A Savora is a term used in Jewish law and history to signify one among the leading rabbis living from the end of period of the Amoraimto the beginning of the Geonim. As a group they are also referred to as the Rabbeinu Sevorai or Rabanan Saborai, and may have played a large role in giving the Talmud its current structure. Modern scholars also use the plural term Stammaim for the authors of unattributed statements in the Gemara.
Role in the formation of the Talmud
Much of classical rabbinic literature generally holds that the Babylonian Talmud was redacted into more or less its final form around 550 CE. The Talmud states that Ravina and Rav Ashi were the "end of instruction", which many understand to mean they compiled the Babylonian Talmud. Maimonides wrote that Ravina and Rav Ashi were the last generation of sages in the Talmud, and that it was Rav Ashi who composed the Babylonian Talmud. However, some statements within classicalrabbinic literature, and later analysis thereof, have led many scholars to conclude that the Babylonian Talmud was smoothed over by the Savora'im, although almost nothing was changed. There are statements in the Talmud itself referring to generations later than Ravina and Rav Ashi. Occasionally, multiple versions of the same legalistic discussion are included with minor variations. The text also states that various opinions emanated from various Talmudic academies. Sherira Gaon indicates that the Talmud was not in its final form until many generations after Ravina and Rav Ashi, and that Rav Yose was the final member of the Savora'im. Occasionally, specificSavora'im are mentioned by name in the Talmud itself, such as Rabbi Ahai, who was a Savora. David Weiss Halivni, a modern scholar, has attempted to determine the authorship of anonymous portions of the Talmud. Halivni terms the editors of the Talmud as Stamma'im, a new term for rabbis that he places after the period of the Tannaim and Amoraim, but before the Geonic period. He concludes that to a large extent, the Stamma'im essentially wrote the Gemara. Halivni posits that during the time of Ravina and Rav Ashi, they compiled a Gemara that was much smaller than the Gemara known today, and which likely was similar to the Mishna and to the Tosefta. He sees this proto-Gemara as a compilation of rulings that probably had little record of discussions. Halivni also posits that the Stamma'im did not always fully understand the context and import of the statement of the Tanna or Amora when it was said. The methodology employed in his commentary, Mekorot u' Mesorot, will attempt to give Halivni's analysis of the correct import and context and will demonstrate how the Talmud erred in its understanding of the original context.
