Rav Aha

Fourth Generation of Amoraim. From the city of Lod, he was a Dayan in his city. [ירושלמי בבא בתרא פ"ח ה"א] He received Torah from all the great sages of his generation. On Yom Kippur, after the Musaf prayer, he would say to the congregation, "My brothers, whoever has a young child at home, let him go and feed him and give him to drink, so that he does not come to danger!" [ירושלמי יומא פ"ו ה"ד] He had many disciples: Rabbi Yoshua of Dromya stood with Rabbi Aha's disciples. [ירושלמי עירובין פ"א ה"ז] All the great sages of the fourth generation, even if they were not his direct students, received from him. And concerning him, we can say that he is one of the founders of the Jerusalem Talmud, as he is mentioned several hundred times in the Jerusalem Talmud. Thus we find that he said with his father-in-law: Rabbi Aha and Rabbi Tahlifa, his father-in-law, said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani: "One recites the Shema and then rereads it until he sinks into sleep." And from where do we learn this? From the verse: "Be agitated and do not sin; speak in your heart upon your bed and be still, Selah." [Psalms 4:5], implying that one recites the Shema and does not say other verses after it. [ירושלמי ברכות פ"א ה"א, ו.] When he passed away, "a star appeared in the daytime," meaning: stars were seen at midday.

His Dwelling Place

Rabbi Yirmiyah asked Rabbi Ze'ira, "Is the city of Lod among the cities of Judah?" He answered him, "Yes." He asked, "If so, why do they not intercalate there?" He replied, "Because they are boorish and have little Torah knowledge." Rabbi Ze'ira turned his face and saw Rav Aha and Rabbi Yehudah ben Pazi standing behind him, and they were from the city of Lod. Rabbi Ze'ira said to Rabbi Yirmiyah: "Now you have made me disgrace the Rabbis," meaning: Rabbi Ze'ira said, "Look what you have caused me now with your question; as it were, you made me disgrace the sages, since Rav Aha and Rabbi Yodeh were from Lod! And you saw them, and you should not have asked when they were before you." [ירושלמי סנהדרין פ"א ה"ב]

His Righteousness

Rabbi Yona and Rabbi Yosa (Yossi) went to visit Rabbi Aha, who was old and sick. Both said: "Let's go, and perhaps we will hear them speaking about Rabbi Aha, and that way we will know what is happening with him." They heard a woman ask her friend: "Has the lamp been extinguished?" Her intention was, "Has Rabbi Aha passed away?" Her friend replied, "The lamp of Israel's light has not been extinguished and will not be extinguished," and this was a sign for the sages that Rabbi Aha would recover from his illness and be healed. [ירושלמי שבת פ"ו ה"ט, לט.]

His Greatness

Rabbi Avdumi (Avdimi), Rabbi Yossi's brother, had a neighbor who lived below him and was making various infusions. The heat from making the infusions was damaging the grain and fruits in Avdumi's house. Rabbi Aha passed by this way and did not protest against the neighbor who made the infusions. Avdimi said: "Look at the sages; they pass by here and see this and do not protest!" Rabbi Aha was displeased by Avdimi's words, and Avdimi fell ill and his condition worsened. Rabbi Yossi went to visit his brother and saw that his condition was not good at all and no one was helping him. He understood that all this happened to him because of Rabbi Aha's displeasure. Rabbi Yossi went to the court where Rabbi Aha, the head of the court, was sitting. Rabbi Aha saw him and immediately ordered that all of Avdimi's needs be attended to and that he be helped. Rabbi Yossi understood that Rabbi Aha had become appeased and forgiven his brother, and Rabbi Avdimi recovered. [ירושלמי ב"ב פ"ב ה"ג, ד:]

His Sayings

It is written: "And Abraham shall surely become." [Genesis 18:18] Rabbi Tanhum, in the name of Rabbi Berakhya, says: "It was announced to our father Abraham that the world will not lack thirty righteous individuals like Abraham." Yod in Gematria – Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Aha, in the name of Rabbi Alexandri, learn this thus: "'And Abraham shall surely become' – Yod is ten, Heh is five, Yod is ten, Heh is five, together thirty." [Midrash Genesis Rabbah 49:3] Rabbi Aha, in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, said: "Controversy is harsh, as we find in the generation of the Flood." And regarding Korach and his congregation, it is said: "Men of renown, summoned for assembly," [Numbers 16:2] just as it is said concerning the generation of the Flood: "men of renown" where there was controversy in the generation of the Flood, so too here with Korach, "men of renown," controversy. [Midrash Genesis Rabbah 26:7] Rabbi Shmuel bar Yana says in the name of Rav Aha: "The Second Temple lacked five things compared to the First Temple, and these are: Fire that descended from heaven and rested like a lion on the altar in the First Temple. The Ark of the Covenant, the Kapporet, and the cherubim, which King Josiah hid at the end of the First Temple period. In their absence, the Kohen would not inquire by means of the Urim and Tummim. Urim and Tummim. Prophecy was not present among the prophets from the beginning of the Second Temple, meaning the Divine Presence did not dwell. Anointing oil and the Holy Spirit. From where do we learn this? It is written in the verse, the prophet said to those who built the Second Temple: "Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house; and I will be pleased with it [and be glorified] and I will be glorified, says the Lord." [Haggai 1:8] The word "Ve'ekavda" ('and I will be glorified') is written without the letter "Heh," and it hints that five things would be missing from the Second Temple. [ירושלמי תענית פ"ב ה"א]