Geonim
Encyclopedia
Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies
of Sura
and Pumbedita
, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta (Exilarch
) who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands.
Geonim is the plural of גאון (Gaon), which means "pride" or "splendour" in Biblical Hebrew and since the 19th century "genius" as in modern Hebrew
. As a title of a Babylonian college president it meant something like "His Excellency."
The Geonim played a prominent and decisive role in the transmission and teaching of Torah
and Jewish law
. They taught Talmud
and decided on issues on which no ruling had been rendered during the period of the Talmud.
: 4349), after the period of the Sevora'im, and ended in 1038 (Hebrew date: 4798). The first gaon of Sura, according to Sherira Gaon
, was Mar Rab Mar, who assumed office in 609. The last gaon of Sura was Samuel ben Ḥofni
, who died in 1034; the last gaon of Pumbedita was Hezekiah Gaon
, who was tortured to death in 1040; hence the activity of the Geonim covers a period of nearly 450 years.
There were two major Geonic academies, one in Sura and the other in Pumbedita. The Sura academy was originally dominant, but its authority waned towards the end of the Geonic period and the Pumbedita Gaonate gained ascendancy (Louis Ginzberg
in Geonica).
, continuing as such the educational activity of the Amoraim and Saboraim. For while the Amoraim, through their interpretation of the Mishnah
, gave rise to the Talmud
, and while the Saboraim definitively edited it, the Geonim's task was to interpret it; for them it became the subject of study and instruction, and they gave religio-legal decisions in agreement with its teachings.
During the geonic period the Babylonian schools were the chief centers of Jewish learning; the Geonim, the heads of these schools, were recognized as the highest authorities in Jewish law
. Despite the difficulties which hampered the irregular communications of the period, Jews who lived even in most distant countries sent their inquiries concerning religion and law to these officials in Babylonia.
In the latter centuries of the geonic period, from the middle of the tenth to the middle of the eleventh, their supremacy lessened, as the study of the Talmud received care in other lands. The inhabitants of these regions gradually began to submit their questions to the heads of the schools in their own countries. Eventually they virtually ceased sending their questions to Babylonian Geonim.
(Hebrew
, head of the academy, pride of Jacob). The Aramaic
term used was Resh metivta.
The title gaon properly designated the office of head of the academy. The title became popular in use around the end of the 6th century. As the academies of Sura and Pumbedita were invested with judicial authority, the gaon officiated as supreme judge.
The organization of the Babylonian academies recalled the ancient Sanhedrin
. In many responsa of the Geonim, members of the schools are mentioned who belonged to the "great sanhedrin," and others who belonged to the "small sanhedrin." In front of the presiding gaon and facing him were seated seventy members of the academy in seven rows of ten persons each, each person in the seat assigned to him, and the whole forming, with the gaon, the so-called "great sanhedrin." Gaon Amram calls them in a responsum ("Responsa der Geonim," ed. Lyck, No. 65) the "ordained scholars who take the place of the great sanhedrin." (A regular ordination ("semicha
h") is of course not implied here: that did not exist in Babylonia, only a solemn nomination taking place.)
Gaon Ẓemaḥ refers in a responsum to "the ancient scholars of the first row, who take the place of the great sanhedrin." The seven masters, or "allufim" and the "ḥaberim," the three most prominent among the other members of the college, sat in the first of the seven rows. Nine sanhedrists were subordinated to each of the seven allufim, who probably supervised the instruction given during the entire year by their subordinates. The members of the academy who were not ordained sat behind the seven rows of sanhedrists.
Early in the Geonic era, the majority of the questions asked them were sent from Babylonia and the neighboring lands. Jewish communities in these regions had religious leaders who were somewhat acquainted with the Talmud, and who could on occasion visit the Jewish academies in Babylon. A literature of questions and answers developed, known as the responsa
literature.
The questions were usually limited to one or more specific cases, while the responsum to such a query gave a ruling, a concise reason for it, together with supporting citations from the Talmud, and often a refutation of any possible objection.
More discursive were the responsa of the later geonim after the first half of the 9th century, when questions began to be sent from more distant regions, where the inhabitants were less familiar with the Talmud, and were less able to visit the Babylonian academies, then the only seats of Talmudic learning.
The later geonim did not restrict themselves to the Mishnah and Talmud, but used the decisions and responsa of their predecessors, whose sayings and traditions were generally regarded as authoritative. These responsa of the later geonim were often essays on Talmudic themes, and since a single letter often answered many questions, it frequently became book-length in size. Two important examples of such books are the Siddur
of Amram Gaon
, addressed to the Jews of Spain in response to a question about the laws of prayer, and the Epistle of Sherira Gaon
, which sets out the history of the Mishnah
and the Talmud
in response to a question from Tunisia.
Some of the responsa that have survived are in their original form, while others are extant only as quotations in later works. Many have been found in the Cairo Geniza
h.
Examples of responsa collections are:
The most notable author among the Geonim was Saadia Gaon
, who wrote Biblical commentaries and many other works: he is best known for the philosophical
work Emunoth ve-Deoth
.
of Adar
and Elul
. During this time foreign students assembled in the academy
for common study.
During the first three weeks of the kallah month the scholars seated in the first row reported on the Talmud
treatise assigned for study during the preceding months; in the fourth week the other scholars and also some of the pupils were called upon. Discussions followed, and difficult passages were laid before the gaon, who also took a prominent part in the debates, and freely reproved any member of the college who was not up to the standard of scholarship. At the end of the kallah month the gaon designated the Talmudic treatise which the members of the assembly were obliged to study in the months intervening till the next kallah should begin. The students who were not given seats were exempt from this task, being free to choose a subject for study according to their needs.
During the kallah, the gaon laid before the assembly a number of the questions that had been sent in during the year from all parts of the Diaspora. The requisite answers were discussed, and were finally recorded by the secretary of the academy according to the directions of the gaon. At the end of the kallah month the questions, together with the answers, were read to the assembly, and the answers were signed by the gaon. A large number of the geonic responsa
originated in this way; but many of them were written by the respective geonim without consulting the kallah assemblies convened in the spring.
Chananel Ben Chushiel
(Rabbeinu Chananel) and Nissim Gaon
of Kairouan
, though not holders of the office of Gaon, are often ranked among the Geonim. Others, perhaps more logically, consider them as constituting the first generation of Rishonim
. Maimonides
sometimes uses the term "Geonim" in an extended sense, to mean "leading authorities", regardless of what country they lived in.
Talmudic Academies in Babylonia
The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonic Academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia from roughly 589 CE to 1038 CE...
of Sura
Sura (city)
Sura was a city in the southern part of ancient Babylonia, located west of the Euphrates River. It was well-known for its agricultural produce, which included grapes, wheat, and barley...
and Pumbedita
Pumbedita
Pumbedita was the name of a city in ancient Babylonia close to the modern-day city of Fallujah....
, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta (Exilarch
Exilarch
Exilarch refers to the leaders of the Diaspora Jewish community in Babylon following the deportation of King Jeconiah and his court into Babylonian exile after the first fall of Jerusalem in 597 BCE and augmented after the further deportations following the destruction...
) who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands.
Geonim is the plural of גאון (Gaon), which means "pride" or "splendour" in Biblical Hebrew and since the 19th century "genius" as in modern Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
. As a title of a Babylonian college president it meant something like "His Excellency."
The Geonim played a prominent and decisive role in the transmission and teaching of Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
. They taught Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
and decided on issues on which no ruling had been rendered during the period of the Talmud.
Era
The period of the Geonim began in 589 (Hebrew dateHebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
: 4349), after the period of the Sevora'im, and ended in 1038 (Hebrew date: 4798). The first gaon of Sura, according to Sherira Gaon
Sherira Gaon
Rav Sherira Gaon was the head of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the father of Hai Gaon, who succeeded him as gaon.Sherira was born in 906 and died in 1006. Rav Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: רב שרירא גאון or R. Sherira ben Ḥanina Gaon, Hebrew: רב...
, was Mar Rab Mar, who assumed office in 609. The last gaon of Sura was Samuel ben Ḥofni
Samuel ben Hofni
Samuel ben Hofni was the last gaon of Sura...
, who died in 1034; the last gaon of Pumbedita was Hezekiah Gaon
Hezekiah Gaon
Hezekiah Gaon was the last Gaon of the Talmudic academy in Pumbedita from 1038-40.Hezekiah was a member of the exilarchal family, son of David,who was son the of Zakkai,who was the son of Avraham, who was the son of Nathan, son of David a Rabbi, whose father was Hazub...
, who was tortured to death in 1040; hence the activity of the Geonim covers a period of nearly 450 years.
There were two major Geonic academies, one in Sura and the other in Pumbedita. The Sura academy was originally dominant, but its authority waned towards the end of the Geonic period and the Pumbedita Gaonate gained ascendancy (Louis Ginzberg
Louis Ginzberg
Rabbi Louis Ginzberg was a Talmudist and leading figure in the Conservative Movement of Judaism of the twentieth century. He was born on November 28, 1873, in Kovno, Lithuania; he died on November 11, 1953, in New York City.-Biographical background:...
in Geonica).
Role in Jewish life
The Geonim officiated, in the last place, as directors of the academiesTalmudic Academies in Babylonia
The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonic Academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia from roughly 589 CE to 1038 CE...
, continuing as such the educational activity of the Amoraim and Saboraim. For while the Amoraim, through their interpretation of the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, gave rise to the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, and while the Saboraim definitively edited it, the Geonim's task was to interpret it; for them it became the subject of study and instruction, and they gave religio-legal decisions in agreement with its teachings.
During the geonic period the Babylonian schools were the chief centers of Jewish learning; the Geonim, the heads of these schools, were recognized as the highest authorities in Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
. Despite the difficulties which hampered the irregular communications of the period, Jews who lived even in most distant countries sent their inquiries concerning religion and law to these officials in Babylonia.
In the latter centuries of the geonic period, from the middle of the tenth to the middle of the eleventh, their supremacy lessened, as the study of the Talmud received care in other lands. The inhabitants of these regions gradually began to submit their questions to the heads of the schools in their own countries. Eventually they virtually ceased sending their questions to Babylonian Geonim.
The title "Gaon"
The title of gaon came to be applied to the heads of the two Babylonian academies of Sura and Pumbedita, though it did not displace the original title of Rosh Yeshivah Ge'on Ya'akovRosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
(Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, head of the academy, pride of Jacob). The Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
term used was Resh metivta.
The title gaon properly designated the office of head of the academy. The title became popular in use around the end of the 6th century. As the academies of Sura and Pumbedita were invested with judicial authority, the gaon officiated as supreme judge.
The organization of the Babylonian academies recalled the ancient Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
. In many responsa of the Geonim, members of the schools are mentioned who belonged to the "great sanhedrin," and others who belonged to the "small sanhedrin." In front of the presiding gaon and facing him were seated seventy members of the academy in seven rows of ten persons each, each person in the seat assigned to him, and the whole forming, with the gaon, the so-called "great sanhedrin." Gaon Amram calls them in a responsum ("Responsa der Geonim," ed. Lyck, No. 65) the "ordained scholars who take the place of the great sanhedrin." (A regular ordination ("semicha
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
h") is of course not implied here: that did not exist in Babylonia, only a solemn nomination taking place.)
Gaon Ẓemaḥ refers in a responsum to "the ancient scholars of the first row, who take the place of the great sanhedrin." The seven masters, or "allufim" and the "ḥaberim," the three most prominent among the other members of the college, sat in the first of the seven rows. Nine sanhedrists were subordinated to each of the seven allufim, who probably supervised the instruction given during the entire year by their subordinates. The members of the academy who were not ordained sat behind the seven rows of sanhedrists.
Responsa
- See: History of Responsa: Geonim
Early in the Geonic era, the majority of the questions asked them were sent from Babylonia and the neighboring lands. Jewish communities in these regions had religious leaders who were somewhat acquainted with the Talmud, and who could on occasion visit the Jewish academies in Babylon. A literature of questions and answers developed, known as the responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
literature.
The questions were usually limited to one or more specific cases, while the responsum to such a query gave a ruling, a concise reason for it, together with supporting citations from the Talmud, and often a refutation of any possible objection.
More discursive were the responsa of the later geonim after the first half of the 9th century, when questions began to be sent from more distant regions, where the inhabitants were less familiar with the Talmud, and were less able to visit the Babylonian academies, then the only seats of Talmudic learning.
The later geonim did not restrict themselves to the Mishnah and Talmud, but used the decisions and responsa of their predecessors, whose sayings and traditions were generally regarded as authoritative. These responsa of the later geonim were often essays on Talmudic themes, and since a single letter often answered many questions, it frequently became book-length in size. Two important examples of such books are the Siddur
Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
of Amram Gaon
Amram Gaon
Amram Gaon was a famous Gaon or head of the Jewish Talmud Academy of Sura in the 9th century. He was the author of many Responsa, but his chief work was liturgical.He was the first to arrange a complete liturgy for the synagogue...
, addressed to the Jews of Spain in response to a question about the laws of prayer, and the Epistle of Sherira Gaon
Sherira Gaon
Rav Sherira Gaon was the head of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the father of Hai Gaon, who succeeded him as gaon.Sherira was born in 906 and died in 1006. Rav Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: רב שרירא גאון or R. Sherira ben Ḥanina Gaon, Hebrew: רב...
, which sets out the history of the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
in response to a question from Tunisia.
Some of the responsa that have survived are in their original form, while others are extant only as quotations in later works. Many have been found in the Cairo Geniza
Cairo Geniza
The Cairo Geniza is a collection of almost 280,000 Jewish manuscript fragments found in the Genizah or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, presently Old Cairo, Egypt. Some additional fragments were found in the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and the collection includes a number of...
h.
Examples of responsa collections are:
- Halakhot Pesukot min ha-Geonim (Brief Rulings of the Geonim): ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
1516 - Sheelot u-Teshuvot me-ha-Geonim: ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
1575 - Shaare Tzedek (Gates of Justice), edited by Nissim ben Hayyim: SalonicaThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
1792, containing 533 responsa arranged according to subject and an index by the editor - Teshuvot Ha-Geonim, ed. Mussafia: Lyck 1864
- Teshuvot ha-Geonim: Shaare Teshuvah with commentary Iyye ha-Yam by Israel Moses HazanIsrael Moses HazanIsrael Moses Hazan, Sephardic rabbi, Smyrna 1808-Beirut Oct 1862.-Life:He was taken by his father Eliezer Hazan to Jerusalem , where he was educated under his grandfather, Joseph ben Hayyim Hazan. In 1840 he became a member of a rabbinical college; in 1848 he was appointed "meshullach" . While at...
: Livorno 1869; linked here - Shaare Teshuvah ha-Shalem, ed. Leiter: New York 1946
- Teshuvot Geone Mizrach u-Ma'arav, ed. Mueller: Berlin 1888
- Lewin, B. M., Otzar ha-Geonim: Thesaurus of the Gaonic Responsa and Commentaries Following the Order of the Talmudic Tractates (13 vols): Haifa 1928
- Assaf, Simhah, Teshuvot ha-Geonim: Jerusalem 1927 (second volume 1942).
Other works
Individual Geonim often composed treatises and commentaries. Three handbooks on Jewish law are:- Halachot Pesukot of Yehudai GaonYehudai GaonYehudai ben Nahman was the head of the yeshiva in Sura from 757 to 761, during the Gaonic period of Judaism...
(not to be confused with the responsa collection of the same name): this was the basis of many other abridgments - She'iltot of Achai GaonAchai GaonAchai Gaon was a leading scholar in the period of the Geonim, an 8th-century Talmudist of high renown. He enjoys the distinction of being the first rabbinical author known to history after the close of the Talmud...
- Halachot Gedolot, by Simeon KayyaraSimeon KayyaraSimeon Kayyara was a Jewish-Babylonian halakist of the first half of the 9th century. The early identification of his surname with "Qahirah," the Arabic name of Cairo , was shown by J.L. Rapoport to be impossible. Neubauer's suggestion Simeon Kayyara (Hebrew: שמעון קיירא) was a ...
.
The most notable author among the Geonim was Saadia Gaon
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
, who wrote Biblical commentaries and many other works: he is best known for the philosophical
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
work Emunoth ve-Deoth
Emunoth ve-Deoth
Emunoth ve-Deoth or Emunoth w'D'oth written by Rabbi Saadia Gaon - originally Kitāb ul-ʾamānāt wal-iʿtiqādāt - was the first systematic presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism. The work is prefaced by an introduction and has ten chapters; it was completed in 933...
.
The Kallah
Two months of the year were denoted as kallah months, the Hebrew monthsHebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
of Adar
Adar
Adar is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 29 days...
and Elul
Elul
Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days...
. During this time foreign students assembled in the academy
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
for common study.
During the first three weeks of the kallah month the scholars seated in the first row reported on the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
treatise assigned for study during the preceding months; in the fourth week the other scholars and also some of the pupils were called upon. Discussions followed, and difficult passages were laid before the gaon, who also took a prominent part in the debates, and freely reproved any member of the college who was not up to the standard of scholarship. At the end of the kallah month the gaon designated the Talmudic treatise which the members of the assembly were obliged to study in the months intervening till the next kallah should begin. The students who were not given seats were exempt from this task, being free to choose a subject for study according to their needs.
During the kallah, the gaon laid before the assembly a number of the questions that had been sent in during the year from all parts of the Diaspora. The requisite answers were discussed, and were finally recorded by the secretary of the academy according to the directions of the gaon. At the end of the kallah month the questions, together with the answers, were read to the assembly, and the answers were signed by the gaon. A large number of the geonic responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
originated in this way; but many of them were written by the respective geonim without consulting the kallah assemblies convened in the spring.
Individual geonim
- Achai GaonAchai GaonAchai Gaon was a leading scholar in the period of the Geonim, an 8th-century Talmudist of high renown. He enjoys the distinction of being the first rabbinical author known to history after the close of the Talmud...
- Amram GaonAmram GaonAmram Gaon was a famous Gaon or head of the Jewish Talmud Academy of Sura in the 9th century. He was the author of many Responsa, but his chief work was liturgical.He was the first to arrange a complete liturgy for the synagogue...
- Dodai ben NahmanDodai ben NahmanDodai ben Nahman was a Babylonian-Jewish scholar of the eighth century CE and gaon of the Talmudic academy at Pumbedita . Little is known of his life...
- Hai GaonHai GaonHai ben Sherira , was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038...
- Saadia GaonSaadia GaonSaʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
- Sherira GaonSherira GaonRav Sherira Gaon was the head of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the father of Hai Gaon, who succeeded him as gaon.Sherira was born in 906 and died in 1006. Rav Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: רב שרירא גאון or R. Sherira ben Ḥanina Gaon, Hebrew: רב...
Chananel Ben Chushiel
Chananel Ben Chushiel
Chananel ben Chushiel or Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel , an eleventh-century Tunisian Rabbi and Talmudist, was a student of one of the last Geonim. He is best known for his commentary on the Talmud. Chananel is often referred to as Rabbeinu Chananel - Hebrew for "our teacher, Chananel" .-Biography:"Rabbeinu...
(Rabbeinu Chananel) and Nissim Gaon
Nissim Ben Jacob
Nissim ben Jacob , was a rabbi best known today for his Talmudic commentary ha-Mafteach, by which title he is also known.-Biography:Rav Nissim studied at the Kairouan yeshiva, initially under his father - Jacob ben Nissim who...
of Kairouan
Kairouan
Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...
, though not holders of the office of Gaon, are often ranked among the Geonim. Others, perhaps more logically, consider them as constituting the first generation of Rishonim
Rishonim
"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...
. Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
sometimes uses the term "Geonim" in an extended sense, to mean "leading authorities", regardless of what country they lived in.
See also
- GaonGaon (Hebrew)Gaon originally referred in Ancient Hebrew to arrogance and haughty pride . Later became known as pride in general: whether good or bad . Today it may refer to:...
- Talmudic Academies in BabyloniaTalmudic Academies in BabyloniaThe Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonic Academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia from roughly 589 CE to 1038 CE...
- ResponsaResponsaResponsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
; History of Responsa: Geonim - Rabbinic literatureRabbinic literatureRabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
- Eras of history important in Jewish law
- Pumbedita AcademyPumbedita AcademyPumbedita Academy was a Jewish Yeshiva academy in Babylon, during the era of the Jewish Amora and Geonim sages. The academy was founded at the beginning of the second generation of the Amora era, by R...
- Sura AcademySura AcademySura Academy was a Jewish Yeshiva Academy in Babylon, one of the two major Jewish academies, along with the Pumbedita Yeshiva Academy, from the beginning of the era of the Amora sages and up till the end of the era of the Geonim. The Yeshiva Academy was founded by the Amora Abba Arika , a disciple...