Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba [HaKohen]

First generation of Amoraim. A prominent disciple of Rabbi Yohanan. He immigrated from Babylonia, and Rabbi Yohanan called him the 'Babylonian'. He would review his studies before his master every thirty days [Berakhot 38b], and he was meticulous in stating a Halakha in the exact language he heard from his master [Berakhot 33b].

The Practice of Sages

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba saw Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi throwing a cloth over his head so as not to walk bareheaded. Because he was in a hurry, he did not manage to wrap himself in a proper head covering, and he took his young son to the synagogue to study Torah there. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba asked Ribbi, 'Why were you in such a hurry that you didn't even manage to cover your head with your usual covering?' Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi replied to him, 'Do you consider insignificant what is written: "And you shall make them known to your children" [Deuteronomy 4:9]? And in the verse adjacent to it is written: "The day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb" [Deuteronomy 4:10]! To teach you: that a person who hastens to take his son to learn Torah, Scripture considers it as if he received it from Mount Sinai.' 'If so, do you consider it insignificant that I should run and hasten for this!' When Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba heard this answer, from then on, he would not taste roasted meat on coals – which they were accustomed to taste a little meat in the morning – until he had reviewed with his young son what they had read and learned yesterday, and added another lesson and one new verse to him [Kiddushin 30a].

An Event

Rabbi Abbahu would expound on aggadic matters, while Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba would expound on halakhic matters. Since aggadic matters attract the heart, the public listeners left Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba and went to hear Rabbi Abbahu's discourse on aggadic matters! Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba was disheartened. Rabbi Abbahu said to Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba to appease him: 'I will tell you a parable, to what is the matter comparable? To two people, one selling precious jewels at a high price, and the other selling inexpensive haberdashery. On whom do people rush? Is it not on the one who sells cheap items?' 'So too for me, people come to me not because of the importance of my words, but on the contrary, because they are inexpensive.' Rabbi Abbahu further performed an act to appease Rabbi Hiyya: Until that day, Rabbi Hiyya would escort Rabbi Abbahu to his lodging due to the king's honor, because Rabbi Abbahu was a distinguished person in the king's court. But on that day of the event, Rabbi Abbahu escorted Rabbi Hiyya to his lodging. Despite all this, Rabbi Hiyya's mind was not settled [Sotah 40a].

His Importance in the Eyes of Rabbi Yehuda Nesiah

Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai taught: 'If you see cities in the Land of Israel that have been uprooted from their place, know that they did not uphold the reward of teachers of young children for Scripture and Mishnah to disseminate and magnify Torah.' 'What is the reason! It is written: "Why has the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, with no one passing through?" – "And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken My Torah" [Jeremiah 9:11-12].' Rabbi Yehuda Nesiah II sent Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba, Rabbi Assi, and Rabbi Ammi to travel through the cities of Eretz Yisrael to appoint teachers of young children for Scripture and Mishnah. They arrived at one place and did not find even one teacher of young children, neither for Scripture nor for Mishnah. They said to the inhabitants, 'Bring us the guardians of the city!' They brought them those who stood guard at the city gates. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba and his colleagues said to the inhabitants, 'These are nothing but destroyers of the city! For they sit and watch over people to seek pretexts against them, and make schemes to rob and plunder them.' When the inhabitants asked the Sages, 'Who then are the guardians of the city?' The Sages told them, 'The teachers of young children who disseminate Torah in Scripture and Mishnah, as it is written: "Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain" [Psalms 127:1]. And through the merit of Torah, the Lord guards us.' Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: 'For their rejection of the Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not forgive them' – meaning, they did not accustom their children to Torah because it was despicable in their eyes. For if not, why did they not accustom their children to the study of Torah?! 'For their forsaking Me, I would have forgiven them if they had studied Torah, because the light within the Torah would have brought them closer to Me' [Yerushalmi Hagigah, Halakha 7].

He Immigrated from Babylonia

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: 'Anyone who is lazy in eulogizing a sage will not live long.' Measure for measure: he was not saddened by the shortening of the sage's days, so his days will not be prolonged, as it is stated: 'By measure, when it sends them forth, You contend with them' [Isaiah 27:8]. His intention: The verse speaks of Egypt, and 'by measure' (בסאסאה) is from the word 'se'ah' (סאה), meaning that with the same measure they afflicted Israel, they were punished when they sent them forth. From here is proof that punishments are measure for measure. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said to Rabbi Yohanan: 'But is it not stated: "And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua" [Joshua 24:31]? This implies that they lived long, despite not eulogizing Joshua properly?' Rabbi Yohanan said to him: 'You who have come up from Babylonia, the Babylonians lived long! They completed their days in goodness, but they did not prolong their years.' 'But it is written: "So that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied" [Deuteronomy 11:21]! Does this also refer to days and not years?' In the case of a blessing, it is different, for certainly the intention is also for length of years [Shabbat 105b].