Isaac b. Judah
Encyclopedia
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sage, with a similar name, see: Isaac ben Judah ibn Ghayyat (1030, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). - For the PortuguesePortuguese peopleThe Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
Jewish leader during The expulsion of Jews from Spain, see: Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel (LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, 1437, also known as The Abarbanel). - For the Tosafist sage, see: Judah b. Isaac of Paris (1166, also known as Judah Messer LeonJudah Messer Leon (1166)Judah ben Isaac Messer Leon was a French tosafist born in Paris. According to Gross he was probably a descendant of Rashi, and a pupil of Isaac ben Samuel of Dampierre and his son Elhanan. He married a daughter of Abraham ben Joseph of Orleans, who has been identified by Jacobs with Abraham fil...
).
R. Isaac son of Rab Judah (or Isaac b. Judah or YIẒḤAḲ BAR JUDAH, or Yitzchaq bar Judah; Hebrew: רב יצחק בריה דרב יהודה) was a fourth generation Amora sage of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. His father was Judah ben Ezekiel
Judah ben Ezekiel
Judah ben Ezekiel , was a Babylonian amora of the 2nd generation. He was the most prominent disciple of Rav , in whose house he often stayed, and whose son Hiyya was his pupil...
whom was his Teacher par excellence, and he debated many Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
ic issues with him. His father regarded him highly, and would submitt statements in his son's name, which was considered unusual, since usually an Amora does not submitt statements in the name of their students (but rather, the other way around). At times he would commentate on his father's work.
Biography
Rab Isaac was born to Rabbi Judah probably at an old age. In his childhood already he was showing signs of wisdom and his wit was more than the rest of his peers. For example, it is storied that when the sages of Pumbedita AcademyPumbedita Academy
Pumbedita Academy was a Jewish Yeshiva academy in Babylon, during the era of the Jewish Amora and Geonim sages. The academy was founded at the beginning of the second generation of the Amora era, by R...
, debated the law stipulating that a purchase from young children who sold movables to make a living is a valid due to a Takkanah
Takkanah
A takkanah is a major legislative enactment within halakha , the normative system of Judaism's laws.A takkanah is an enactment which revises an ordinance that no longer satisfies the requirements of the times or circumstances, or which , being deduced from a Biblical passage, may be regarded as new...
, stipulating if only they have sufficient understanding of the meaning of their actions, then Judah ben Ezekiel pointed out to his son, Isaac, who was about six or seven at the time, as one who may sell movables to make a living. When another opinion stipulating the age nine or ten was brought before him, he replied that each child varies according to his intelligence at certain age, like his son who at the age of six had great intelligence.
He did not marry until a very late age, because his father did not know where to find a family with no Marriage restrictions, until Ulla
Ulla (Talmud)
Ulla or Ulla was a Jewish Talmudist and one of the leading Halakhic amoraim in the Land of Israel during the latter part of the third and in the beginning of the fourth centuries CE ....
once came to visit his house and guided him with the signs needed to locate those with no Marriage restrictions. He studied also under Rav Huna
Rav Huna
Rav Huna , a Kohen, 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:...
, as well as under Rabbah bar Nahmani
Rabbah bar Nahmani
Rabbah bar Nachmani was a Jewish Talmudist known as an amora, who lived in Babylonia, known throughout the Talmud simply as Rabbah.Rabbah was born into a priestly family, and studied at both the academies in Sura and Pumbedita...
along with Rab Samuel, the son of Rabbah bar bar Hana
Rabbah bar bar Hana
Rabbah bar bar Hana was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the second generation. He was the grandson of Hana and the brother of Hiyya. He went to Palestine and became a pupil of Rav Yochanan, whose sayings he transmitted...
, and Aha bar Hana.
After their death he became a student of Rami bar Hama
Rami bar Hama
Rami bar Hama was a Babylonian amora of the third generation, a pupil of R. Ḥisda, and a fellow student of Raba, who was somewhat his junior ....
, who was considered an Oker Harim scholar, and would reply to each question addressed to him with reason rather than one relying on a teaching (from the Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
s) that had preceded him, contarary to Rav Sheshet who would reply based on previous sources. This thinking of Rami bar Hama made Rab Isaac leave his lectures, and go study under Rav Sheshet.
Along with brother, Huna b. Judah, he debated the Halacha with Abaye
Abaye
Abaye was a rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia [בבל], known as an amora [אמורא] born about the close of the third century; died 339 . His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his...
and Rava
Rava (amora)
For the third generation Amora sage of Babylon, with a similar name, see: Joseph b. Hama .Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama, who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava , was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270. He is one of the most often-cited Rabbis...
.
Family
His Granddaughter Homa, the daughter of his son Issi, was termed Isha katlanitIsha Katlanit
Isha katlanit is a term used in halakha for a married woman who has become a widow twice. Such a woman, it is said, should not marry again, because marrying her carries the risk that her next husband may also die The origin of this rule is...
("lethal/deadly woman"), since she married three men, all of whom died: Rehaba of Pumbeditha, Rab Isaac, the son of Rabbah bar bar Hana
Rabbah bar bar Hana
Rabbah bar bar Hana was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the second generation. He was the grandson of Hana and the brother of Hiyya. He went to Palestine and became a pupil of Rav Yochanan, whose sayings he transmitted...
, and Abaye
Abaye
Abaye was a rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia [בבל], known as an amora [אמורא] born about the close of the third century; died 339 . His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his...
.
Halakhic technical expertise
Rab Isaac developed a special method of testing TzitzitTzitzit
The Hebrew noun tzitzit is the name for specially knotted ritual fringes worn by observant Jews. Tzitzit are attached to the four corners of the tallit and tallit katan.-Etymology:The word may derive from the semitic root N-TZ-H...
of Tekhelet
Tekhelet
Tekhelet, , Tekheleth, Techelet or Techeiles is a blue dye mentioned 50 times in the Hebrew Bible and translated by the Septuagint as hyakinthinos . Its uses include the clothing of the High Priest, the tapestries in the Tabernacle, and the tassels to be affixed to the corners of one's garments...
, whether they are painted the right material of a certain Gastropoda
Gastropoda
The Gastropoda or gastropods, more commonly known as snails and slugs, are a large taxonomic class within the phylum Mollusca. The class Gastropoda includes snails and slugs of all kinds and all sizes from microscopic to quite large...
's blood
External links
- YIẒḤAḲ BAR JUDAH, jewishencyclopedia.com; Article