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282 :

Ahadboi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Aharouim Absuloni, lidwi'vcr. his

fet'liiijts

it

Amnon

spokf to

lorn

is sniil (II Siiiii. xiii. 22). "

neitlicr

uood nor

lm., Oen. s? 141). On Solomon's compnrison of liis beloved to the apple-tree (Song Sol. "as the apple tree sends forth it.s ii. 3) lie reniiirks buds before the appearance of its leaves, .so Israel expressed faith before liearinjr the purport of the divine nicssasre. Thus it is written (Ex. iv. 31). 'And Also at Sinai (E.. the iieo])le l)elieved and heard.' xxiv. 7). they promised tirst to do all the Lord should command and then to hearken to His voice" (Cant. Other liomiletic remarks of liis occur in H. ii. 3). Yer. Ber. v. Sil: Gen. K. Ixxxiv; Lam. H. ii. 17; Eecl. H. iii. II. ix. 11. Bibi,ioi;r.piiv Krsnkel, Mchu, 63a Baeher, .It/. Ptil. Amor.







111.

aiiWKy. S.

AHADBOI seventh

f;eni rations.

emy of Sura in

M.

He was

president of the acad-

deeliuinfr days, but tilled the othec

its

His death was then caused by for only six months. an earthquake on the Day of Atonement in the year 822 of the Seleueidan era

= 511.

The name

is

a

Aha de-Abba or De-Abboi (" Father's and corresponds with Ahab of the Bible.

contraction of

Brother

")

Bibliography: Lctlrr of Shrrira, ed. Ncubauer, In Mrdircval Jew. Chnin. I. Brull's Jalirlj. II. :!»; Jastrow, DM. s. v.

S.

AMMI

AHADBOI

M.

B. Babylonian amora of the fourth frc'Mcnitiou (fourth and fifth centuries), a disciple of Hal) Hisda and UabShesliet (Pes. 7.">-(B. M. 91'(Sanh. "lot; Bek. 39'(: Mddah. 37/-). While the latter was discu.ssing some intricate point of ritual, Ahadboi, by facetious remarks, confused his teacher. The teacher felt grieved, and the discijde suddenly lost his power of speech. This was considered as a visitation from heaven for jiultiii!; his master to shame. Thereupon Ahadboi's mollier. who had been Hab Sheshet's nurse, appealed, on behalf of her afflicted son, to her former foster child to pardon the indiscretion of his pupil and pray for his recovery. At first Hab Sheshet refused her petition: but after she had pointed to her breasts, wliiih formerly nourished him. and entreated him to be merciful on their account, he complied, and soon afterward Ahadboi recovered his speech. His collea.irues then stigmatized Ahadboi as "the babe that confounded his mother's ways" (B. B. 9i see Tos. ad Inc. According to Rashi it was Hab Sheshet's own mother who interceded in behalf of Al.iadboi). Ahadboi reports in H. Eleazar's name an observation calculated to encourage beneficence toward the poor. Quoting the prophet's metaphor (Isa. lix. 17). "He put on righteousness [zediikiih used in later Hebrew for "charity "] as a breastplate." he says: "That coat is composite in its nature scale being joined to scale till the armor is completed. Similarly, with regard to zedakah, farthing is added to farthing; and ultimately



—

a large heaven's register

there

is

AHADBOI

amount "

B.

(B. B.

to

the

MATNAH

giver's credit in S.

0/-).

change it during her illnes-s; hence. Ahadboi was declared the legitimate heir (B. B. loh/). S. M.

alsfitbe right to

A^AI An appellation given to several rabbis who ordinarily bear the pra'nomeii Aha. under which name they are grouped; while otlaM-s better known

by the name of /<) 2. A distinguished Babylonian teacher w ho nourished during t lie closing days of the amoraic period and at the beginning of the sabonde epoch. During his time the comiiilaliou and editing of the Babylonian Talmud, begun by liab Ashi, gradually neared comi)letion. His fame wa.s not confined to his birthplace. Be-Hatini, or to his native country foreven in Palestine he was recognized as a great authority. Thus when the substance of a ritualistic controversy between him and Samuel b. Abbaliu was submitted to a Palestinian academy for final ad,jiidication. th<' rabbis ilccided in favor of the latters opinion but they added the significant warning, "Be careful of the views of H. jVl.iai. for he is the light of the diaspora" (Hul. 094). So, while but few of the sayings an<l teachings of his contemporaries are quoted in the Talmud, not less than ten distinct o))inionsof Hab Ahai are incorporated in its pages (Yeb. 24'(, 4(i'' K<'t. 24. 10,/. 47,( Kid. 13'( Shebu. 414;Zeb. 1024; Hul. 6.5A; Bek. 5.(,G,/ Xiddah, 33,/). l{jib Ahai died in ."lOO (" Letter of Slierira " Griltz. "Gesch. d. Ju(Uii." 1st ed., iv. 473). Brtill. "Jalirb." ii. 2') tt tti-q., identifies him with Hab Al.iai b. Hanilai: but the great ma,iority of ancient and inotlern rabbinical chronicles identify him with Hab Ahai 1). II una. S. iM.

A



Babylonian nmora of the sixth and



282

M.

Babylonian anlon^ of the fourth generation, and contemporarv of Haba b. Joseph (Shab. 2-4<(. CM). His sister, bein.irill. willed her belongings to a brother. Hab Tobi. it being customary to give a learned heir the preference over one unlearned. Ahadboi represented to her that the world would siiy, "That one isa learned man; this one [himself] is not " So the sister altered the will in his favor. The story ends with the statement

!

that a lawsuit followed, and Hab Xal.iman decided that as the testatrix, in the event of her recovery, would have had the right to annul her will, she had











AHAI

JOSIAH: Tanna

of the fourth and His father. Josiah, was probably the wiU-known tanna H. Josiah, a pu])il of H. Ishniael. The following legend, intended to demonstrate the consciousness of the dead, and citing a conversjition between an amora of the fourth century and Ahai's ghost, incidentally points out the place of Ahai's sei)ulchcr:

B.

fifth geiii-ratii IMS (sfCdiid century).

rirave-rc)t)liers enpaireil In rilirfrlng

In soil

belnnglng to Hab

Natunan sudilenly ln-anl a jrroan ls.suln(r frfini the pround. They hastciu'd !•' r**pnrt tliis to R. Nal.nnun W Isiuic [see MS. M. iu "Dikilukr' Snf,*i-iin," ,i,t t,»'.l, wtio Immediately n-palred

The followlnt' diaI^^^I^ tt-Ils the rest Nahnian : thou, sir ? (HniKt I itiii Aliai lien Josiah. A'. l>ld not Itab Marl declare that the IxKlit-.s of the pious dead returned to dust? r.'/i. Whots Marl? I know him not. A'. Well, then, It The dust shall return to is written In the Bible [Eccl. xll. 7] : the earth as It was. Gh. Evidently he who liatli tau)/ht thee the B,Htk of F'eclesixsti'S did not teach Ihee the Book of l'it)yerl)3. There It is stated [.iy. :JOl ; Envy Is rottenness of the lx)nes. Whoever cherishes envy in his breast, his t>ones will become rotten : but he whot. sut)stantial, addressed itl : Arise, my master^ and come Into my house, (ih. Thou Ix-tniyest thy lunorance even ot the Books of the Propliets; for there It is sjild [Ezek. xxxvii. i:ij Ve shall know that 1 am the Ixird, when I have oi)ened your (rraves, (> my people, and lirought you out of your graves, t'ntil then the dead can not rise. iV. But is it not written [(ien. iii. U*] Dust thou art and unto dust shall thou return ? Gh. That will come to pass shortly l)efore the Uesurrection [Shab. I'lih]. to the sceiie.

"

Who art









Sow,

as

Xahman ben Isjiac (compare " Dikduke So-

) was a Babylonian, and his land lay in Babyloniii. Ahai's body, resting in Xahman'sgi'ound. was also in Babylonia. Jloreover, there is other evidence of Ahai's having been in Babylonia during the course of his life. Judali I. states that there were some fishiTinen who violated the Sabbath by plying their trade on that day; and that Ahai b. Josiah. ob-

ferim

" to

l.r.

excommunicated them. This happened de Satia. in B.-iby Ionia (Kid. 72,/). Furthei-. we arc informed that he liiid some jiersonal property in Babylonia, while he himself was in Palestine; for the Talmud relates: R. Ahai b. Josiah owned a vessel serving

in Birta

this,