Ravina II or Rabina II (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: אבינא בריה דרב הונא or רבינא האחרון; died 475 CE or 500 CE) was a

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

n rabbi of the 5th century (seventh and eighth generations of

amoraim ''Amoraim'' ( , singular ''Amora'' ; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 CE, who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral Torah. They were p ...

). Rabina is a traditional portmanteau of the title Rav and the personal name Abina, a form of the Aramaic word for "father" (compare Abuna, Abaye, Abin, Abahu, Abba, Rava, Rabin). The Talmud says that "Ravina" and

Rav Ashi Rav Ashi () ("Rabbi Ashi") (352–427) was a Babylonian Jewish rabbi, of the sixth generation of amoraim. He reestablished the Academy at Sura and was the first editor of the Babylonian Talmud. The original pronunciation of his name may h ...

were "the end of instruction", which is traditionally interpreted to mean that the two were responsible for redacting the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

. Most scholars agree that this "Ravina" was Ravina II, the son of Huna bar Abin HaKohen, and not Ravina I, the colleague of

who died before Rav Ashi.

Biography

He did not remember his father Huna, who died while Ravina was still a child, but the Talmud states several times that his mother communicated to him the opinions held by his father. After his father's death, his maternal uncle Ravina I became his guardian. Ravina II officiated as judge at

Sura A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...

shortly after Rav Ashi's death, and was a colleague of Mar bar Rav Ashi, although he was not so prominent. After Rabbah Tosafa'ah's death, Ravina became, for a year (474), director of the

Sura Academy Sura Academy () was a Jewish yeshiva located in Sura in what is now southern Iraq, a region known in Jewish texts as "Babylonia". With Pumbedita Academy, it was one of the two major Jewish academies from the year 225 CE at the beginning of the ...

. Simultaneously, Rabbah Jose served as head of the

Pumbedita Pumbedita ( ''Pūm Bəḏīṯāʾ'', "Mouth of the Bedita"See The river "Bedita" has not been identified.) was an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq. It is known for having hosted the Pumbedita Academy. History The city of Pumbedita was s ...

academy. Ravina served as leader of the Jewish community in Babylonia for 22 years. One year before his death, all the Babylonian synagogues were closed, and Jewish infants were handed over to the Magians. He died on the 13th of

Kislev Kislev or Chislev (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Kīslev'' Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Kīslēw''), is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew c ...

in 474/475 or 499/500 CE. Sherira Gaon Neubauer, l.c. i. 34

References

Rabbis of Academy of Sura Year of birth unknown 475 deaths Talmud Talmud rabbis of Babylonia 500 deaths {{MEast-rabbi-stub