Judah bar Ezekiel (220–299 CE) (Hebrew: יהודה בן יחזקאל); often known as Rav Yehudah, was a Babylonian amora of the 2nd generation.
Biography
Judah was the most prominent disciple of Rav, in whose house he often stayed, and whose son Hiyya b.
Rav was his pupil.Eruvin 2b After Rav's death Judah went to Samuel of Nehardea, who esteemed him highly and called him "Shinena"Berachot 36a; Kiddushin 32a (= "sharpwitted", or "he with the long teeth"Hai Gaon in a responsa).
He remained with Samuel until he founded a school of his own at Pumbedita.
He died there in 299 CE.
Judah was celebrated for his piety, and it is related that whenever he ordained a fast in time of drought rain fell.Ta'anit 24a
His sons Isaac and Judah also became known as rabbis.
Teachings
Judah possessed such great zeal for learning and such tireless energy that he even omitted daily prayer in order to secure more time for study, and prayed but once in thirty days.Rosh Hashana 35a This diligence, together with a remarkably retentive memory, made it possible for him to collect and transmit the greater part of Rav's, as well as many of Samuel's, sayings; the Talmud contains about 400 aggadic and halakhic sayings by Rav, and many by Samuel, all recorded by Judah b.
Ezekiel, while a number of other sayings of Rav's that occur in the Talmud without the name of the transmitter likewise were handed down by Judah.Rashi to Hullin 44a
In recording the words of his teachers, Judah used extreme care, and frequently stated explicitly that his authority for a given saying was uncertain, and that his informant did not know positively whether it was Rav's or Samuel's.Hullin 18b His own memory, however, never failed him, and the traditions recorded by him are reliable.
When his brother Rami says, in one place, that a certain sentence of Rav's, quoted by Judah, should be disregarded,Hullin 44a he does not question the accuracy of Judah's citation, but implies that Rav had afterward abandoned the opinion quoted by Judah, and had, in a statement which the latter had not heard, adopted an opposite view.
New method of dialectics
In the school which Judah built up at Pumbedita, he introduced a new and original method of instruction: by emphasizing the need of an exact differentiation between, and a critical examination of, the subjects treated, he became the founder of Talmudic dialectics.Sanhedrin 17b; Hullin 110b; Bava Metzia 38b His method of instruction, however, did not please some of his older pupils, and they left him; among these was Ze'era, who went to Palestine despite Judah's declaration that no man should leave Babylonia for that country.Ketuvot 111a But the new method was acceptable to most of his disciples, and was especially attractive to the young, so that the school at Pumbedita steadily increased in importance and popularity.
After the death of Rav Huna, head of the Academy of Sura, most of his pupils went to Pumbedita, which, until the death of Judah, remained the only seat of Talmudic learning.
Although Judah devoted himself chiefly to dialectics, he did not fail to interpret the mishnayot, to explain peculiar words in them,Pesachim 2a; Mo'ed Katan 6b or to determine the correct reading where several were given.Beẓah 35b; Sukkah 50b
Judah gave little attention to aggadah, and what work he did in that field was almost entirely lexicographical.Nedarim 62b; Hullin 63a; Ta'anit 9b; Gittin 31b In his daily conversation he took pains to acquire the habit of exact and appropriate expression, for which his contemporary Naḥman b.
Jacob praised him.Kiddushin 70a, b
A lover of nature, Judah was a close observer of the animal and plant life around him.
"When in the springtime you see Nature in her beauty, you shall thank God that He has formed such beautiful creatures and plants for the good of mankind".Rosh Hashana 11a Several of his explanations of natural phenomena have been preserved,Ta'anit 3b, 9b as well as etymologies of the names of animals and descriptions of their characteristics.Hullin 63a; Mo'ed Katan 6b; Shabbat 77b
According to him, piety consists chiefly in fulfilling one's obligations to one's fellow creatures and in observing the laws of "meum et tuum" (Latin: "mine and thine", referring to the respect of private property):
It was probably for this reason that he applied himself chiefly to the Mishnaic treatise Neziḳin.Berachot 20a References
It has the following bibliography:
Bacher, Ag.
Bab.
Amor.
pp.
47–52
Weiss, Dor, iii.186-189.
