רב משרשיא

Rav Mesharshiya was a Babylonian Amora whose statements, questions, and rulings are cited frequently throughout the Talmud. He is recorded challenging Rava in Zevachim and presenting counter-arguments in tractates such as Meilah, Temurah, and Horayot.

His cited material concentrates heavily on the laws of Korbanot and the Kehuna (Zevachim, Menachot, Temurah, Keritot, Arakhin, Bekhorot), on the dietary laws of permitted and forbidden animals (notably extensive contributions in Chullin concerning bnei me’ayim, treifot, and the offspring of a ben peku’ah), and on questions of tahara, ma’asrot, and forbidden foods. He frequently builds arguments from from kal va-chomer reasoning.

He is also remembered for a piece of instructional counsel addressed to his sons (or students), preserved in both Keritot and Horayot: that they should first master the recited text of the Mishnah and only then come before their teacher, gaze at the teacher’s mouth while learning, and study beside flowing water so that their learning should likewise flow, citing the verse “and your eyes shall see your teacher” (Isaiah 30:20).