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Ẓemaḥ Gaon
Zemah ben Hayyim (), or sometimes Zemah b. Hayyim, was Gaon of Sura from 889 to 895. He was the stepbrother and successor of Nahshon ben Zadok, and has become known especially through the reply which he made to the inquiry of the Kairwanites regarding Eldad ha-Dani. This responsum, which appeared in part in the first edition of the '' Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah'' (Venice, 1480), was republished as completely as possible by A. Epstein in Vienna in his ''Eldad ha-Dani.'' It embraces nine points and concludes with an apology for Eldad's forgetfulness. According to Epstein, only one other responsum by Ẓemaḥ has been published; it is given in the Constantinople edition of the ''Pardes'', and ends with the same words as does the first-mentioned responsum: לנטות ימין ושמאל. I.H. Weiss Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Jews of Austria, Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Velké Meziří ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaon (Hebrew)
Gaon (, ''gā'ōn'', , plural geonim, , ''gĕ'ōnīm'') was originally a formal title for the Geonim, heads of Talmudic academies in the 6th–11th century. Since the rishonic period, many great rabbis, whether or not they head academies, are often lauded with this honorific as a mark of respect; for example, one may refer to Ovadia Yosef as "HaGaon Ovadia Yosef". Modern Hebrew reuses the word as an equivalent for "genius" based on phonetic similarity. Etymology It may have originated as a shortened version of "Rosh Yeshivat Ge'on Ya'akov", although there are alternative explanations. In Ancient Hebrew, it referred to arrogance and haughty pride ( – "I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.") and, according to another explanation, it later became known as a general term for pride, and the title was used as "Pride f. Examples One of the Geonim during the period 589–1040. Prominent Geonim include: * Yehudai Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sura (city)
Sura () was a city in the southern part of the area called by ancient Jewish sources Talmudic Academies in Babylonia#Geographic area, Babylonia, located east of the Euphrates. It was well-known for its agriculture, agricultural produce, which included grapes, wheat, and barley. It was also a major center of Torah scholarship and home of an important yeshiva—the Sura Academy—which, together with the yeshivas in Pumbedita and Nehardea, gave rise to the Babylonian Talmud. Location According to Sherira Gaon, Sura () was identical to the town of Mata Mehasya, which is also mentioned in the Talmud, but Mata Mehasya is cited in the Talmud many times, either as a nearby town or a suburb of Sura, and the Talmudist academy in Mata Mehasya served as a branch of Sura Academy, which was founded by Abba Arikha in the third century. A contemporary Syriac language, Syriac source describes it as a town completely inhabited by Jews, situated between al-Mada'in, Māḥōzē and al-Hirah in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nahshon Ben Zadok
Nahshon ben Zadok Gaon ( or sometimes: Nahshon b. Zadok) was head of the Academy of Sura from 874 to 882, in succession to Mar Amram ben Sheshna. He wrote explanations to difficult words in the Talmud, not in alphabetical order, as did his contemporary Gaon Ẓemaḥ ben Paltoi of Pumbedita, but in the order of the tractates. The ''Re'umah,'' on ritual slaughtering (Constantinople, 1566), is ascribed to him, but his authorship is doubtful. He devoted much attention to the study of the Hebrew calendar, Jewish calendar. He is said to have found that the order of the week-days on which any particular festival occurs in successive years repeats itself after a Hebrew calendar#Cycles of years, cycle of 247 years, and that the years with regard to their characteristic dates can be arranged in 14 tables. This erroneous notion is known as, and is contained in, the ''Iggul [Cycle] di R. Nahshon,'' which work was printed with the ''She'erit Yosef'' of Joseph b. Shem-Ṭob b. Joshua (1521). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kairwan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliphate, Caliph Mu'awiya I, Mu'awiya (reigned 661–680); this is when it became an important centre for Sunni Islamic scholarship and Qur'an, Quranic learning, attracting Muslims from various parts of the world. The Mosque of Uqba is situated in the city.Europa Publications "General Survey: Holy Places" ''The Middle East and North Africa 2003'', p. 147. Routledge, 2003. . "The city is regarded as a holy place for Muslims." Etymology The name ( ''al-Qayrawān'') is an Arabic word meaning "military group" or "caravan", borrowed early on from the Middle Persian word ''kārawān'' (modern Persian language, Persian ''kârvân''), meaning "military column" (''kâr'' "people/military" + ''vân'' "outpost") or "Caravan (travellers), caravan" (see caravanse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eldad Ha-Dani
Eldad ben Maḥli ha-Dani (, 'Eldad son of Mahli the Danite') () was a ninth-century Jewish merchant, traveller, and philologist. Though probably originally from South Arabia, he professed to be a citizen of an "independent Jewish state" in East Africa, inhabited by people claiming descent from the lost Tribes of Dan, Asher, Gad, and Naphtali. Eldad visited Babylonia, Kairouan, and Iberia, where he spread fanciful accounts of the Ten Lost Tribes and ''halakhot'' which he claimed he had brought from his native country. Eldad's Hebrew narrative ''Sefer Eldad'' established his reputation as a philologist whom leading medieval Jewish grammarians and lexicographers quoted as an authority on linguistic difficulties. His ''halakhot'', which deal with the laws of ''shechita'', differ in many places from the Talmudic ordinances, and are introduced in the name of Joshua ben Nun, or, according to another version, of Othniel Ben Kenaz. Eldad's accounts soon spread, and, as usual in such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shalshelet Ha-Ḳabbalah
Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph (; – 1587) was a 16th-century Italian Talmudist of the prominent Yahya family chiefly known for his chronology of the Bible and Jewish history up to his own time, ''The Chain of Oral Tradition'' (). Biography Born in Imola, Italy, the son of Joseph ibn Yahya ben Solomon and Abigail. In his early years he studied in Ferrara, later settling down in Rovigo, where he remained until 1562 when the burning of the Talmud took place in Italy. Following this he briefly lived in Salonica, moving back to Imola in 1567. He was later expelled with other Jews by Pope Pius V, and suffering a loss of 10,000 gold pieces, he went to Pesaro, and thence to Ferrara, where he remained till 1575. During the ensuing eight years he led a wandering life, and finally settled in Alexandria, which perhaps is where he died in 1587. Another theory "indicates that Gedaliah did not die in Alexandria, Egypt, but in Alessandria, a town sixty to seventy miles northwest of Genoa, Ital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian-born folklorist, literary critic and historian who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Born in Sydney to a Jewish family, his work went on to popularise some of the world's best known versions of English fairy tales including " Jack and the Beanstalk", " Goldilocks and the Three Bears", " The Three Little Pigs", " Jack the Giant Killer" and " The History of Tom Thumb". He published his English fairy tale collections ''English Fairy Tales'' in 1890 and ''More English Fairy Tales'' in 1893. He published European, Jewish, Celtic, and Indian fairy tales, which made him one of the most popular English-language fairy tale writers. Jacobs was also an editor for journals and books on the subject of folklore which included editing the Fables of Bidpai and the Fables of Aesop, as well as articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions of '' The Thousand and One Nights''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sura Academy
Sura Academy () was a Jewish yeshiva located in Sura in what is now southern Iraq, a region known in Jewish texts as "Babylonia". With Pumbedita Academy, it was one of the two major Jewish academies from the year 225 CE at the beginning of the era of the Amora sages until 1033 CE at the end of the era of the Gaonim. Sura Academy was founded by the Amora Abba Arikha ("Rav"), a disciple of Judah ha-Nasi. Among the well-known sages that headed the yeshiva were Rav Huna, Rav Chisda, Rav Ashi, Yehudai ben Nahman, Natronai ben Hilai, Saadia Gaon, and others. History Abba Arikha arrived at Sura city to find no lively Jewish religious public life, and since he was worried about the continuity of the Jewish community in Babylonia, he left his colleague Samuel of Nehardea and began working to establish the yeshiva that would become Sura Academy. Upon Abba Arikha's arrival, teachers from surrounding cities and towns descended upon Sura. The Academy of Sura was formally founded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rav Malka
''Rav'' (or ''Rab'', Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (in the Talmud) states (1:6) that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuanced discussion, see semicha.) The term is frequently used by Orthodox Jews to refer to their own rabbi. Overview In the Talmud, the title ''Rav'' generally precedes the names of Babylonian Amoraim; ''Rabbi'' generally precedes the names of ordained scholars in the Land of Israel whether Tannaim or Amoraim. In the Talmud, ''Rav'' or ''Rab'' (used alone) is a common name for the amora named Abba Arikha. The title ''Rav HaTzair'' (or ''Rav HaTza'ir'') refers to an assistant rabbi. ''Tzair'' means young, in Hebrew, and the prefix ''Ha'' means "the"; therefore, the combination can be used to mean the younger of a pair: ''Rav HaTzair'', in context, can refer to the younger of a pair of rabbis, or Junior Rav. See also * R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
צמח בן חיים
Zemah ben Hayyim (), or sometimes Zemah b. Hayyim, was Gaon of Sura from 889 to 895. He was the stepbrother and successor of Nahshon ben Zadok, and has become known especially through the reply which he made to the inquiry of the Kairwanites regarding Eldad ha-Dani. This responsum, which appeared in part in the first edition of the ''Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah'' (Venice, 1480), was republished as completely as possible by A. Epstein in Vienna in his ''Eldad ha-Dani.'' It embraces nine points and concludes with an apology for Eldad's forgetfulness. According to Epstein, only one other responsum by Ẓemaḥ has been published; it is given in the Constantinople edition of the ''Pardes'', and ends with the same words as does the first-mentioned responsum: לנטות ימין ושמאל. I.H. Weiss Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Jews of Austria, Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Velké Meziříč ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geonim
''Geonim'' (; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura Academy , Sura and Pumbedita Academy , Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate. They were generally accepted as the spiritual leaders of the Jewish community worldwide 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 (''Ga'on'') , which means "pride" or "splendor" in Biblical Hebrew and since the 19th century "genius" as in modern Hebrew language, 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 Halakha, Jewish law. They taught Talmud and decided on issues on which no ruling had been rendered during the period of the Talmud. Era The per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9th-century Rabbis
The 9th century was a period from 801 (represented by the Roman numerals DCCCI) through 900 (CM) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Carolingian Renaissance and the Viking raids occurred within this period. In the Middle East, the House of Wisdom was founded in Abbasid Baghdad, attracting many scholars to the city. The field of algebra was founded by the Muslim polymath al-Khwarizmi. The most famous Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal was tortured and imprisoned by Abbasid official Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad during the reign of Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim and caliph al-Wathiq. In Southeast Asia, the height of the Mataram Kingdom happened in this century, while Burma would see the establishment of the major kingdom of Pagan. Tang China started the century with the effective rule under Emperor Xianzong and ended the century with the Huang Chao rebellions. In America, the Maya experienced widespread political collapse in the central Maya region, resulting in internecine warf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
