Yehudah Bar Yeḥezqeʾl

views updated

YEHUDAH BAR YEḤEZQEʾL

YEHUDAH BAR YEḤEZQEʾL (c. 220–c. 299), a leading second-generation Babylonian amora, based in Pumbedita. He studied chiefly with Rav and then Shemuʾel. Although remaining subservient to the exilarch (B.T., Qid. 70a–70b), the leader of the Jewish community appointed by the Persian authorities, Yehudah was empowered by him to apply rabbinic law in the marketplace and in civil and other matters that fell under his jurisdiction, especially through the enforcement of documents (B.T., Moʿed Q. 4b, Yev. 39b).

As a teacher of rabbinic tradition, Yehudah cited the Mishnah to draw out its subtle legal points and to emend or explain it to make it fit the physical and social conditions of Babylonian Jewry or extra-Mishnaic tannaitic traditions (Epstein, 1964). In interpreting and rewording the comments of Rav and Shemuʾel, Yehudah played a crucial role in preserving and employing their teachings (Bokser, 1980, esp. pp. 399–406, 414–415).

Yehudah was accorded high status due to his communal role, expertise in tracing people's genealogy, and devotion to Torah study (see, e.g., B.T., Moʿed Q. 16b–17a, Ḥag. 15b). People believed that he was able to communicate with the dead, intercede for rain, and give insightful advice on health and other practical matters (B.T., Ber. 20a and parallels, ʿA. Z. 28b–29a). He lectured in the pirqaʾ, a popular instructional gathering for both aggadic and halakhic subjects aimed at the general public but to which disciples were also expected to attend (B.T., Shab. 148a).

Notably, Yehudah speculated on the creation (B.T., Shab. 77b), handed down teachings on sacred objects such as the mezuzah and fringes (tsitsit) (B.T. Men. 35b, 39b, 41a), and proposed additional blessing formulas for the wedding ceremony (B.T., Ket. 7b–8a) and other situations. He reportedly concentrated on neziqin (Torts)—the area in which he had received actual authority from the exilarch. Stating that the laws of neziqin had to be carried out to obtain saintliness (B.T., B.Q. 30a), Yehudah asserted that equity in one's daily life was a criterion of one's faith. This rootedness in the practical realm and concern that people relate to the society in which they live may be further reflected in his teachings that discouraged his disciples from emigrating from Babylonia to Palestine (B.T., Ber. 24b; B.T., Ket. 110b–111a); he believed they should not hold their personal religious goals over the needs of the community in the here and now, in the Diaspora.

Bibliography

A comprehensive treatment and bibliography of Yehudah bar Yehezqeʾl and his teachings can be found in Jacob Neusner's A History of the Jews in Babylonia, 5 vols. (Leiden, 1966–1970), esp. vol. 3. Note in particular Jacob N. Epstein's Mavoʾ le-nusaḥ ha-Mishnah, 2 vols. (1948; reprint, Jerusalem, 1964), pp. 318–343. See also David M. Goodblatt's Rabbinic Instruction in Sasanian Babylonia (Leiden, 1975) and my Post Mishnaic Judaism in Transition (Chico, Calif., 1980).