YEHUDAH BAR ILʿAI (second century CE), Palestinian tanna. Born in Usha, in the lower Galilee, he was a student of ʿAqivaʾ and Ṭarfon and was ordained as rabbi by Yehudah ben Bavaʾ during the Hadrianic persecutions in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.

Numerous traditions attributed to Yehudah are preserved in rabbinic literature where he is usually referred to without patronymic. Along with Meʾir, Shimʿon, and Yose, he is one of the most frequently quoted authorities of his generation. His importance is reflected in the tradition that tells us that his contemporaries were called "members of Yehudah bar Ilʿai's generation" (B.T., San. 20a). Yehudah is also one of the most important transmitters of rabbinic teachings from the Sanhedrin at Yavneh before the Bar Kokhba Revolt to the Sanhedrin at Usha afterward. He...