רב אחא בר יוסף

Rav Acha bar Yosef was an amora whose discussions are preserved in the Babylonian Talmud, where he is recorded raising questions and engaging the scholars of his day. In tractate Chullin he presses Rav Chisda on the laws separating meat and dairy: after Rav Chisda stated that one who has eaten meat may not then eat cheese, Rav Acha bar Yosef asks about meat lodged between the teeth — a sharp practical refinement of the rule.

He also appears in tractate Shabbat, both as a questioner of halachah and as a figure whose own circumstances enter the record. Leaning on the shoulder of Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, his sister’s son, he raises a question of Shabbat law concerning the handling of a linen garment — whether the intent is to soften it (permitted) or to whiten it (forbidden) — and Rav Safra rules that the aim is softening, and it is permitted. Elsewhere he is described as suffering from a pain of the heart and coming before Mar Ukva, who advised him on a remedy, which leads into a broader discussion in the study hall of the proper measures and treatments.