Geonim (also Gaonim) (Hebrew: גאונים) were the presidents of the two great rabbinical colleges of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, 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. Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, Repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... Amora, plural Amoraim, (from the Hebrew root amar to say or tell over), were renowned Jewish scholars who said or told over the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and Israel. ... Rishonim (ראשונים Hebrew - sing. ... Acharonim (Hebrew - sing. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia and had a great and lasting impact on the development of world Jewry. ... Sura was a city in the southern part of ancient Babylonia, located west of the Euphrates River. ... ... Babylonia, named for its capital city, Babylon, was an ancient state in the south part of Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

Geonim is the plural of גאון (Gaon'), which means "pride" or "splendour" in Biblical Hebrew and "genius" in modern Hebrew. As a title of a Babylonian college president it meant something like "His Excellency". Categories: Language stubs | Judaism-related stubs | Canaanite languages | Hebrew language ... Hebrew redirects here. ...

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. Torah () is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. It is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... The first page of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history. ...

The period of the Geonim began in 589 (Hebrew date: 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 b. Ḥofni, who died in 1034; the last gaon of Pumbedita was Hai Gaon, who died in 1038; hence the activity of the Geonim covers a period of nearly 450 years. Events October 17 - The Adige River overflows its banks, flooding the church of St. ... The Hebrew calendar (Hebrew: ) or Jewish calendar is the annual calendar used in Judaism. ... Events Independent declaration of Western Xia. ... Sherira Gaon was one of the post-Talmudic geonim. ... Events The Pantheon is consecrated to the Virgin Mary and all saints (or 610). ... Events April 11 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium marries her chamberlain and elevates him to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael IV. Franche-Comté becomes subject to the Holy Roman Empire. ... Rabbi (or Rav) Hai Gaon (969-1038) was one of the last geonim (rabbinic authorities of the early Middle Ages). ...

Role in Jewish life

The Geonim officiated, in the first place, as directors of the academies, 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. The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia and had a great and lasting impact on the development of world Jewry. ... Amora, plural Amoraim, (from the Hebrew root amar to say or tell over), were renowned Jewish scholars who said or told over the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and Palestine. ... The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... The first page of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history. ...

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. Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ...

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'akov (Hebrew, head of the academy, pride of Jacob). The Aramaic term used was Resh metivta. Rosh yeshiva (Hebrew: ראש ישיבה) (pl. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. ...

The title gaon properly designated the office of head of the academy. The title became popular in use around the end of the sixth 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 ("semichah") is of course not implied here: that did not exist in Babylonia, only a solemn nomination taking place.) For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... Semicha (סמיכה -- meaning leaning [of the hands] or סמיכה לרבנות -- rabbinical ordination) is a Hebrew word referring to what may be roughly translated as the ordination (in Hebrew: semichut סמיכות) of a rabbi within Judaism. ...

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.

Works of the Geonim

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 literature. Responsa constitute a special class of rabbinic literature. ... Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ...

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 ninth 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. The siddur (plural siddurim) is the prayerbook used by Jews over the world, containing a set order of daily prayers. ... Amram Gaon (d. ... Sherira Gaon was one of the post-Talmudic geonim. ... The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... The first page of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history. ...

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 Genizah. The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of Jewish manuscripts written from about 870 to as late as 1880 CE, that were found in the geniza of the synagogue of Fustat (Old Cairo), Egypt (built 882), the Busatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and a number of old documents that were...

Examples of responsa collections are:

• Halakhot Pesukot min ha-Geonim (Brief Rulings of the Geonim): Constantinople 1516
• Sheelot u-Teshuvot me-ha-Geonim: Constantinople 1575
• Shaare Tzedek (Gates of Justice), edited by Nissim ben Hayyim: Salonica 1792, containing 533 responsa arranged according to subject and an index by the editor
• Teshuvot Ha-Geonim, ed. Mussafia: Lyck 1864
• Teshuvot Geone Mizrach u-Ma'arav, ed. Mueller: Berlin 1888
• Lewin, B. M., Otzar ha-Geonim: Thesaurus of the Gaonic Responsa and Commentaries Folowing the Order of the Talmudic Tractates (13 vols): Haifa 1928
• Assaf, Simhah, Teshuvot ha-Geonim: Jerusalem 1929.

Map of Constantinople. ... Map of Constantinople. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Other works

Individual Geonim often composed treatises and commentaries. Two handbooks on Jewish law are:

• She'iltot of Achai Gaon
• Halachot Gedolot, by Simeon Kayyara.

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. Saadia Ben Joseph Gaon (892-942), the Hebrew name of Said al-Fayyumi, was a rabbi who was also a prominent Jewish exilarch, philosopher, and exegete. ... Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. ... Emunoth ve-Deoth (אמונות ודעות; Hebrew: Beliefs and Opinions) written by Rabbi Saadia Gaon - originally Kitab al-Amanat wal-ltikadat (Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma) - was the first systematic presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism. ...

The Kallah

Two months of the year were denoted as kallah months, the Hebrew months of Adar and Elul. During this time foreign students assembled in the academy for common study. The Hebrew calendar (Hebrew: ) or Jewish calendar is the annual calendar used in Judaism. ... Adar (אֲדָר, Standard Hebrew Adar, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĂḏār: from Akkadian adaru) is the sixth month of the religious year and the twelfth month of the civil year on the Hebrew calendar. ... Elul (אֱלוּל, Standard Hebrew Elul, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔlûl: from Akkadian elūlu) is the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year and the sixth month of the civil year on the Hebrew calendar. ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ישיבה pl. ...

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. The first page of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history. ...

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. Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ...

Individual geonim

• Achai Gaon
• Amram Gaon
• Chananel Ben Chushiel (Rabbeinu Chananel)
• Dodai ben Nahman
• Hai Gaon
• Nissim Gaon
• Saadia Gaon
• Sherira Gaon

Some consider Nissim and Chananel to constitute the first generation of Rishonim. Amram Gaon (d. ... Chananel Ben Chushiel (or Rabbeinu Chananel), 990-1053) was a rabbi and one of the last Geonim. ... Dodai ben Nahman was a Babylonian-Jewish scholar of the eighth century CE and gaon of the Talmudic academy at Pumbedita (761-764). ... Rabbi (or Rav) Hai Gaon (969-1038) was one of the last geonim (rabbinic authorities of the early Middle Ages). ... Rabbi Nissim Ben Jacob (Rav Nissim Gaon, 990-1062) is best known today for his Talmudic commentary HaMafteach. ... Saadia Ben Joseph Gaon (892-942), the Hebrew name of Said al-Fayyumi, was a rabbi who was also a prominent Jewish exilarch, philosopher, and exegete. ... Sherira Gaon was one of the post-Talmudic geonim. ... Rishonim (ראשונים Hebrew - sing. ...

See also

• Gaon
• Talmudic Academies in Babylonia
• Responsa; History of Responsa: Geonim
• Rabbinic literature
• Eras of history important in Jewish law
• Illui
• Vilna Gaon

Geonim (also Gaonim) (גאונים) (Singular: Gaon [גאון] meaning Genius in Hebrew) were the rabbis who were the Jewish Talmudic sages who were the generally accepted leaders of the Jewish community in the early medieval era. ... The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia and had a great and lasting impact on the development of world Jewry. ... Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ... Responsa constitute a special class of rabbinic literature. ... Rabbinic literature, in the broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of Judaisms rabbinic writing/s throughout history. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... Categories: | | ... Elijah Ben Solomon, the Vilna Gaon The Vilna Gaon (April 23, 1720 – October 9, 1797) was a prominent Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and Kabbalist. ...

References

• 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
• 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• List of the Gaonim of Sura, Pumbedita and Eretz Yisrael on Bruce Gordon's Regnal Chronologies