ABBA. — As • fiitliiM-," uscil
time of
a Praenomen as u iimsculiiic
A word siffiiifyiiijr name as early as the
tlie 'I'aiiuaites (see I'eali,
ii.
6; Yel>. 13«; see
The name was partieuhirly comAmoraim of Palestine and Bal)ylonia.
mon among the
In the latter country Ahha. liy fusion with the iintial R of the title l{;ih,"l]eeaine R-iblia or Haha. In Palestine this was shortened to liaand Va. For the jirobable nuaninir of the name see " Kevue dcs f'.ludes Juives," xxxvi. 104. As an inseparable element in names we lind AlAa. especially in the time of the Tannaites. This word, oriirinally an address of esteem or affection, was closely ])relixed to tlie name The proper; for insUince, Abba .Iosc .bl>a Saul. more prominent of those bearinj; the name of Abba are treated below, W, B.
ABBA:
1.
ably (iamaliel
Abrotherof Habban Gamaliel, i)robi)erlia])s iilenlical with Abba, a
II.
contemporary of .lohanan ben Zakkai, mentioned in Peali, ii. 0. Besides Gamaliel's (hiughter, Abba had at the same time another wife: and when .Vbbadied chilrlless, Gamaliel married his widow, in accordance with till' law (jf Uvirate marriage (Veb. ~><i). Abba's polyiramy is the only instance known among the authorities of the Tahnudic period. The assertion that he was a member of the Sanhedrinat .labneh (C'hajes, "Hev. fet. Juives," xxxi.x, 40 r( Wf/.) is based on an impossible conjecture in Toscfta, Sanh, L. G. Palestinian amora of Babylonian birlh who nourished in the third and fourth cenluries. lie was a pupil of Huna andJudah. the Babylonian masters,
2.
and
1,
A
where he achieved a high Babylonian schools Aliba is always meant when reference is ma<le to "our leacher in llic lanil of Israel " (.Siidi. 17/<), He was wealthy and had a pecidiar metho<l of dispensing charity in si'crel (Kel. (ul>). He is important as a halakist. As a liaggadist he selected chietly ]).S)iIm verses fo'setllcMl in Palestine,
riputatioii.
In
ABBA OF ACRE (Acco)
followiiifr artiele).
viii.
Abba Abba Arika
THE JEWISH EXCYCLOPEDIA
29
lhi>
his texts,
PnL Amur.
Bai-lipr, All.
III.
W,
B.
amora
example
of modesty (Sotah, 40(0, BiBUOORAPBY Bacber. Au. P(il. Amor.
ABBA ABIKA brated
lialiyliiiiian
my of Sura
(usually called
ill.
320.
W,
B,
RAB)
amora and founder
Celeof the .cade-
nourished in lliird century died a! Sura llissurname," Arika (.Vramaic, X3'1X; He brew, -]-iX Knglish, " Long" that is, "Tall " it occurs only onct Hul. VS7h). he owed to his height, which, according to a reliable record, exceeded that of his contemporaries. Others, reading "Areka," consider it au honorary title, "Lecturer" (Weiss, " Diet." «.(•,), "Dor," iii, 147: Jastrow, In the traditional literature he is referred loalmost exclusively as Kid) the .Master (both his contemporaries and pos:
in "247,
"
—
—
him a master). Just as his leachwas known simply as Bjibbi, He is
terity recogni/.ing in er,
Jud;di
I.,
called Biibbi .Vbbaonly in the tannaitic liteniture (for instance, Tosefta, Be/ah, i. 7), where a nundjerof his .siiyingsare ])reserved. Heoccupiesa middle position between the Tannaiin and the Amoraim, and is aceordeil the right, nirely conceded lo one who is only an amora, of disputing Ihe opinion of a tauua (B, B. i'iii and elsewhere), Hab was a ileseeiidant of a distinguished Babylonian family which claimed lo trace its origin to Shimei, brother of King David (Sanh. 5ii Ket. 6'i/j). His father, Aibo, was a brother of Hiyya, who lived in Palest ine, and was a highly esteemed scholar in the eollegiale circle of the patriarch Judaii I, From his associations in the house of his uncle, and later as his uneli's disciple and as a member of the acad emy at Sepplioris, K.ib aei|uiieil such an extraordi nary knowledge of traditional lore as to make him its foremost exponent in his native land. While
Judah
I,
was
Hab, having been duly ornot without certain rereturned to Babylonia, where
living,
still
strictions (Sanh.
olT-K").
A Palestinian
nourished at Ihe end of the third century. He was greatly respected l)y Abbahu and praised as an
dained as teacher
BlBI.IO(!R.piiv
who
— though
I.e.)
—
once began a career that was destined to mark au e]io(h in he develo]iment of Babylonian Judaism, In the annals of Ihe Babylonian schools the year of his arrival is recorded as the starting-point in the chronology of ihe Talmudic age. It Beginning was the ."hiOth year of the Seleueidan of the and the illlth year of the common era, he
at
t
ABBA BAR ABBA:
.V
Babylonian amora of
the second and third <cnturies, distinguished for piety, benevolence, and learning. He is known chielly through his son Mar Samuel, principal of the .cademv of Xehardea, and is nearly always referr.'d to as "Samuel's father." .Vbba traveled to Palestini'. where he entered into relations with I{. Judali I., the patriarch, with whose ]iupil Levi bar Sisi he was on terms of inljjnale friendship. When Levi died Abba delivered the funeral oration and gloritied the meniorj'of his friend. nim.ioini.vrnv: ^^lllr. ffiiiinul, cil. liulnT, IXiO, x. .'i; Yer. I'Dili. vlil. SVi; Krl.-,l,: Fninhi'l, .Uf/,«. pp, rtOa ct mi.; Ili-llprlii,
s,,l,rlin-l)r"i.
Iksx', 11.
- i.
W.
ABBA
B.
ABINA:
.
amora who
R,
Ihe third eenlury. Hi' was a native of Babylonia He emigililed lo Palesllne, anil a pupil of liab. wlierc he became well known in Inidilion, parlicu larly through his various haggadic sayings. The confession which he composed for he Day of Alone mint deserves special mention. It reads: I
" Mvitoil. I have sinniil ami ilnne wlrkril Oiln^, I have piTuMiil In my liail illspnsliliiii anil fellnwiil 11.4 ilinMilen. WInil I have iliini" I will iln im morf. he It Thy will, o Kverla.stli)(f (iiKt, that Thiiu iiiayi'Ml hint nut my Inlipillles, tnrirlvi- all my tnins»:n'.s.slniw. ami pardon all niv Kins" (.Yer. Yuma, eiul t.'Wr'.
lliii'hcr,
Srittr lin-Diirnt,
II.
IS.
Au.
I'd. Aiimr.
III. ,iai,
.s the scene of his activity, Bab Ii ret chose Nehardca. where Ihe exilarch appointed him rtV'"'""'""". or marketmaster, and I{,ibbi Shela made him lecturer (amora) of hiscolhge Ver. B. B.v. l.">./: Voina, 20/i). Thence he removed to Sura, on Ihe Kuphmles, where he established a school of his own, w hich soon became the intellectual center of the Babylonian Jews. As a rcnowiud teacher of the Law and with hosts of (
disciples,
world, tlourishe<l
in
niiu.iiiisKAi-iiv
Talmudic Age.
.tT; Hellprin,
W
B.
who came from
Bab
lived
all
and worked
Samuel, another disciple of lime brought lo the academy
sections of the Jewish
Sura until liisdealh. .luilah 1, at the same
in
al Nebardea a high degree of prosperity: in fact, it was at the school of Bid) that Jewish learning in Babylonia found its per-
manent home and center.
Hab's activity made Babylonia indepenilent of Palestine, and gave it that pre dominatil posilion which it was destined to occupy for several centuries. The method of treatment of the traditional material lo which the Talmuil owes its origin was estabThat inetliod takes lished in Babylonia by Hab. the .Mislinah of Judah ha-Nasi as a text or foundation, adding to it the other taiuniitic traditions, and deriving from all of them the theoretical explana-
