Hyman writes that Reish Lakish was his talmid muvhak (Nazir 20b). He is called “Rabboteinu” in Niddah 66a. In fact, in Mishnah Avodah Zarah 2:6, we learn that Rabbi and his court permitted gentile oil. Rashi, based on parallel braytot, explains that this is a reference to Rabbi Yehuda Nesia rather than Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Thus, he appears in a Mishnah under this name or title! This brings us closer to Abaye’s era but is probably still too far.
His son was Rabban Gamliel IV, because the Nasi’s family liked reusing names. Rabban Gamliel IV did not assume the Nasi position. (It was taken over by others after Yehuda Nesia I’s death.) However, after Rabban Gamliel IV’s own death, his son, third-generation Rabbi Yehuda Nesia II assumed the role of Nasi. He was criticized by Rabbi Yannai for his lack of scholarship compared to his grandfather and great-grandfather. His teachers include second-generation Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish.
His son was Rabban Gamliel V, whose son was Rabbi Yehuda Nesia III. Rav Hyman finds reference to him in Yerushalmi Megillah 3:2, where (third-generation) Rabbi Yirmeyah sends him a message, and thus when Rabbi Yirmeyah was cast out of the beit midrash, an event occurred when Rabbi Yirmeyah was already a gadol hador . This would establish Yehuda Nesia III as a fourth-generation Amora. Assuming that Rabbi, or Rabbi Rabba, could apply equally to any Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi1, spoken in Hebrew or Aramaic, these two Yehuda Nesias are also candidates, drawing closer to Abaye’s generation.
Finally, as Rabbi Avraham Zacuto in Sefer Yuchsin suggests, there is second-generation Rabbi Yochanan. In Toledot Tannaim veAmoraim, Rav Hyman explains that when Rashi said Rabbi Rabba was Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, he undoubtedly meant Rabbi Yehuda Nesia – perhaps we need to emend our Rashi text. He quotes Sefer Yuchsin and elaborates that, while Rabbi Yochanan was not Rav Avira’s primary and direct teacher, they coexisted. Thus, Rav Avira I could refer to Rabbi Yochanan as Rabbi Rabba. Note that this would stretch the application of Rabbi, or Rabbi Rabba, outside the office of Nasi, by interpreting “Rabbi” relationally.
Surveying these options, I would actually land on Yehuda Nesia III. After all, he coexists with Abaye, and a tzurba meirabbanan – a young Torah scholar – would be fifth-generation Rav Avira II, the eventual student of Rava. The identification holds best on generational grounds, but it rests on a single assumption nothing else corroborates: that Rav Avira II had a tie to the Land of Israel — a fact this sugya would itself be establishing.
or indeed any of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s descendants in the Nasi line.