Rav Yehuda bar Yechezkel רב יהודה בר יחזקאל

Rav Yehuda belongs to the first generation of Babylonian amoraim, a student of both founders: Rav at Sura and Shmuel at Nehardea. After the sack of Nehardea the centre of learning moved to Pumbedita, and his name is associated with that move.

A qualification is needed straight away. The phrase "head of the academy of Pumbedita" is not said of him on any page of the Talmud; it is a settled historical tradition going back to the Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon — the tenth-century letter that set out the succession of the Babylonian academies. What the Talmud does show is different: he teaches at Pumbedita, his method is discussed, and the Pumbeditan style is spoken of as his school.

His own sayings often concern speech and precision. He transmitted the words of Rav and Shmuel with such care for wording that "Rav Yehuda said, Rav said" became a citation formula in its own right in the Talmud — in effect, a reference apparatus.

His too is the counsel not to neglect ordinary trades: one who teaches his son Torah is as though he received it at Sinai; and one who does not teach his son a craft teaches him robbery.