Entry 613

a) A student who is a colleague of the Rabbi must follow the conclusion of the Rabbi and not his reasoning. [In Tosafot Bava Batra (62a) regarding Rav Asi and Rav Kahana (see there), they are likened to a student who is a colleague of the Rabbi]. And in the chapter of the barrel [(Kiddushin 146b)], Rav did not sit at the house of Sadiya (explained as "the son of a couch") out of respect for our Rabbis, and among them were Rav Kahana and Rav Asi (they were his colleague-students, Rashi).

In the chapter of the daughters of the Kutim [(36b)], Shila bar Avina acted in accordance with the ruling of Rav regarding the matter of the one who is challenged, and she saw blood, she is a nidah, etc. For when Rav's soul departed, he said to Rav Asi, "Go and inform her secretly that she is completely pure" [(i.e., that he should tell her in private)], and if he does not comply, "pull him along with proofs until he admits" [(i.e., he forced him with reasoning)].

He thought, "The kid told me" [(i.e., he compelled him with a strong argument)], and after the death of Rav, Rav Asi said to Rabbi Shila, "You have returned to me as I have returned to you, Rav said to me, 'If it is true that you have returned to me, I would have said' [(i.e., I am his student)], 'the kid did not comply.' He said to him, 'And are you not afraid of the lamp?' He replied, 'I am Isi ben Yehuda, who is Isi ben Gura Aryeh, who is Isi ben Gamliel, who is Isi ben Mehalalel.' The Tosafot wrote that there is a Tanna who has all these names [(see above, Isi ben Akiva)] and he is also called Yosef the Babylonian, he is Yosef the man of the hewn stone [(see there)].

However, here only the names of Isi are mentioned, which are similar to Rav Asi.

Thus far the words [of Tosafot]. [And so wrote Tosafot Yoma (52b). He wrote in the innovations of Aggadah that all these names were for his father due to his stature (and it is a question how it happened that his father's stature was like that of the Tanna who had all these names, and see Isi ben Akiva from the book of small responsa that it was their custom to change their father's names so that they would not be recognized during the times of persecution; therefore, it must be that Rav Asi also changed his father's name to the name that Isi changed his father's name to.

But if so, what does he say to Shila that his father had these names?) And he remembered this, that the merit of his father should stand for him to live in accordance with his name, Isi]. An "Asita" of a snake [Asita is a term for "Asi" (Rashi) of a snake] that does not have control over a horse. He said, "And I am Shila bar Avina, a blacksmith's son who is associated with the Asita of a snake." [Rav Asi became weak, and when Rav Asi's soul departed, Rabbi Shila went and said to his wife, 'Prepare for me the burial shrouds so that I will not go and say lofty things before the Rabbi' (so that she would not inform on him before Rav), and when the soul of Rabbi Shila departed, they saw that the myrtle had flown from this bed to that bed (they were accustomed to place a myrtle on the bed and the myrtle would fly from bed to bed (Rashi), and on Shabbat (34a) blood fell from this bed, a mistake)], they said, "It is known that the Rabbis made peace." And in the chain of tradition, there are mentioned Rabbi Shila and Rabbi Ashi, and he is not the author of the Gemara, and there was enmity between them.

Thus far the words. He was mistaken, for it was not Rabbi Ashi but rather Rabbi Asi]. In the chapter of the Mishnah and Megillah [(5a)] and in the chapter of the man who sanctifies [(Makkot 45b)], Rav was concerned about this matter of Rav Asi [and Rashi wrote, nevertheless, the halacha is according to Rav].

b) In the Jerusalem Talmud, in the second chapter of Berakhot, it is taught: Rabbi Yisa, when he ascended here, went and got a haircut, and wished to go to the bathhouse. He encountered a certain jester who struck him on the neck. The governor was judging thieves, and he said to the governor, "Who was with you?" The thieves saw that this jester was laughing, and he said to them, "This one who is laughing was with me." They took him and judged him, and he confessed that he had killed one, and they hanged him.

It appears that this was Rabbi Asi, who was from Babylonia and ascended to the Land of Israel, for Rabbi Asi was in the Land of Israel. In the first chapter of Kiddushin (31b), Rabbi Asi had an elderly mother who said to him, "I desire jewelry; make for me." He said, "I desire a man; I will search for you." "I desire a man who is good like you." He left and went to the Land of Israel. He heard that he was going after her, and he came before Rabbi Yochanan and asked him, "What is the law regarding leaving the Land of Israel for outside the Land?" He said to him, "It is forbidden." "What about to visit my mother?" He said, "I do not know." He was troubled for a little while and then returned and said, "Rabbi, you have permitted to leave; may the place return you in peace," etc.

While he was saying this, he heard the Ark coming, and he said, "If I had known, I would not have gone out," etc. (It is written in the book Sadeh Yehoshua in the Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot (25:3), "It seems that this incident regarding Rabbi Yisa asking Rabbi Yochanan is the same incident mentioned above, for in the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Asi is mentioned as stated in the genealogy regarding Rabbi Asi the Kohen, and his name is Rabbi Yisa in the Jerusalem Talmud, a colleague of Rabbi Ami, and both were students of Rabbi Yochanan. And in the entry for Yisa, it is written that Rabbi Yisa is Rabbi Asi in the language of the Jerusalem Talmud.

Also, Rabbi Shlomo Sirilo wrote that Rabbi Yisa is Rabbi Asi in the Babylonian Talmud, as it is stated in the chapter "He was reading" regarding the incident of the gardener that Rabbi Asi said, and in the Jerusalem Talmud, that incident is Rabbi Yisa, and he was a Kohen, as we say in the chapter "The Damaged," that Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi are esteemed Kohanim and are respected by the Rabbi, and it is implied in the chapter "Whoever has died." See how they are confused in their understanding, for it is true that Rabbi Asi is Rabbi Yisa, but that he is a Kohen is not so, for Rabbi Asi was not a Kohen, but Rabbi Asi was a Kohen, and Rabbi Yisa is Rabbi Asi, not Rabbi Asi. And note that Rabbi Asi is one and Rabbi Asi is another, and he was a Kohen.) In Pesachim (113a), it is stated that you should not dwell in the city of Risha Asi, meaning that you yourself should be the head, as your name is Rabbi Asi, so that you do not become nullified due to the needs of the community, not according to the explanation of Rashi, "Risha Asi, a doctor" [(Tosafot Bava Batra (110a) regarding Rabbi Ami)].