Rabin or Ravin ( he, רבין), short for ''Rabbi Abin'' and also known in the
Yerushalmi as ''Rabbi Abon'' or ''Rabbi Bon'', was one of the most famous rabbis of the fourth generation of
amoraim in the
Land of Israel.
Biography
Different stories about his ancestry are recorded. According to
Ecclesiastes Rabbah, he was born on the day that Rav
Hamnuna, his father, died. In
Midrash Shmuel the same story appears, but without mentioning that Hamnuna was his father. In
Genesis Rabbah
Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical inter ...
, the same story appears but with R' Ada bar Ahava in place of Rav Hamnuna. Thus, it is difficult to know the actual name of his father. Ravin himself testified that his father died when he was conceived (and his mother died when he was born).
He was Babylonian in origin but seems to have immigrated to the
Land of Israel in his youth, where he encountered
Rabbi Yochanan
:''See Johanan (name) for more rabbis by this name''.
Johanan bar Nappaha ( he, יוחנן בר נפחא Yoḥanan bar Nafḥa; alt. sp. Napaḥa) (also known simply as Rabbi Yochanan, or as Johanan bar Nafcha) (lived 180-279 CE) was a leading r ...
and
Reish Lakish.
Along with
Rav Dimi, he moved to Babylonia bringing many halachic traditions from the rabbis of the Land of Israel; he and Dimi arranged that Dimi would travel first, and therefore the phrase "When Rav Dimi came" in the Talmud is frequently followed by "When Ravin came" and only rarely the reverse. Upon arriving in Babylonia he was seen as a peer to
Abaye
Abaye ( he, אַבַּיֵי) was a rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the fourth generation. He was born about the close of the third century, and died 337 CE.
Biography
His father, Kaylil, was the brother ...
.
Babylonian 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 cent ...
, Shabbat 20b; Ketuvot 53a; Hullin 110a; Yevamot 64b
It is likely that R'
Yossi bar Bun (colleague of R'
Jose bar Zevida) was Ravin's son, though Yossi stayed in the Land of Israel, while Ravin moved to Babylonia and apparently remained there.
References
Talmud rabbis of Babylonia
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