Bar Kappara

Bar Kappara was one of the last tannaim, a student of the Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and a friend of Rabbi Ḥiyya. We are never told his first name, although some suggest that his father was Rabbi Elazar HaKappar, who died before he was born, and that he, too, was named Elazar. He was knowledgeable in both Torah (authoring a collection of baraitot known as Mishnat bar Kappara) and in general knowledge, which is why he was sent on several occasions as the Jewish emissary to the Roman government. Almost all of the first-generation amoraim in Israel were his students. He was known as a satirist with a healthy sense of humor.