Abaye

From Free net encyclopedia

(Difference between revisions)

Revision as of 22:14, 3 February 2006
Runcorn (Talk | contribs)
/* External links and references */ + death cat
Next diff →

Current revision

Abaye, ("little father") the name of a Babylonian 'amora, born in 278. He was an orphan, and was raised by his uncle, Rabbah bar Nachmani, and his wife. Abaye assumed the position of head of the yeshiva of Pumbedita shortly after the retirement of his uncle. His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his grandfather; but being left an orphan at an early age, he was adopted by his uncle, Rabbah bar Nachmani, who nicknamed him Abaye ("Little Father"), to avoid confusion with his grandfather of the same name, and thenceforth he was known as Abaye, without any other title. It is a curious fact that he perpetuated the memory of his foster-mother, probably a slave in Rabbah's household, by mentioning her name in many popular recipes and dietetic precepts, some of which seem to be based on superstitious notions. He introduced each recipe with the phrase, "My mother told me." Abaye's teachers were his uncle Rabbah and Joseph bar Chama, both of whom successively became presidents of the Pumbedita Academy. When Joseph died in 333, this dignity was conferred upon Abaye, who retained it until his death some five years later. Rabbah trained him in the application of the dialectic method to halakhic problems, and Joseph, with his stores of traditional lore, taught him to appreciate the value of positive knowledge. Abaye had enormous respect for his uncle, and the Gemara records that he used to entertain his uncle by juggling.

Abaye was a master of Torah study and the art of teaching Torah. He studied at the yeshiva (Torah Academy) of Pumbedita, run by his uncle. There his good friend and study-partner was Rava, with whom he often engaged in debates on various aspects of Torah Law. The debates between Rava and Abaye are considered classic examples of Talmudic discourse. Of their hundreds of recorded disputes, the Law is decided according to the opinion of Rava in all but six cases. Superior as Abaye no doubt was in his dialectic analysis of halakhic sentences, he was, nevertheless, surpassed in this regard by Raba, with whom he had been closely associated from early youth. To the disputations between these amoraim we owe the development of the dialectic method in the treatment of halakic traditions. Their debates are known as the Hawayot de-Abaye we-Raba (Debates of Abaye and Raba), the subjects of which were then considered such essential elements of Talmudic knowledge that by an anachronism they were thought to be known to Johanan ben Zakkai, who lived some centuries before (Suk. 28a). Their halakic controversies are scattered throughout the Babylonian Talmud. With the exception of six of his decisions, the opinions of Raba were always accepted as final. Abaye was never so happy as when one of his disciples had completed the study of a Mishnah treatise. On such occasions he always gave a feast to his pupils (Shab. 118b), though his circumstances were needy, and wine never appeared upon his table. His peace-loving disposition and his sincere piety are well exhibited in his maxims (Ber. 17a), among which occur the following: "Be mild in speech; suppress your wrath; and maintain good-will in intercourse with your relatives as well as with others, even with strangers in the market-place."

Abaye urged his disciples to conduct themselves in such a way as to lead others to the love of God (Yoma, 86a). In Biblical exegesis he was one of the first to draw a distinct line between the evident meaning of the text (peshaṭ) and the sense ascribed to it by midrashic interpretation. He formulated the following rule, of great importance in Talmudic exegesis (Sanh. 34a): "One Bible verse can be referred to different subjects, but several different Bible verses can not refer to one and the same subject."

He defended the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus against his teacher Joseph. By quoting from it a number of edifying passages he showed that it did not belong to the heretical books which are forbidden, and even compelled his teacher to admit that quotations might with advantage be taken from it for homiletical purposes (Sanh. 100b). Possessing an extensive knowledge of tradition, Abaye became a most eager disciple of Dimi, the Palestinian amora, who had brought to Babylonia a perfect treasury of interpretations by Palestinian amoraim. Abaye considered Dimi, as a representative of the Palestinian school, a qualified Bible exegete, and used to ask him how this or that Bible verse was explained in "the West," or Palestine. Of his own interpretations of Biblical passages only a few, of a haggadic nature, are preserved; but he often supplements, elucidates, or corrects the opinions of older authorities.

Abaye was also a Kohen (a priest), descending from the family of Eli, and he was caught up in the curse that was placed on that family by God, that no one would ever live out his full years, because of the desecration of God’s name caused by the misdeeds of Eli’s sons, Chofni and Pinchas. Abaye’s righteous behavior staved off the curse for many years but he succumbed to edema in the year 338 or 339 at the relatively young age of sixty.

Bibliography: Lampronti, Paḥad Yiẓḥaḳ, s.v.; Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, pp. 22-25; Hamburger, R. B. T., 1883, part ii., s.v.; Kohut, Aruch, s.v. (in which is found an enumeration of all the passages of the Talmud containing Abaye's name); Bacher, Ag. Bab. Amor. s.v.; Weiss, Dor; M. S. Antokolski in Ha-Asif, 1885, ii. 503-506, with Straschun's notes.

[edit]