Of all of the last Talmudic rabbis, Mar B'Rav Ashi's name was most synonymous with Torah scholarship. Why him above all others? The answer lies within his extraordinary biography. Living in an era when rabbis did not inherit their positions but had to prove themselves worthy, the son of a great Torah scholar was viewed with suspicion. This lecture, sprinkled with stories of later gedolim, illustrates the dichotomy between lineage and merit and the man who was able to unite both.