Abahu

  Grave of Rabbi Abahu - Amora Burial place - Caesarea - near the museum complex; Rabbi Abahu was a third-generation amora in Eretz Yisrael. He was one of the closest disciples of Rabbi Yochanan. He served as Rosh Yeshiva in Caesarea, roughly three hundred years after it was built by Herod. Despite all this, Rabbi Abahu restored the ancient synagogue, which is mentioned already by Josephus Flavius as the place where the revolt of Bar Kochba against the Romans began (The Jewish War, 2, 14, 3). The Babylonian Talmud has preserved for us some sayings of Rabbi Abahu that remain relevant today: - "Always be among the pursued rather than among the pursuers; of all the birds of the sky, the dove is the most pursued, and of all the birds of the sky, only the dove was deemed worthy to be offered as a sacrifice on the altar." (Bava Kamma, 93a) - "The world endures by the merit of those who, out of humility, act as if they do not exist." (Chullin, 89a) - "Even a perfectly righteous person cannot reach the level attained by a sinner through repentance." (Sanhedrin, 99a)   (Avraham Cohen)