Rav Ashi

Rav Ashi studied under the disciples of Abaye and Rava before becoming the head of one of the academies at the young age of fourteen. He held this position for sixty years, making him the prominent Jewish religious leader of his era. During the tolerant reigns succeeding Shapur II, Rav Ashi undertook the task of gathering and organizing all existing explanations of the Mishnah and its related texts. This monumental effort laid the foundation for the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud.