רבי אבא

Rabbi Abba was an amora of the third generation, born in Bavel and later of Eretz Yisrael. He learned under Rav Huna, rosh yeshivah of Sura, and Rav Yehudah, rosh yeshivah of Pumbedita. He went up to Eretz Yisrael over the objection of Rav Yehudah, and on reaching the border at Acco he kissed its stones; some hold that he made the journey by sea. He was a wealthy man who dealt in silk.

The Gemara relates that before he went up he davened that his words should be accepted by the chachamim of Eretz Yisrael. On arriving he met talmidim of Rabbi Yochanan struggling with a difficult sugya in Beitzah, and when he offered his own resolution they smiled at it. He asked them why they were laughing at him — had he taken their garments? — and they smiled again. The Chatam Sofer explained that his words were not accepted precisely because he had davened that they should be: a person ought not ask that his opinions be received, since if they are mistaken it is better that they not be, but rather that he should reach the truth.

In time he became a leading authority in Eretz Yisrael, so much so that in the yeshivot of Bavel the phrase “our teachers in Eretz Yisrael” means Rabbi Abba, and many learned from him there, Rav Safra among them. He is important above all in halachah; in aggadah he drew his texts chiefly from Tehillim. To fulfil the mitzvah of tzedakah in secret he would tie money into the back of his garment, so that the poor could untie the knot and take it without being seen. One of the intricate sugyot in monetary law is called after him, the niska derabbi Abba.