Pt1 Sage on the Run: The Fleeing and Death of Rabba bar Naḥmani (Bava Metzia 86a)
The Chase; Miraculous events in the Inn in Pumbedita - face turns around
Part one of a two-part series. Outline follows.
Outline
The Chase
Miraculous events in the Inn in Pumbedita - face turns around
More miraculous events in the Inn in Pumbedita - wall crumbles
In the swamp; dispute in Heavenly Yeshiva
Death
Announcement of Death, and Searching for his body
Mourning (hesped)
Strong wind on the day he died
The Passage
The Chase
Rav Kahana1 reported that Rav Ḥama, the grandson of Ḥasa,2 relayed that Rabba bar Naḥmani3 died from the fear of a religious persecution decree.
The Talmud elaborates that Rabba's enemies accused him of disloyalty, claiming he exempted 12,000 Jewish men from the king's head tax (כרגא) for two months each year—a month in summer (קייטא) and a month in winter (סתוא)—by having them study instead of working.4
A royal messenger (פריסתקא דמלכא)5 was sent to capture him, but Rabba fled, moving from Pumbedita (where he was head of the yeshiva) to various (somewhat obscure) locations including Akra, Agma, Shiḥin, Tzerifa, Eina Demayim, and then back to Pumbedita.
אמר רב כהנא, אישתעי לי רב חמא בר ברתיה דחסא: רבה בר נחמני אגב שמדא נח נפשיה.
אכלו ביה קורצא בי מלכא,
אמרו:
איכא חד גברא ביהודאי,
דקא מבטל תריסר אלפי גברי מישראל,
ירחא בקייטא, וירחא בסתוא
מכרגא דמלכא.
שדרו פריסתקא דמלכא בתריה,
ולא אשכחיה.
ערק ואזל
מפומבדיתא לאקרא,
מאקרא לאגמא,
ומאגמא לשחין,
ומשחין לצריפא,
ומצריפא לעינא דמים,
ומעינא דמים לפומבדיתא.
Rav Kahana said: Rav Ḥama, son of the daughter of Ḥasa, told me that Rabba bar Naḥmani died due to the fear of a decree of religious persecution.
The Gemara explains: His enemies accused him [akhalu beih kurtza] of disloyalty in the king’s palace,
as they said: There is one man from among the Jews
who exempts twelve thousand Jewish men from the king’s head tax two months a year,
one month in the summer and one month in the winter.
Since many people would study in Rabba’s study hall during the months of Adar and Elul, he was being blamed for preventing those people from working during those months.
They sent a messenger [peristaka] of the king after him,
but he was not able to find him.
Rabba bar Naḥmani fled and went
from Pumbedita to Akra,
from Akra to Agma,
from Agma to Shiḥin,
from Shiḥin to Tzerifa,
from Tzerifa to Eina Demayim,
and from Eina Demayim back to Pumbedita.
Miraculous events in the Inn in Pumbedita - face turns around
Eventually, the king’s messenger found Rabba bar Naḥmani in Pumbedita. The messenger, by chance, arrived at the same inn6 where Rabba was hiding. When the inn attendants served the king’s messenger, his face7 miraculously turned backward (הדר פרצופיה לאחוריה - literally: “his face went to his/its back”).8
They asked Rabba what to do, since the messenger was the king’s messenger and they couldn't leave him like that. Rabba instructed them to serve the messenger one cup and then remove the tray, which healed him.
The messenger, convinced the strange event was due to Rabba’s presence, searched for and discovered Rabba's hiding place.
בפומבדיתא אשכחיה.
איקלע פריסתקא דמלכא לההוא אושפיזא דרבה.
קריבו תכא קמיה,
ואשקוהו תרי כסי,
ודליוה לתכא מקמיה,
הדר פרצופיה לאחוריה.
אמרו ליה: מאי נעביד ליה? גברא דמלכא הוא!
אמר להו:
קריבו תכא לקמיה,
ואשקוה חד כסא,
ודליוה לתכא מקמיה,
ולתסי.
עבדו ליה הכי, ואתסי.
אמר: מידע ידענא, דגברא דקא בעינא, הכא הוא.
בחיש אבתריה, ואשכחיה.
Ultimately, he was found in Pumbedita,
as the king’s messenger arrived by chance at that same inn where Rabba bar Naḥmani was hiding.
The inn attendants placed a tray before the messenger
and gave him two cups to drink.
They then removed the tray from before him
and his face was miraculously turned backward.
The attendants said to Rabba bar Naḥmani: What should we do with him? He is the king’s man, and we cannot leave him like this.
Rabba bar Naḥmani said to them:
Place a tray before him
and give him one cup to drink,
and then remove the tray from before him
and he will be healed.
They did this, and he was healed.
The messenger said: I am certain that the man I seek is here, as this unnatural event must have befallen me on his account.
He searched for Rabba bar Naḥmani and found out where he was.
Either Rav Kahana III or Rav Kahana IV.
רב חמא בר ברתיה דחסא - an otherwise unknown sage. For a story of famous person named Ḥasa, see my recent piece.
Related to the “months of Kallah”, attested especially in later Geonic times, see Wikipedia, “Kallah“:
“Yarchei Kallah (Hebrew: ירחי כלה […]) is the name of a teachers' convention that was held twice a year in Babylonian Academies […] after the beginning of the amoraic period, in the two months Adar and Elul.“
Historically, this would have meant a messenger of the Persian Sassanian government, which ruled Babylonia in the Talmudic amoraic period.