| Rabbinical Eras |
|---|
Rabbah b. Shela[1] (or Rabbah b. Shila[2] or R. Abba b. Shila[3] or Rabbah son of R. Shila [4] or simply Rabbah[5]) was a fourth generation Amora sage of Babylon, and a pupil of Rav Chisda. Among his teachers, in addition to Rav Chisda, were R. Mattena, and R. Hamnuna the Elder [6]. He served as a Dayan [7].
It is storied that he once met Elijah and had asked him:
"What is the Holy One, blessed be He, doing?
and Elijah answered:
"He utters traditions in the name of all the Rabbis, but in the name of R. Meir he does not utter... Because he learnt traditions at the mouth of Aher.
Then Rabbah asked him:
"But why? R. Meir [is like a man who] found a pomegranate; he ate [the fruit] within it, and the peel he threw away!"
and so Elijah answered:
"Now He [the Holy One] says: Meir my son says..."
—Babylonian Talmud, Tractate hagigah, 15b
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||