Rav Sheshet () was an amora of the third generation of the Talmudic academies in Babylonia (then Asoristan, now Lower Mesopotamia, Iraq). His name is sometimes read Shishat or Bar Shishat.
Biography He was a colleague of Rav Nachman, with whom he had frequent arguments concerning questions of halakha. His teacher's name is not definitively known, but Rav Sheshet was an auditor at Rav Huna's lectures.Yevamot 64b; Ketuvot 69a It is certain that he was not a pupil of Abba Arikha (Rav), since certain sayings of his displeased him, he criticized them with a disrespect which he would not have shown toward his own teacher, saying: "he must have spoken thus when he was asleep".Yevamot 24b and parallels; compare also Niddah 60a
Sheshet lived first at Nehardea, where he used to study in the Great Synagogue of Baghdad,Moed 29a going thence to Mahuza,Nedarim 78a,b; Bava Batra 121a and later to Shilhe, where he founded an academy.Letter of Sherira ben Hanina, in Neubauer, M. J. C. i. 29 He was feeble in body,Pesachim 108a but nevertheless had an iron will and great energy.Menachot 95b
His learning Although he was blind, he was compensated by a very retentive memory, for he knew by heart the entire body of tannaitic tradition, as well as its amoraic interpretations.Shevu'ot 41b He hired a scholar ("tanna") acquainted with the mishnah and the baraita to read them to him.Sanhedrin 86a; Horayot 9a
Rav Ḥisda, when he met Sheshet, used to tremble at the wealth of baraitot and maxims which Sheshet quoted.Eruvin 67a Sheshet also transmitted many sayings of the older tannaim, especially of Eleazar ben Azariah.Makkot 23a; Pesachim 118a In his teaching he always took tradition as his basis, and for every question laid before him for decision he sought a mishnah or baraita from which he might deduce the solution of the problem, his extensive knowledge of these branches of literature always enabling him to find the passage he required.Zevachim 96b His usual answer to a question was: "We have learned it in the Mishnah or in a baraita".Bava Metzia 90a; Yoma 48b When he had presented some sentence to the attention of his pupils, he used to ask immediately, "Whence have I this?" and would then add a mishnah or a baraita from which he had derived the decision in question.Ketuvot 68a; compare Yevamot 35a, 58a
In addition to his learning and his knowledge of tradition, Sheshet possessed much acuteness, and knew how to deduce conclusions from the teachings of tradition.Menachot 95b, according to Rashi's explanation Thus, in connection with his application of Ecclesiastes 7:11, Rami bar Hama said of him: "It is good when one possesses a keen understanding in addition to the inheritance of tradition".Bekhorot 52b and Rashi ad loc. However, he was less subtle than his colleague Rav Ḥisda,Eruvin 67a and he appears to have been averse in general to the casuistry in vogue in the academy of Pumbedita. When he heard any one make a quibbling objection he used to observe sarcastically: "Are you not from Pumbedita, where they draw an elephant through the eye of a needle?".Bava Metzia 38b Sheshet was on friendly terms with Rav Chisda, and the pair respected each other highly,Berachot 47b; Moed 28b traveled in company,Berachot 30a and were together at the exilarch's.Gittin 67b-68a
His aggadah Sheshet devoted much time to Biblical exegesis, and whenever he recapitulated his studies, as was his custom at the end of every thirty days, he used to say: "Rejoice, my soul! rejoice, my soul! For your sake have I read the Holy Scriptures; and for your sake have I studied the Mishnah and the baraitot".Pesachim 68b On the other hand, he took comparatively little interest in aggadah, and he himself acknowledged his shortcoming in this respect, saying: "I cannot dispute with Hana on aggadah".Sukkah 52b, and Rashi ad loc. Some of his aggadic interpretations of Biblical passages, referring for the most part to Torah study, have been preserved. Thus, he interpreted Proverbs 11:25 as implying that whoever teaches in this world will have the good fortune to teach in the world to come also;Sanhedrin 92a and explained Proverbs 3:16 as meaning that whosoever studies in the right manner receives as his reward length of days in addition to riches and honor, but that he who studies in a fashion not altogether unimpeachable receives riches and honor without length of days.Shabbat 63a He frequently elucidated Biblical passages by the application of well-known proverbs.Berachot 32a; Sanhedrin 105a
Sheshet, who (as stated above) was blind, once mingled with a crowd waiting to see the entry of the king. A heretic (probably an adherent of Manicheism, against which Sheshet polemizedCompare Bacher Ag. Bab. Amor. p. 78, note 12) taunted him with the remark that he certainly would not be able to see the king. Sheshet, however, put the heretic to shame by recognizing, despite his blindness, when the instant of the king's appearance was at hand. When the heretic, in his astonishment, asked Sheshet how he knew it, he received the answer: "The earthly kingdom resembles the heavenly; God's appearance, however, is announced in I Kings 19:12-13 by a deep silence".Berachot 58a
References
It has the following bibliography: Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, ii. 379–381; Weiss, Dor, iii. 181–182; Grätz, Gesch. iv. 299–300; Bacher, Ag. Bab. Amor. pp. 76–79.