Gaon

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gaon ( Hebrew גָּאוֹן "Glory", plural: גְּאוֹנִים Geonim ) is originally the title of the heads of the Jewish academies in Babylonia, known as Talmud interpreters, in the seventh to eleventh centuries AD. But it will also be used later for this. The office of the Gaon is called the Gaonat (Mittellat. Gaonatus ). The Babylonian Geonim were considered to be the religious leaders of Judaism in the early Middle Ages , while the Resch Galuta ( Exilarch ) was responsible for secular sovereignty over the Jews in Islamic countries.

The Geonim played an important and decisive role in the transmission and teaching of the Torah and the Jewish law ( Halacha ). They taught the Talmud and decided on discourses that were not yet regulated in the Talmud era.

The period of the Geonim began in 589 (according to the Jewish calendar : 4349), after the period of the Sevora'im, and ended in 1038 (according to the Jewish calendar: 4798). The first Gaon of Surah , if one follows Sherira Gaon , was Mar Rab Mar , whose tenure began in 609. The last gaon of Surah was Samuel ben Ḥofni , who died in 1013; the last gaon of Pumbedita was Hezekiah Gaon , who was murdered in 1040; thus the period of the Geonim lasted almost 450 years.

Dezisor Dezisor Saboräer Amora (Judentum) Tannaim Die 5 Paare

There were two great academies of the Geonim, one in Surah and the other in Pumbedita . The academy in Sura was originally the more dominant, but its authority waned towards the end of the Geonim period, so that the Geonim of Pumbedita gained influence ( Louis Ginzberg in Geonica ).

Meaning in Jewish life

The Geonim served, first of all, as directors of the Babylonian Talmudic Academies. They continued the Amoraim and Saboraim technical college activities . While the Amoraim, through their interpretation of the Mishnah , had provided the basis for the creation of the Talmud and the Saboraim concluded it authoritatively, it was the task of the Geonim to interpret the Talmud. They put their emphasis on teaching and instruction, they published religious law decisions that were consistent with their teaching.

During the Geonim period, the Babylonian academies were the center of Jewish teaching. The geonim, the heads of these schools, were considered to be the highest authorities of the halacha . Despite the difficulties caused by irregular communication during these times, Jews living in very distant lands sent their questions about religion and law to the school heads in Babylonia.

At the end of the Geonim period, from the middle of the 10th to the middle of the 11th centuries, their primacy declined when the study of the Talmud was practiced in other countries. The inhabitants of these regions now sent their questions to the heads of the academies of their own countries and thus no longer to the Geonim in Babylonia.

The title "Gaon"

The title Gaon can be related to the heads of the two Babylonian academies Sura and Pumbedita, although the original name Rosh Yeshiva Ge'on Ja'akov ( Hebrew for "Head of the Academy, Highness Jacob") was not displaced. The Aramaic title was Resh Metivta.

The title Gaon became known around the end of the 6th century. When the academies of Surah and Pumbedita held legal authority, the gaon was their chief judge.

The association of the Babylonian academies brought the ancient Sanhedrin back to life. In many responses of the Geonim members of the academies are named who belonged to the "Great Sanhedrin", others belonged to the "Little Sanhedrin". In front of the ruling Gaon, 70 members of the academy sat opposite him in seven rows of ten people each, each person was appointed by him and all together with the Gaon resulted in the "Great Sanhedrin". Gaon Amram calls him in a response ("Responsa der Geonim", Lyck (Ed.), No. 65) the "ordained researchers who sat in the Great Sanhedrin". Ordination in the sense of the original Semichah was not meant here; this did not exist in Babylonia, only a solemn institution took place.

Gaon Ẓemaḥ describes in a response about "the ancient researchers of the first row who took their place in the Great Sanhedrin": Seven masters ( allufim ) and the chawerim , the three most famous of the remaining members of the academy, sat in the first of the seven rows . Nine members of the Sanhedrin were subordinated to each of the seven allufim who were likely to watch the implementation of the instructions they had given them over the course of the year. The members of the academy who were not ordained sat behind the seven rows.

Works of the Geonim

Responses literature / Responsa

At the beginning of the Geonim epoch, the majority of the questions sent to them came from Babylonia and neighboring countries. Jewish communities from this region had religious heads who were in some way acquainted with the Talmud and who, if there was an occasion, could also attend the academies in Babylonia. A literary genre of questions and answers developed that has become known as responses literature .

The questions were usually limited to one or more specific cases, while the response then gave a general rule and a brief justification. This usually included quotations from the Talmud to support the decision and refute possible objections.

The responses of the later Geonim were more extravagant. Since the 9th century questions have been sent from more distant regions, whose residents were less familiar with the Talmud and were also unable to attend the Babylonian academies.

The later Geonim not only limited themselves to the Mishnah and the Talmud, they also used the decisions of the responses of their predecessors, whose statements and traditions had now become authoritative. These responses of the later Geonim were often whole treatises on Talmudic subjects. Since a single letter often raised many questions, these were often the length of books. Two important examples of such books are the Siddur by Amram Gaon , addressed to the Spanish Jews in response to their question about the rules of prayer, and the letter from Sherira Gaon , which in response to a question from Kairuan (Tunis) the history of the Mishnah and the Gemara outlines.

Some of the responses have survived in their original form, while others are only quoted in later works. Many were found in the Cairo Geniza .

Examples of responsa collections are:

  • Halakhot Pesukot min ha-Geonim (Brief Instructions from the Geonim): Constantinople 1516
  • Sheelot u-Teshuvot me-ha-Geonim (Questions and Answers from the Geonim): Constantinople 1575
  • Shaare Tzedek (Gates of the Right), edited by Nissim ben Hayyim: Salonica 1792, contains 533 responses sorted by subject and with an index from the editor
  • Teshuvot Ha-Geonim (Answers of the Geonim), ed.Musafia : Lyck 1864
  • Teshuvot Geone Mizrach u-Ma'arav , (Geonite answers from the west and east), ed.Mueller: Berlin 1888
  • Lewin, BM, Otzar ha-Geonim: Thesaurus of the Gaonic Responsa and Commentaries Following the Order of the Talmudic Tractates (13 vols): Haifa and Jerusalem 1928–1943
  • Assaf, Simhah, Teshuvot ha-Geonim , 2 volumes, Jerusalem 1927–1929
  • HZ Taubes, Otsar ha-Geonim le-Massekhet Sanhedrin , Jerusalem 1966

Other works

Individual geonim often wrote collections and comments. Two legal manuals are:

  • She'iltot by Achai Gaon , edited by S. Mirsky, Sheeltot de Rab Ahai Gaon , 5 volumes, Jerusalem 1960–1977
  • Halachot Gedolot , edited by Simeon Kayyara .

The most important author among the Geonim was Saadia Gaon . He wrote biblical commentaries and many other works. He is known for his philosophical work Emunot ve-Deot .

The kalla

Two months of the year were dedicated to the kallah , the Jewish months of Adar and Elul . During this time foreign students and scholars came to the Babylonian Talmud academies to study and discuss with the famous Geonim.

During the first three weeks of the kallah , the teachers sitting in the front row lectured on Talmudic matters that were to be studied in the next few months. In the fourth week the other teachers and some students had the opportunity to express their opinion on the topic. Discussions followed. Difficult passages were presented to the gaon, who also played an important role in these debates. In this way, he could easily check every member of the academy to see whether they complied with general teaching guidelines. At the end of the kallah, the gaon selected the talmudic theme that the assembled members had to prepare for the next kallah. The members who had not found a place were exempt and could choose what they wanted to study in the near future, depending on their preferences.

During the kallah, the Gaon opened up some questions that had been sent to him from all over the Diaspora on the subject since the last kallah. The answers were discussed and at the end written down by the scribe of the academy according to the instructions of the Gaon. At the end of the kallah, the questions along with the answers were read publicly in front of the meeting and the answers were signed by the gaon. A large number of responses from the epoch of the Geonim were written in this way, but many were also published by the responsible Geonim without consulting the kallah meeting that met in the spring.

Single Geonim

Chananel ben Chuschiel (Rabbeinu Chananel) and Nissim Gaon of Kairouan , although they did not have the status of "Gaon", are often counted among the Geonim. It would be more logical to include them among the first of the Rishonim generation . Maimonides sometimes uses the term "geonim" in a broader sense of "leading authorities" regardless of the country in which they lived.

See also

Literature (selection)

  • L. Ginzberg : Geonica. Two volumes. Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York NY 1909 ( Texts and studies of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America 1–2, ZDB -ID 847022-4 ), (2nd edition = reprint. Hermon Press, New York NY 1968; also: reprint . Wagšal, Jerusalem 1986).
  • Samuel Poznański: Babylonian Geonim in the Post-Gaonean Age according to handwritten and printed sources. Mayer & Müller, Berlin 1914 ( publications of the educational institute for the science of Judaism. Volume 4, no . 1/2, ZDB -ID 513586-2 ).
  • Simha Assaf: Teḳufat ha-geʼonim ṿe-sifrutah. Hartsa'ot ṿe-shi'urim. Mosad ha-rav Ḳuḳ, Jerusalem 1955.
  • Gaon . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 11 : Franciscans - Gibson . London 1910, p. 455 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links