Mar Ukva Mar Ukva , מר עוקבא
Sages of the Talmud (or Mar Ukba; other: Mar Ukva (I) )(also identified with Nathan de-zuzita) was an '' Amora'' of

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

, of the first generation of the Amora era.

Biography

He served as an

Exilarch The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing ...

during the days of

Samuel of Nehardea Samuel of Nehardea or Samuel bar Abba, often simply called Samuel (Hebrew: שמואל) and occasionally Mar Samuel, was a Jewish Amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea, Babylonia. He was a teacher ...

, who was also his Rabbi, but at the same time, Samuel was subordinated to Mar Ukva in Ukva's capacity as "

Av Beit Din The ''av beit din'' ( ''ʾabh bêth dîn'', "chief of the court" or "chief justice"), also spelled ''av beis din'' or ''abh beth din'' and abbreviated ABD (), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period, ...

" (chief of the rabbinical court) and its second-highest-ranking member. He resided at Kafri city,

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

, about 20km south of

Sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

, where his

rabbinical court A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

was also located. He was very strict about refusing any action that could be interpret as a bribe to him by one of the parties in a case. He was appointed

exilarch The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing ...

after R.

Huna Kamma Rav Huna Kamma (Aramaic/Hebrew: הונא קמא, lit. ''Huna I'') was a rabbi of the 2nd century AD (fifth generation of tannaim) and Babylonian Exilarch, allegedly descending from King avid The Seder Olam Zutta refers to him as "Anani", both na ...

died. Some say that he was Huna Kamma's son, but this is not explicit in the sources. In the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

it is said that he was a righteous man and used to give

tzedakah ''Tzedakah'' or ''Ṣedaqah'' ( he, צדקה ) is a Hebrew word meaning "righteousness", but commonly used to signify ''charity''. This concept of "charity" differs from the modern Western understanding of "charity". The latter is typically un ...

anonymously, in order not to shame the needy he handed the charity to. As a disciple of Samuel of Nehardea, he also had knowledge in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

. His greatest student was

Rav Chisda Rav Ḥisda ( he, רב חסדא) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Kafri, Asoristan in Lower Mesopotamia near what is now the city of Najaf, Iraq. He was an amora of the third generation (died c. 320 CE at the age of ninety-twoMoed Kattan 28a), ...

, who quotes him often. Another student was Rav

Zeira Rabbi Zeira ( he, רבי זירא), known before his semicha as Rav Zeira ( he, רב זירא) and known in the Jerusalem Talmud as Rabbi Ze'era ( he, רבי זעירא), was a Jewish Talmudist, of the third generation of amoraim, who lived in th ...

. The Talmud mentions the "sons of Mar Ukva" in several places, one son named Rav Natan is named, and one source names "Mari son of Mar Ukva" though

Dikdukei Sofrim Dikdukei Soferim (Hebrew: דקדוקי סופרים) is the name of a series of books written by Rabbi Raphael Nathan Nata Rabbinovicz, which bring different textual variants of the Babylonian Talmud from the Munich 95 manuscript (written in 1342, ...

suggests that the correct text here is "Mari son of Mar said in the name of Mar Ukva" implying that Mari had a different father. When Mar Ukva died he left behind orphan children, and

became their guardian.

Quotes

* Whoever prays on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

eve and says ''Vayechulu'', two ministering angels accompany him and put their hands on his head and say to him: "Your sin has departed, your transgression is atoned." * Whoever speaks

lashon hara ''Lashon hara'' (or ''loshon horo'', or ''loshon hora'') ( he, לשון הרע; "evil tongue") is the halakhic term for speech about a person or persons that is negative or harmful to them, even though it is true. It is speech that damages the p ...

, the Holy One (blessed be He) says "I and he cannot dwell in the world together".Arachin 15b

External links

Genealogy of the House of David- Nathan Ukban I, 6th Exilarch

References

Talmud rabbis of Babylonia Exilarchs Baalei teshuva 2nd-century rabbis Jewish royalty 3rd-century rabbis {{MEast-rabbi-stub