Rav Zeira

Rav Zeira

Ze'era or Zeira (Hebrew: רבי זירא‎) was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd generation. He was born in Babylonia, where he spent his early youth. He was a pupil of Ḥisda (Ber. 49a), of Huna (ib.), and of Judah b. Ezekiel in Pumbedita.

He associated also with other prominent teachers of the Babylonian school, as Naḥman b. Jacob (Yer. Ber. 8c), Hamnuna (Zeb. 105b; Ber. 24b), and Sheshet, who called him a great man ("gabra rabba"; 'Er. 66a). His love for the Holy Land led him to decide upon leaving his native country and emigrating to Palestine. This resolve, however, he kept secret from his teacher Judah, who disapproved of any emigration from Babylonia. Before leaving, he spied upon Judah while the latter was bathing, and the words which he then overheard he took with him as a valuable and instructive memento (Shab. 41a; Ket. 110b).

A favorable dream, in which he was told that his sins had been forgiven, encouraged him to undertake the journey to the Holy Land (Ber. 57a), and before starting he spent a hundred days in fasting, in order to forget the dialectic method of instruction of the Babylonian schools, that this might not handicap him in the Land of Israel (B. M. 85a). His journey took him through Akrokonia, where he met Ḥiyya b. Ashi (Ab. Zarah 16b), and through Sura (ib.). When he reached the River Jordan he could not control his impatience, but passed through the water without removing his clothes. When jeered at by an unbeliever who stood by, he answered, "Why should not I be impatient when I pursue a blessing which was denied even to Moses and Aaron?" (Yer. Sheb. 35c).