Aha of Shabcha

Aha of Shabcha (ä`hä, shäb`khä) or Achai of Shabcha (ä`khī), c.680–c.762, Babylonian rabbi. He settled (c.752) in Palestine after being passed over for appointment as head of the rabbinic academy of Pumbedita for political reasons. His major work, Sheilthoth [questions], reflects both the Babylonian Talmud of his earlier years and the influence of the Palestinian Talmud, with which he became familiar at this later period. It is a collection of legal and ethical sermons or treatises intended to be of use to laymen as well as to the scholars for whom most of the learned Jews wrote. Aha is the first scholar after the close of the compilation of the Talmud of whom there is record. His work emphasizes the value of the basic virtues and everyday morals.