Rabbi Asi רבי אסי
second of "the judges of the Land of Israel"
Rabbi Asi was a Babylonian who left for the Land of Israel to Rabbi Yochanan; with Rabbi Ami he formed a pair the Talmud hardly ever separates. Both priests, both judges, both "weightiest of the priests of the Land"; they prayed between the pillars of the study house—where they taught, for the place of Torah is the place of prayer (Berakhot 8a).
His parting from his mother is one of the Talmud's bitterest pages on honouring parents: his aged mother followed after him, and he asked whether he might leave the Land to meet her (Kiddushin 31b). The halakhah of honouring father and mother is argued on his case to this day.
The sources give no years of life; the window of activity is set by generation, following Aharon Hyman's Toldot Tannaim ve-Amoraim.
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Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Berakhot 8a — praying between the pillars where they taught
- Kiddushin 31b — Rabbi Asi and his aged mother
Basis: Talmud and midrash.