- A fourth-generation tanna alive during the second century.
- Also referred to as Yehuda bar Ma’arava and simply Rabbi Yehuda. (Not to be confused with Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, a fifth-generation tanna and compiler of the Mishnah.)
- Cited almost 3,000 times in the Mishnah!
- He was ordained by Judah ben Bava at a time when the Roman Empire forbade ordination. Despite this, he had a fairly amicable attitude towards the Romans and they decreed that he speak first at rabbinic convocations.
- He was known for having a strict personal piety, and he observed many of the practices of the Hasideans and the Essenes.
Mishnah Yoma Chapter 1 Mishnah 1 Pt. 4
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר אַף אִשָּׁה אַחֶרֶת מַתְקִינִין לוֹ שֶׁמָּא תָמוּת אִשְׁתּוֹ Rabbi Yehuda says, “They even prepared another wife for…