מר עוקבא

Mar Ukva is an Amora widely cited throughout the Talmud, where his rulings appear across many tractates including Niddah, Arakhin, Chullin, Zevachim, Avodah Zarah, Sanhedrin, Bava Batra, Bava Metzia, Bava Kamma, and Kiddushin. He is often quoted by Rav Chisda (“Rav Chisda said in the name of Mar Ukva”), and he transmits teachings in the name of Shmuel, indicating his place within the chain of Amoraic tradition.

His recorded teachings span a broad range of subjects: laws of ritual purity (the discoloration and obstruction of hairs in Niddah), the anatomy of the esophagus and the separation of meat and milk in Chullin, the validity of sacrifices in Zevachim, monetary and procedural law (accepting witnesses in the absence of a litigant in Bava Kamma, inheritance disputes in Bava Batra), and matters of forbidden mixing in Avodah Zarah. He is especially associated with the severe condemnation of lashon hara (evil speech) in Arakhin, where his statements declare that one who slanders deserves stoning and that God cannot dwell in the world together with the slanderer.

Mar Ukva is also remembered for his personal piety and scrupulousness. In Chullin he describes himself as “vinegar son of wine” beside his father, contrasting his own observance of waiting between meat and cheese with his father’s stricter practice.