Rava
Rava
Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama (c. 280 – 352 CE), known in the Talmud by the name Rava (רבא), was a Babylonian rabbi who belonged to the fourth generation of amoraim[1]. His debates with Abaye are considered classic examples of Talmudic dialectical logic, and is one of the most often cited rabbis in the Talmud.
Taxation in its any forms has been a hot topic of the Bible from Cain's city-state, Nimrod's Babylon and the cities of blood. If we look at the Talmud Rava wrote: It is permitted for a Torah scholar to say: I will not pay the head tax, as it is written: “It shall not be lawful to impose minda, belo, and halakh upon them” (Ezra 7:24). And Rabbi Yehuda said: Minda is the king’s portion. Belo is the money of the head tax. And halakh is arnona (corvee labor).
The Gemara imagines the Sasanian tax[2] collectors like wild animals or "lion", dangerous and ready to attack. Rava says to scare them off or detour them "Torah scholars" are permitted to "lie" and say they are "servants of the fire". (See Ezra 7, Corvee and Corban)
- ↑ Amoraim (Aramaic: plural אמוראים amoraˈim or amorajim, singular Amora אמורא or Amoray; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen"). This term refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 CE, who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral Torah.
- ↑ The Arabs adopted the Sasanian tax-system, both the land-tax levied on land owners and the poll-tax levied on individuals, called jizya, a tax levied on non-Muslims (i.e., the dhimmis).