Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama (c. 280 – 352 CE), who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava (רבא‎), was a Babylonian rabbi who belonged to the fourth generation of amoraim.

[1] It is said that earlier Rav Chisda's daughter sat in her father's classroom, while his students, Rava and Rami bar Hama, stand before them.

His chief study companion was Abaye, who was about the same age, and both of them developed the dialectic method which Judah bar Ezekiel and their teacher Rabbah had established in their discussions of tradition; their debates became known as the Havayot de-Abaye ve-Rava.

[3] Rava enjoyed the special protection of the mother of Shapur II, the tenth Sasanian emperor according to Ta'anit 24b, who calls her "Ifra Hormiz" ( אִיפְרָא הוֹרְמִיז).

For this reason, and in consideration of the large sums which he secretly contributed to the court noted in Hagiga 5b, he succeeded in making less severe Shapur's oppressions of the Jews in Babylonia.

[7] Jewish tradition holds that Rava and his study companion Abaye are buried in a cave shown on Har Yavnit (Ovnit).

The mountain affords a good prospect of the Hula valley on its east and southeastern side, including the town of Rosh Pina and the northern part of the Sea of Galilee.

Ultimately, Rava's views were decisive in shaping the Bavli's approach to the problem of theodicy, legal midrash, and conceptualization, all of which stand in stark contrast to the Yerushalmi.

Bacher justly infers from this that the aggadic lectures of Rava were delivered in connection with the Sabbath afternoon service - at which, according to a custom observed in Nehardea, and later probably in Mahoza also, parashiyyot were read from the Ketuvim.

In the judgment after death, each man will be obliged to state whether he devoted certain times to study, and whether he diligently pursued the knowledge of the Law, striving to deduce the meaning of one passage from another.

[23] Rava frequently emphasizes the respect due to teachers of the Law,[24] the proper methods of study,[25] and the rules applicable to the instruction of the young.