ABBA AREKA (ARIKA or HA-AROKH “the tall”), Rabbi, called (by honor) Rab. — Jewish scholar, b. in Palestine c. 160, d. at Sura in 247. Disciple of Judah the Saint (v.), he was the first of the Amoraim (v.) and brought the Mishnah to Babylonia, where in 219 ASURA (v.), which he directed for twenty-eight years.
His oral teachings were later collected in the Gemarah (v.) of the Babylonian Talmud. The well-known halakhic midrashim Sifra (v.) on Leviticus and Sifra (v.) on Numbers and Deuteronomy are often attributed to him.
BIBL.: H. Strack, Einleitung in Talmud und Midrasch, 5th ed., Munich 1921, pp. 136–37. Angelo Penna.