Abbahu - Rector in Caesarea

Rector in Caesarea

Being wise, handsome, and wealthy (Bava Metzia 84a; Yer. Bava Metzia iv.9d), Abbahu became not only popular with his coreligionists, but also influential with the proconsular government (Hagigah 14a; Ketubot 17a). On one occasion, when his senior colleagues, Ḥiyya b. Abba, Rav Ammi, and Assi, had punished a certain woman, and feared the wrath of the proconsul, Abbahu was deputed to intercede for them. He had, however, anticipated the rabbis' request, and wrote them that he had appeased the informers but not the accuser. The witty enigmatic letter describing this incident, preserved in the Talmud (Yer. Meg. iii.74a), is in the main pure Hebrew, and even includes Hebrew translations of Greek proper names, to avoid the danger of possible exposure should the letter have fallen into the hands of enemies and informers (compare Eruvin 53b).

After his ordination he declined a teacher's position, recommending in his stead a more needy friend, R. Abba of Acre (Acco), as worthier than himself (Sotah, 40a). He thereby illustrated his own doctrine that it is a divine virtue to sympathize with a friend in his troubles as well as to partake of his joys (Tan., Wa-yesheb, ed. Buber, 16). Later he assumed the office of rector in Cæsarea, the former seat of R. Hoshaya I, and established himself at the so-called Kenishta Maradta (Insurrectionary Synagogue; Yer. Nazir vii.56a; Yer. San. i.18a; compare Josephus, B. J. ii.14, § 5; Jastrow, Dict. p. 838), whence some of the most prominent teachers of the next generation issued. He did not, however, confine his activity to Cæsarea, where he originated several ritualistic rules (Yer. Demai ii.23a, R.H. 34a), one of which—that regulating the sounding of the shofar—has since been universally adopted, and is referred to by medieval Jewish casuists as "Takkanat R. Abbahu" (the Enactment of R. Abbahu; compare "Maḥzor Vitry", Berlin, 1893, p. 355). He also visited and taught in many other Jewish towns (Yer. Berakhot viii.12a; Yer. Shab. iii.5c).

While on these journeys, Abbahu gathered so many Halakot that scholars turned to him for information on mooted questions (Yer. Shabbat viii.11a; Yer. Yevamot i.2d). In the course of these travels he made a point of complying with all local enactments, even where such compliance laid him open to the charge of inconsistency (Yer. Berakhot viii.12a; Yer. Beitzah, i.60d). On the other hand, where circumstances required it, he did not spare even the princes of his people (Yer. Avodah Zarah, i.39b). Where, however, the rigorous exposition of laws worked hardship on the masses, he did not scruple to modify the decisions of his colleagues for the benefit of the community (Shabbat 134b; Yer. Shabbat xvii.16b; Yer. Mo'ed Katan i.80b). As for himself, he was very strict in the observance of the laws. On one occasion he ordered some Samaritan wine, but subsequently learning that there were no longer any strict observers of the dietary laws among the Samaritans, with the assistance of his colleagues, Ḥiyya b. Abba, Rav Ammi, and Rav Assi, he investigated the report, and, ascertaining it to be well founded, did not hesitate to declare the Samaritans, for all ritualistic purposes, Gentiles (Yer. Avodah Zarah, v. 44d; Hullin 6a).