''For other Amoraic sages of

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 ...

with the name "Rav Kahana", see Rav Kahana.'' Rav Kahana (II) (, read as ''Rav Kahana (Ha-sheni)'', lit. "Rabbi Kahana (II)"; recorded in the

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 Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

merely as ''Rav Kahana'') was an '' Amora'' of the second generation, active in

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

and in the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

Biography

He was a student of Rav. According to the

Geonim ''Geonim'' (; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura Academy , Sura and Pumbedita Academy , Pumbedita, in t ...

tradition, Rav Kahana was the stepson of Rav from his second wife. Despite his name, which usually means "

Kohen Kohen (, ; , ، Arabic كاهن , Kahen) is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic Priest#Judaism, priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakha, halakhically required, to ...

", he was not a Kohen. His son was Rabbi Abba bar Kahana. It is told that once Kahana hid underneath the bed of his teacher Rav while Rav and his wife were engaging in sexual intercourse. When Rav noticed this he was angered, but Kahana justified his presence by saying "It is Torah, and I need to learn it." Another time, Kahana was reciting Biblical verses before Rav. When he reached

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

12:5, which (in this rabbinic interpretation) refers to the cessation of a person's sexual desire in old age, Rav sighed. Kahana said, "We can conclude from this that Rav's sexual desire has ceased." He was considered unusually handsome: it was said that his beauty recalled the beauty of Rabbi Abbahu, which in turn recalled the beauty of the patriarch

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

.Bava Metziah 84a

References

Talmud rabbis of Syria Palaestina Talmud rabbis of Babylonia {{MEast-rabbi-stub