RABAI OF ROB:
Youngest sabora of the first generation; succeeded R. Simona as head of the Academy of Pumbedita; died in 550. Sherira says of him, "It is said that he was a gaon." This, however, does not mean that he was the first gaon. Sherira uses the term "gaon" as equivalent to "head of a school," for he says of R. Jose also, the last of the Amoraim, that he was a gaon, though in his case it can mean only "head of a school."
Bibliography:
- Sherira, in Neubauer, M. J. C. i. 34-35;
- Grätz, Gesch. v. 7, note 2;
- Halevy, Dorot ha-Rishonim, iii. 27-30.
