YEHUDAH BAR ILʿAI

YEHUDAH BAR ILʿAI (second century ce), Palestinian tanna. Born in Usha, in the lower Galilee, he was a student of ʿAqivaʾ and Ṭarfon and was ordained as rabbi by Yehudah ben Bavaʾ during the Hadrianic persecutions in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.

Numerous traditions attributed to Yehudah are preserved in rabbinic literature where he is usually referred to without patronymic. Along with Meʾir, Shimʿon, and Yose, he is one of the most frequently quoted authorities of his generation. His importance is reflected in the tradition that tells us that his contemporaries were called "members of Yehudah bar Ilʿai's generation" (B.T., San. 20a). Yehudah is also one of the most important transmitters of rabbinic teachings from the Sanhedrin at Yavneh before the Bar Kokhba Revolt to the Sanhedrin at Usha afterward. He cites numerous legal rulings in the names of ʿAqivaʾ, Ṭarfon, and other masters of the period of rabbinic activity at Yavneh.

To date, no systematic analysis has been made of Yehudah's traditions, probably because of the sheer size of the corpus of sayings attributed to him. There are, for example, some 180 disputes recorded between Yehudah and Neḥemyah, yet these represent only a fraction of the entire collection ascribed to Yehudah. Jacob Epstein (1957) believes that the corpus of his traditions was one of the primary documents used in the redaction of the Mishnah by his student Yehuda ha-Nasiʾ. Several of his rulings deal with the standardization of rabbinic liturgy (Ber. 4.1), the regulation of prayer (Ber. 4.7; Tosefta, Ber. 1.9; Tosefta, Ber. 3.5), and the regulation of daily liturgical blessings (Tosefta, Ber. 6.18). Other rules ascribed to Yehudah emphasize the importance of concentration and intention during the performance of rituals (Tosefta, Ber. 2.2) and the importance of maintaining the proper frame of mind during recitation of prayers (Ber. 2.2). Yehudah is also associated with legislation concerning the recitation of blessings over foods (Ber. 6.4; Tosefta, Ber. 4.4–5) and with blessings over natural wonders, both those for which one is permitted to recite blessings (Ber. 9.2) and those for which one is forbidden to recite blessings because it would appear to be a form of idolatry (Tosefta, Ber. 6.6). Yehudah's legal, exegetical, and theological sayings range across the whole spectrum of rabbinic thought and life.

See Also

Tannaim.

Bibliography

Jacob N. Epstein's Mavoʾ la-sifrut ha-tannaʾim (Jerusalem, 1957) discusses the role of Yehudah's materials in the development of the Mishnah. In Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai: Collected Sayings (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem, 1965), Israel Konovitz collects all the references to Yehudah in rabbinic literature. My own Studies in Jewish Prayer (1990) analyzes some of the major contributions of Yehudah to the development of early Jewish prayer.

New Sources

Silverberg, David. "Rabbi Akiva's Students: What Went Wrong?" Alei Etzion 9 (2000): 67–85.

Tzvee Zahavy (1987)

Revised Bibliography