Rabbi Isaac Nappaha (), or Isaac the smith, was a rabbi of the 3rd–4th centuries (second generation of Amoraim) who lived in Galilee.
Name He is found under the name "Nappaha" only in the Babylonian Talmud, not in the Talmud Yerushalmi. In the later midrashic literature he is called Yitzchak Nappaha, whereas the older works call him only R. Yitzchak.
In the Babylonian Talmud he is identified with various other Yitzchaks,Pesachim 113b and since that was due to the arbitrary action of a later amora, the real name of his father can no longer be determined.
Regarding the name "Nappaha" (the smith), there had been an older Yitzchak of the same name,Alfred J. Kolatch, Who's who in the Talmud- 1964 Isaac Nappaha An older, wealthy Amora, named Isaac, is sometimes confused with Isaac Nappaha. who was rich and who is said to have owned five courts in Usha. It has not yet been possible, however, to ascertain any relationship between the two. If the elder was an ancestor of this Yitzchak, the younger could well have inherited the name without ever having practised the trade.
Biography He was a pupil of Johanan bar Nappaha.Alfred J. Kolatch Who's who in the Talmud 1964 "Isaac Nappaha A Palestinian Amora of the third and fourth centuries who was a pupil of Johanan" Reish Lakish once used the similarity in their names as the material for wordplay.Sanhedrin 96a Isaac's daughter married the Babylonian amora Pappi.Hullin 110a Tradition records him teaching in Antioch.Markus N. A. Bockmuehl Jewish law in gentile churches - Halakah and the Beginning of Christian Public Ethics. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003, Page 54 "Indeed, Antioch continued for several centuries to serve as a place of residence for important religious leaders; even in the Amoraic period famous Rabbis like Simlai and Isaac Nappaha are sometimes cited as teaching in the city."
Although he was a pupil of Johanan bar Nappaha, his associations with Johanan are indicated in only one passage, which tells of his once appearing before Johanan.Bava Metziah 24b As a traditionist of the aggadah of Johanan, he appears only in the Babylonian Talmud.Berachot 62b He was in Babylonia only temporarily, probably soon after the death of Johanan; and while there he visited the house of the exilarch,Moed Kattan 24b together with Rav Sheshet and Rav Yosef.Rosh Hashana 3b; Shabbat 52b Rava quoted in his name;Berachot 32a; Temurah 15a but sometimes tradition maintains that it is uncertain whether the sayings originated with Yitzchak or with Rava.Sanhedrin 94a; Nedarim 39a; Nazir 23b Rabbin bar Adda also cites in his name.Berachot 6a; Pesachim 8b
His home was originally in Caesarea, but he afterward went to Tiberias to live. He associated intimately with Rabbi Ammi, with whom he often discussed halakhic questions;Sotah 34a; Menachot 11b; Hagigah 26a; Berachot 41a; Yoma 42b and together they sometimes rendered decisions in matters pertaining to religious law.Hullin 48b; Nedarim 57b; Berachot 27a Yitzchak, Abbahu, and Hanina b. Papi constituted a board of judges.Ketuvot 84b; Avodah Zarah 39b; Berachot 38a,b; Bava Kamma 117b; Gittin 29b Rabbi Helbo referred to Yitzchak two liturgical questions addressed to him from Galilee: the first question he answered immediately; the second he expounded publicly in the academy.Gittin 60a A thesis on the creation of light, formulated anonymously, was made public by R. Yitzchak.Genesis Rabbah 3, beginning He also engaged in aggadic discussions with Levi II;Genesis Rabbah 19:14; Pesikta Rabbati 23, beginning; Berachot 4a; Yerushalmi Ta'anit 65b with Abba bar Kahana;Genesis Rabbah 43:7; Leviticus Rabbah 2:1; Midrash Tehillim to Psalms 49:1 with Rabbi Aha;Pesikta Rabbati 15; Genesis Rabbah 5:7; Yerushalmi Pe'ah 1:1 15d and with Hiyya bar Abba.Leviticus Rabbah 20:7; Pesikta Rabbati 22 Among those who transmitted in the name of Yitzchak were the famous halakhist Haggai, the latter's sons Jonathan and Azariah,Genesis Rabbah 22:18, 40:6; Midrash Shmuel 22,end and Luliani ben Tabrin.Genesis Rabbah passim; Midrash Tehillim to Psalms 24:4; Yerushalmi Megillah 75c
Teachings That Yitzchak was a great authority on halakhah, as well as aggadah, is shown by an anecdote which is told and according to which Ammi and Assi would not let him speak, because the one wished to hear halakhah and the other aggadah.Bava Kamma 60b So after telling them the celebrated story (also known from Aesop's Fables) of the man who had two wives, one of whom pulled out all his white hairs because she was young, whereas the other extracted his black hairs because she was old, R. Yitzchak presented to them an aggadah with a halakhic background, in order to satisfy both at the same time.
However, Yitzchak devoted himself to aggadah with more zeal, because he regarded it as a necessity in the adverse circumstances of the Jews. The poverty of the Jews of Palestine had increased to such an extent that people no longer waited for the harvest, but ate the green ears of wheat;Genesis Rabbah 20:24 consequently they were in need of comfort and refreshment of soul.Pesachim 101b Yitzchak tried to make his lectures as effective as possible, and they show him to have been an unusually forceful rhetorician and a skillful exegete.
Yitzchak's aggadic material may be divided according to contents into the following four groups:
Proverbs and dicta: concerning sins;Sukkah 52a,b; Hagigah 16a; Kiddushin 31a; Berachot 25a; Rosh Hashana 16b; Yoma 87a; Bava Batra 9b; Pesachim 90b concerning the relation of man to God;Nedarim 32a; Sotah 48b; Ruth Rabbah 1:2 on the relation of man to his fellow beings;Bava Metziah 42a; Megillah 28a; Bava Kamma 93a concerning prayer;Pesachim 56a; Leviticus Rabbah 30:3; Midrash Shmuel 1:7; Rosh Hashana 16b; Yerushalmi Kiddushin 61b; Yerushalmi Nedarim 41b concerning study and the Law;Megillah 6b; Leviticus Rabbah 2:1; Sanhedrin 21b, 24a; Hullin 91a; Yoma 77a concerning Israel;Genesis Rabbah 63:8 concerning the nations;Esther Rabbah 1:10; Leviticus Rabbah 1:14; Exodus Rabbah 38:3 concerning Jerusalem.Pesikta Rabbati 41:1; Pesachim 8a Exegesis: general;Sanhedrin 82a, 89a, 95b; Temurah 16a; Yerushalmi Rosh Hashana 57c; Genesis Rabbah 53:20; Hullin 91b; Sotah 48b; Bava Batra 16a halakhic;Berachot 13b; Gittin 59b; Pesachim 31b; Yoma 77a; Yerushalmi Sotah 17a Biblical personages;Genesis Rabbah 34:11, 39:7, 58:7; Yebamot 64a Biblical narrativesSotah 34a; Deuteronomy Rabbah 11:2; Bava Batra 91a; Midrash Tehillim to Psalms 7:13; Sanhedrin 106b; Menachot 53b; Esther Rabbah 3:9; Pesikta Rabbati 35:1 HomileticsGenesis Rabbah 19:6, 38:7; Sanhedrin 96a; Bava Metziah 87a; Yerushalmi Sotah 17b; Exodus Rabbah 43:4; Sanhedrin 102a; Berachot 63b; Ecclesiastes Rabbah 3:19; Temurah 16a; Yerushalmi Ta'anit 65b; Horayot 10b Proems;Genesis Rabbah 3:1, 59:2, 65:7; Exodus Rabbah 32:5; Leviticus Rabbah 12:2 maxims;Genesis Rabbah 56:1; Deuteronomy Rabbah 2:27; Leviticus Rabbah 34:8 similes;Yerushalmi Rosh Hashana 57b; Leviticus Rabbah 5:6; Exodus Rabbah 15:16; Yerushalmi Berachot 13a; Bava Batra 74b messianic subjects;Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:11; Deuteronomy Rabbah 1:19; Avodah Zarah 3b eschatologyLeviticus Rabbah 13:3; Midrash Tehillim to Psalms 49:1; Shabbat 152a; Bava Metziah 83b
The calendar According to the unanimous testimony of several writers of the tenth century, the gaon Hai b. David ascribed to Yitzchak Nappaha the calculation of the Rabbinite calendar.
Karaite tradition, borrowed from the Rabbanites, credits Isaac with declaring new months not by observing the Moon, but like the Rabbanites computing according to the rule of lo, bet, dalet, waw which meant that Passover can never begin on a Monday, or a Wednesday, or a Friday.Moshe Gil, David Strassler Jews in Islamic countries in the Middle Ages Page 224 - 2004 "The Karaite tradition (evidently borrowed from the Rabbanites) about R. Isaac Nappaha ('the smith'): "....the accepted custom was to fix the beginning of ..month by observing the moon, but they (the Rabbanites) began fixing the compute according to the rule of lo, bet, dalet, waw (ie, that the Passover shall never begin on a Monday, or a Wednesday, or a Friday), whose origin is unknown.. This is the method invented by Isaac Nappaha,.. "
References
It has the following bibliography: Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. ii. 205-295; Frankel, Mebo, pp. 106b-107a; Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, ii., s.v.; S. Pinsker, Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot, ii. 148-151; Al-Ḳirḳisani, ed. Harkavy, in Publ. Kaiserliche Russische Archœologische Gesellschaft, 1894, vii. 293; Weiss, Dor, iii. 98 et seq.