Bar Kappara () was a rabbi of the late 2nd and early 3rd century CE, during the period between the tannaim and amoraim. He was active in Caesarea in the Land of Israel, from around 180 to 220 CE. His name, meaning "Son of Kapparah", was taken from his father, Eleazar ha-Kappar. He was one of the students of R' Judah haNasi, and an Amora of the first generation. He was a talented poet and storyteller, and it is said that at the wedding feast of Simeon, the son of Rebbi, he kept the guests captivated with fables until their food got cold. However, his satirical wit (he once ridiculed the son-in-law of Rebbi by telling him to ask Rebbi a riddle that really was an insulting criticism of Rebbi's household), lost him the chance to be ordained. Name His full name was Eleazar (there seems to be no ground for the form "Eliezer") ben Eleazar ha-Kappar. This is the form appearing in the tannaite sources, Tosefta and Sifre; the usual Talmudic form, "Bar Kappara," and the frequent appellation, "Eleazar ha-Kappar Berabbi", are abbreviations of this. According to a later source, his given name was Shimon rather than Eleazar. In Kohelet Rabbah, the given name of Bar Kapparah is Abba. Biography Bar Kappara was a pupil of Judah haNasi. His teachers seem to also include R. Nathan the Babylonian and R. Jeremiah ben Eleazar (probably identical with the Jeremiah mentioned in the Mekhilta and Sifre). Conflict with Judah haNasi Bar Kappara and R' Judah haNasi seem to have been opposites in personality, with Judah haNasi's princely grandeur contrasting with Bar Kappara's poetic abandon and vivacious attitude. Perhaps as a result, the two are recorded as coming in conflict in various ways. Judah initially refused to invite Bar Kappara to the wedding of Judah's son Shimon, and after Judah changed his mind, Bar Kappara went on to mock Judah at the wedding. According to another source, Bar Kappara took revenge in a different manner: At the feast which Judah subsequently gave in Bar Kappara's honor, the latter told a vast number of fox fables (300, it is reported) and the guests left the food untouched in order to listen to him. On another occasion, Bar Kappara belittled Judah in the presence of Judah's son Simon. Judah, upon hearing of this from his son, informed Bar Kappara of his firm resolve never