person · P0206
Rav Yehudah רב יהודה
Student of both Rav and Shmuel — the Talmud's constant "Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav / of Shmuel" — and founder of the academy of Pumbedita after Nehardea's destruction (second generation, Bavel). Called "Shinena" (sharp one) by Shmuel, he championed the primacy of Talmud study and of remaining in Bavel.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רב יהודה
- Also known as
- Rav Yehudah bar Yechezkel, Shinena
- Era
- amoraim
- Generation
- A2
- Received the mesorah from
- Rav, Shmuel
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Rabbah, Rav Yosef, Rabbi Zeira, Academy of Pumbedita
- Teachers
- Rav, Shmuel
- Students
- Rabbah, Rav Yosef, Rabbi Zeira
II. When
- Traditional
- d. 4059 AM (Seleucid 610 = 299 CE, per the Iggeret)
- Academic
- c. 220–299 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈79 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Pumbedita
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rambam names him among the great sages who received from Rav and Shmuel; the Iggeret independently calls him one of "the students of Shmuel" — the double attestation behind both edges. | rabbinic tradition | ★★★★★ | |
| After Papa ben Netzer destroyed Nehardea (259 CE), Rav Yehudah was at Pumbedita — the founding of the academy that would last, through Rabbah, Rav Yosef, and Abaye down to Rav Hai Gaon, nearly eight hundred years. | tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| He died in the Seleucid year 610 (299 CE), after which Rav Chisda led at Sura for ten years. | tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| A rabbinic chronology states that Rav Yehudah was born in Babylonia on the day Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi died.
This is a schematic succession tradition rather than an independently dated birth record.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ |