Editing Abba Arikha (section)

==Teachings==
He gave special attention to the [[liturgy]] of the [[synagogue]].<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> The [[Aleinu]] prayer first appeared in the manuscript of the [[Rosh Hashana]] liturgy by Rav.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The encyclopedia of Jewish life and thought |date=1996 |publisher=Carta |isbn=978-1-4416-5215-7 |editor-last=Pearl |editor-first=Chaim |location=Jerusalem |pages=378 |editor-last2=Kessel |editor-first2=Lorraine |editor-last3=Ball |editor-first3=Barbara Laurel}}</ref> He included it in the Rosh Hashana [[mussaf]] service as a prologue to the Kingship portion of the [[Amidah]]. For that reason some attribute to Rav the authorship, or at least the revising, of Aleinu.<ref>Jacobson, B.S., ''The Weekday Siddur: An Exposition and Analysis of its Structure, Contents, Language and Ideas'' (2nd ed, Tel-Aviv, Sinai Publ'g) page 307; Nulman, Macy, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer'' (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) page 24.</ref> In this noble prayer are evinced profound religious feeling and exalted thought, as well as ability to use the [[Hebrew language]] in a natural, expressive, and classical manner.<ref name="JewishEncyclopedia" /><ref>''Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah'' 1 57a</ref> He also composed the prayer recited on Shabbat before the start of a new month, [[Birkat haHodesh|Birkat ha-Hodesh]].<ref name=":0" />

The many [[homiletic]] and [[ethical]] sayings recorded of him show similar ability. The greatest aggadist among Babylonian ''[[Amoraim]]'', he is the only one of them whose aggadic utterances approach in number and contents those of the Palestinian haggadists. The [[Jerusalem Talmud]] has preserved a large number of his [[halakha|halakhic]] and [[aggadah|aggadic]] utterances; and the Palestinian ''[[Midrashim]]'' also contain many of his ''aggadot''. Rav delivered homiletic discourses, both in the [[beit midrash]] and in the synagogues. He especially loved to discuss in his homilies the events and personages of Biblical history; and many beautiful and genuinely poetic embellishments of the Biblical record, which have become common possession of the [[aggadah]], are his creations. His ''aggadah'' is particularly rich in thoughts concerning the moral life and the relations of human beings to one another.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> A few of these teachings may be quoted here:
* "The commandments of the [[Torah]] were only given to purify men's morals"<ref>[[Genesis Rabbah]] 44</ref>
* "Whatever may not properly be done in public is forbidden even in the most secret chamber"<ref>''Shabbat'' 64b</ref>
* "In the future, a person will give a judgement and accounting over everything that his eye saw and he did not eat."<ref>[[Jerusalem Talmud]], Kiddushin 4:12</ref>
* "Whoever lacks pity for his fellow man is no child of [[Abraham]]"<ref>''Beitzah'' 32b</ref>
* "Better to cast oneself into a fiery furnace than to publicly shame one's fellow man."<ref>''Bava Metzia'' 59a</ref>
* "One should never betroth himself to a woman without having seen her; one might subsequently discover in her a blemish because of which one might loathe her and thus transgress the commandment: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'"<ref>''Kiddushin'' 41a</ref>
* "A father should never prefer one child above another; the example of [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]] shows what evil consequences may result."
* "While the dates are still in the borders of your skirt, run off with them to the distillery!" [Meaning, before one wastes what he has, let him convert it into something more productive]<ref>''Pesachim'' 113a</ref>
* "Receive the payment. Deliver the goods!" [i.e. do not sell on credit]<ref>''Pesachim'' 113a</ref>
* "[Better to come] under the displeasure of Ishmael (i.e. the Arabs) than [the displeasure of] Rome; [better to come] under the displeasure of Rome than [the displeasure of] a Persian; [better to come] under the displeasure of a Persian than [the displeasure of] a disciple of the Sages;  [better to come] under the displeasure of a disciple of the Sages than [the displeasure of] an orphan and widow."<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org.il/Shabbat.11a.3?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Shabbat 11a]</ref>
* "A man ought always to occupy himself in the words of the Law, and in the commandments, even if it were not for their own sake. For eventually he will do it for their own sake"<ref>''Sanhedrin'' 105b; ''Pesahim'' 50b</ref>
* "A man ought always to look about in search of a [good] city whose settlement is only of late, considering that since its settlement is [relatively] new, its iniquities are also few."<ref>''Shabbat'' 10b</ref>
* "A disciple of the Sages ought to have in him one-eighth of one-eighth of pride, [and no more]."<ref>''Sotah'' 5a</ref>

Rav loved the ''Book of Ecclesiasticus'' ([[Sirach]]), and warned his disciple [[Hamnuna Saba]] against unjustifiable asceticism by quoting its advice that considering the transitoriness of human life, one should not despise the good things of this world.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org.il/Eruvin.54a.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Eruvin 54a]</ref>

To the celestial joys of the future he was accustomed to refer in the following poetic words:<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>
{{Blockquote|Nothing on earth compares with the future life. In the world to come there shall be neither eating nor drinking, neither trading nor toil, neither hatred nor envy; but the righteous shall sit with crowns upon their heads, and rejoice in the radiance of the Divine Presence.<ref>Berakhot 17a</ref>}}

Rav also devoted much attention to [[Mysticism|mystical]] and [[transcendence (religion)|transcendental]] speculations regarding [[Maaseh Breishit and Maaseh Merkavah|Maaseh Bereshit, Maaseh Merkabah]], and the [[Divine name|Divine Name]]. Many of his important utterances testify to his tendency in this direction.<ref>Hagigah 12a, Kiddushin 71a</ref>{{sfn|Singer|1901–1906|ignore-err=yes}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|'Abba 'Arika}}