There Are Two Kinds of Rabbis in the Talmud A sage from the era of the Mishnah is known as a tana. Conversely, one from the Talmudic era is known as an amora. Following the Jewish tradition that the generations closer to the revelation at Sinai had a more perfect tradition and were gifted with greater wisdom, the general rule is that an amora may not disagree with the teachings of a tana. How do you know if someone is a tana or an amora? Here’s a simple trick: Although, the term rabbi is fairly ubiquitous nowadays, in ancient Israel, only a Torah scholar who was deemed worthy was conferred this special title in a ceremony known as semichah. Since the Babylonian sages did not live in Israel, they were not able to receive semichah and were thus simply known as rav so-and-so. So if someone in the Talmud’s name is preceded by rabbi you can assume he is either a tana or an amora from the Land of Israel. Conversely, if his title is rav, you know he is a Babylonian amora.