him that once while walking on the mole of Caesarea and seeing a Roman that had escaped from shipwreck in utter destitution, he took him to his house and provided him with clothing and all necessaries, including money. Later this castaway became proconsul of Caesarea, and occasion soon offered itself to show his gratitude to his rescuer, when Jews involved in a political disturbance were arrested, and he released them on Bar Kappara's intervention. Upon Bar Kappara's death, Rabbi Yohanan went to Parod (פרוד or פארוד) in order to question people who may have remembered sayings that were passed down in the name of Bar Kappara. Nothing further is known of this place; Bacher suggests it may have been a suburb of Caesarea. Teachings Bar Kappara was particularly known to the amoraim as the author of a compilation called the Mishnah of Bar Kappara. This work has not been preserved, and probably at the final redaction of the Talmud it was no longer extant. In fact, it is questionable whether the work ever reached Babylonia, as the one passage in the Bavli referring to it originated with Shimon ben Lakish, a Yerushalmi. In any case, the numerous passages from his Mishnah that found their way into the Talmud suffice for judgment upon its character. Menachem Meiri quite correctly designates it as a supplement to the Mishnah of Judah haNasi, intended chiefly to explain it, and, on rare occasions, to give differing opinions (see Baraita). It also presented variants to Judah haNasi's Mishnah, and later on became occasionally so interwoven in the text of the latter that doubt arose whether the Mishnah in question belonged to the one or to the other. The Mishnah of Bar Kappara was also used by the redactor of the Tosefta, who derived many decisions from it. Is. Halevy, however, denies the existence of Bar Kappara's Mishnah, without sufficient reason. Bar Kappara ascribed great value to the study of astronomy: "He who can calculate the solstices and movements of the planets and fails to pay attention to these things, to him may be applied the verse (Isaiah 5:12) 'They regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands". This statement is particularly striking when compared to his opinion about the obligation to study Torah: that a Jew who reads just two portions from the Torah daily—one in the morning and one in