Rabbah Tosafa'ah

Who is Rabbah Tosafa'ah?

Rabbah Tosafa'ah was a jewish Amora sage of Babylon of the eighth generation of the Amora era, during the latter part of that era. According to the Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon, he headed the academy of Sura, following Mar b. Rav Ashi, for six years, between 467-474. He was one of the Talmud's arrangers. According to the Historian Yitzhak Isaac Halevy Rabinowitz, who wrote in his work "Dorot Harishonim", that since the Talmud was in the process of its completion during his times, and Rabbah Tosafa'ah, who was one of the arrangers, had added-on it, this is how he earned the name Tosafa'ah, which literally means an Add-on or a supplement. Other argue that he was an erudite in the Baraitas and Tosefta, which the latter also literally means an 'add on' or a 'supplement', and both are an 'add on' works to the classic texts, and in their view, this is the way he earned his known name.