רב שמעיה בר זעירא

Rav Shemaya bar Ze’ira (רב שמעיה בר זעירא), also written bar Zeira, was an amora of Bavel in the fifth generation. He was among the talmidim of Abaye and Rava, and Rava would send through him questions that he wanted to put to Abaye.

Only one statement of his is brought in the Talmud Bavli. He explains why coins found in Yerushalayim during the festival are presumed to be maaser sheni (second tithe) money rather than ordinary money: since the markets of Yerushalayim are swept every day, coins found there must have fallen from their owners on that same day, and on the festival most of the money in Yerushalayim is maaser sheni (which must be consumed within the Jerusalem city limits).

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