Rabbi Ammi, Aimi, Immi (Hebrew: רבי אמי) is the name of several Jewish Talmudists, known as amoraim, who lived in the Land of Israel and Babylonia.
In the Babylonian Talmud the first form only is used; in the Jerusalem Talmud all three forms appear, Immi predominating, and sometimes R. Ammi is contracted into "Rabmi" or "Rabbammi".Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah, 5 45a,b
The most distinguished "Ammi" is an amora of the third generation (3rd century), whose full name was Ammi ben Nathan, who immediately took over Rabbi Johanan bar Nappaha's position after his decease in 279 CE.
Biography
His native country is not named, but it is generally assumed to be Babylonia.
It seems probable that the lifelong friendship existing between R. Ammi and R. Assi had its origin in ties of blood.
R. Assi is identical with R. Assi (Jose) b.
Nathan, and R. Ammi's full name, as given by himself, is Ammi ben Nathan;Gittin 44a both of them, moreover, were of priestly descent;Megillah 22a, Hullin 107b so that they seem to have been the sons of the same father.
As R. Assi was a native Babylonian, there is reason for assuming R. Ammi's Babylonian origin.
In his early age Ammi attended the college at Caesarea, presided over by R. Hoshaiah Rabbah.Yerushalmi Shabbat 3 5d Later he went to Tiberias and became the disciple of R. Johanan, at whose death he voluntarily observed the ritual period of mourning prescribed on the death of nearest relatives only.Mo'ed Katan 25b When he once heard that his Babylonian contemporary, Rav Nachman, had expressed himself disrespectfully of a misapplied opinion of R. Johanan, he indignantly exclaimed, "Does Nahman think that because he is the son-in-law of the exilarch, he may speak disparagingly of R. Johanan's opinions?"
Hullin 124a In Tiberias he became the center of a large circle of learned friends, among whom were R. Abbahu, R. Ḥanina (Ḥinena) b.
Pappi, R. Isaac, and R. Samuel ben Nahmani,Moed Kattan 17a, 20a; Yevamot 48b but the closest and most enduring friendship existed between him and R. Hiyya bar Abba and R. Assi,Berachot 16a, Yerushalmi Pesachim 3 30b both of whom were Babylonian immigrants.
As judge
Although R. Ammi had been in The Land of Israel long before R. Assi, they were both ordained at the same time, and received a warm greeting from the students, who sang, "Such men, such men ordain for us!
Ordain for us not those who use words like 'sermis' and 'sermit,' or 'hemis' and 'tremis'",Ketuvot 17a, Sanhedrin 14a; see the explanation of these expressions in Bacher, Ag.
Pal.
Amor.
ii. 145, note 1; Krauss, Lehnwörter, ii.
276; Jastrow, Dict.
p. 477; idem, Future of Talmudic Texts, p. 15 which was an allusion to the simple language used by these rabbis as contrasted with the admixtures of foreign terms employed by other teachers.
These two, together with R. Hiyya bar Abba, constituted a court of justice - whose administration at one time endangered their liberty, if not their lives.
For a certain offense they had passed a severe sentence on a woman named Tamar, whereupon she preferred charges against them before the proconsular government for interfering with the Roman courts.
Fearing the consequences of this denunciation they requested R. Abbahu to exert his influence with the government in their behalf, but he had anticipated the request, and nothing more was heard of the case.Yerushalmi Megillah 3 74a
Among their Babylonian contemporaries, Ammi and Assi were known as "the judges of the Land of Israel," or as "the distinguished priests of The Land of Israel".Gittin 59b, Sanhedrin 17b On the other hand, when R. Ammi quoted a doctrine of Rav or of Samuel, he introduced it with the expression, "Our masters in Babylonia say".Shevu'ot 47a; compare Sanhedrin l.c. Rector at Tiberias
Eventually R. Ammi succeeded to the rectorate of the academy at Tiberias,Hullin 134b but that did not prevent him from attending to his judicial functions, in conjunction with Rabbi Assi.
Indeed, it is reported that they interrupted their studies hourly, and, rapping at the academy door, announced their readiness to hear causes if required.Shabbat 10a They would offer their prayers in the academy building, preferring for that purpose the spaces between the pillars to all the thirteen synagogues in the city.Berachot 8a, 30b Besides filling these offices, they, together with R. Hiyya, acted as inspectors and, where necessary, as organizers of schools for children and for adults.
One of the instructions given by Ammi to the schoolmasters was to accommodate itinerant scholars in the schoolrooms.Yerushalmi Megillah (Talmud) 3 74a In connection with one of the tours of inspection, the following characteristic anecdote is related:Yerushalmi Hagigah 1 76c, Midrash Tehillim on l.c.
They came to a place where there were neither primary schools for children nor advanced schools for adults, and requested that the guardians of the city be summoned.
When the councilmen appeared before them, the rabbis exclaimed, "Are these the guardians of the city?
They are the destroyers of the city!"
When asked who were the guardians, they replied, "The instructors of the young and the masters of the old; for thus the Scripture says,Psalms 127:1 'Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman is awake in vain'."
Besides their familiarity with halakhah and aggadah, Ammi and Assi also possessed some knowledge of the sciences of their time.
They prescribed remedies in cases of sickness,Avodah Zarah 28a and studied the habits of animals.Leviticus Rabbah 19:1, Midrash Shmuel 5 Much as they valued the study of the Law, they prized pious deeds still higher.
Therefore they and R. Hiyya bar Abba did not hesitate to absent themselves from academy and to miss a lecture by R. Eleazar, when the burial of a stranger required their attention;Yerushalmi Pesachim 3:7 30b and when once a considerable sum of money was presented to the academy, Ammi took possession of it in the name of the poor, among whom it was subsequently distributed.Hullin 134b Once R. Ammi, accompanied by R. Samuel ben Nahmani, undertook a journey to the court of Zenobia (queen of Palmyra) to intercede for Zeir b.
Ḥinena, who had been seized by her orders.
Zenobia refused to liberate him, remarking, "Your God is accustomed to work miracles for you," when a Saracen, bearing a sword, entered and reported, "With this sword has Bar Nazar killed his brother"; this incident saved Zeir b.
Ḥinena.Yerushalmi Terumot 8 46b On another occasion he was ready to ransom a man who had repeatedly sold himself to the Ludi (lanistæ, procurers of subjects for gladiatorial contests)Jastrow, Dict.
p. 695 He argued that although the MishnahGittin 4:9 exempted a Jew from the duty of ransoming a man who repeatedly sells himself to non-Israelites, still it was his duty to ransom the children (to save them from sinking into idolatry); so much the greater was this obligation in a case where violent death was imminent.
Ammi's colleagues, however, convinced him that the applicant for his protection was totally unworthy of his compassion, and he finally refused to interfere.Gittin 46b et seq.
Teachings
R. Ammi and R. Assi are very frequently cited in both Talmuds and in the Midrashim, and often together, either as being of the same opinion or as opposed to each other.
Owing to this circumstance, the same doctrines are quoted sometimes in the name of one and sometimes in that of the other.Compare Berachot 9b; Pesachim 119a; Sukkah 34a; Ta'anit 3a; Sukkah 44a; Mo'ed Katan 3b The same uncertainty manifests itself even where the reporter had probably received the tradition directly from one of them.Hullin 84b; Berachot 20b; Sotah 4b; Gittin 7a
Following are some examples of R. Ammi's exegetics:
Commenting on Lamentations 3:41, "Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens," he observes, "No man's prayer is heard of heaven, unless he carry his soul in the hands which he raises in prayer."
"The prayer for rain is granted only for the sake of the men of faith."
In support of this remark, Ammi, by means of an exegetical substitution of synonymous Hebrew words, quotes Psalms 85:11 ("When Faith springs forth from the earth, Beneficence looks down from heaven").Ta'anit 8a
In Moses' designation of Israel as "a stiff-necked people",Exodus 34:9 Ammi sees not so much a reproach as a praise of its firmness in religion, even in the face of persecution: "The Jew would either live as a Jew or die on the cross".Exodus Rabbah 42
According to R. Ammi, death is the consequence of sin, and suffering the penalty of wrongdoing; the first observation he derives from Ezekiel 18:4 ("The soul that sins, it shall die"); the second from Psalms 89:33 ("I will visit their transgressions with the rod [of punishment], and their iniquity with stripes").Shabbat 55a, Ecclesiastes Rabbah on 5:4
Other quotes
Whoever fails to use reason cannot expect men to pity him (i.e. when he falls into trouble).
References
It has the following bibliography:
Grätz, Gesch.
d. Juden, 2d ed., iv.
300-307;
Frankel, Mebo, p. 63a;
Weiss, Dor, iii.
96;
Bacher, Ag.
Pal.
Amor.
ii. 143-173.
