Jacob Of Nehar Pekod
Jacob HaKohen of Nehar Peḳkod ( Hebrew: רבי יעקב הכהן מנהר פקוד ) was the Gaon of Sura from 712-730. Born in the late 7th century, Jacob was one of several community members who settled in Nehar Pekod. It was here that Jacob attained most of his schooling. He later migrated back to Sura, where he was elected head of the Gaonate, succeeding Rav Sheshna ''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuan .... Most scholars (particularly Rav Sherira Gaon) agree that Jacob served as Sura Gaon for eighteen years, although others state sixteen. Rav Naftali Ya'akov HaCohen, "אוצר הגדולים אלופי יעקב" (in Hebrew) References Geonim Rabbis of Academy of Sura 8th-century rabbis {{MEast-rabbi-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hebrew Language
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved throughout history as the main liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. Hebrew is the only Canaanite language still spoken today, and serves as the only truly successful example of a dead language that has been revived. It is also one of only two Northwest Semitic languages still in use, with the other being Aramaic. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew, with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as ''Lashon Hakodesh'' (, ) since a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sura Academy
Sura Academy (Hebrew: ישיבת סורא) was a Jewish yeshiva located in Sura, 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 Yeshiva Academy was founded by the Amora Abba Arika ("Rav"), a disciple of Judah ha-Nasi. Among the well-known sages that headed the yeshiva were Rav Huna, Rav Chisda, Rav Ashi, Yehudai Gaon, Natronai Gaon, Saadia Gaon, and others. History Rav (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 in Nehardea and began working to establish the yeshiva that would become Sura Academy. Upon Rav's arrival, teachers from surrounding cities and towns descended upon Sura. The Academy of Sura was formally founded in the year 225 CE, several years aft ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nehar Pekod
Nehar Peḳod (Hebrew: נהר פקוד) was a Babylonian Jewish community in the town of Nehardea. Nehar Pekod was popularized as a center of learning by Rav Hananiah, leading to thousands of Judeans settling in the town after the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Rav Hananiah even tried to establish a bet midrash and a Sanhedrin with the authority to manage and change the Jewish calendar. However, Jewish authorities back in Judea immediately intervened, denouncing the authority of the community. Rav Hananiah died and was buried in Nehar Pekod. The community experienced another era of prominence during the Geonic period when tens of thousands of Surian Jews came to Nehar Pekod to learn. Several notable Sura Gaons were either educated or born in Nehar Pekod, including: * Hanina of Nehar Pekkod, Sura Gaon from 689 to 694. * Jacob of Nehar Pekod, Sura Gaon from 712 to 730. * Mari ha-Kohen of Nehar Pekod, Sura Gaon from 748 to 756. * Bebai ha-Levi ben R. Abba of Nehar Pekod Rav Bebai ha-Levi be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sura (city)
Sura ( syr, ܫܘܪܐ) was a city in the southern part of the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, located east of the Euphrates. It was well-known for its 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 ( arc, סורא) 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 source describes it as a town completely inhabited by Jews, situated between Māḥōzē and al-Hirah in the Sawad. A responsum of Natronai ben Hilai says tha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rav Sheshna
''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states 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. In contemporary Judaism, as the term ''rabbi'' has become commonplace, the term ''rav'' has come to apply to rabbis with levels of knowledge, experience, and wisdom in excess of those found among the majority of rabbis who serve Jewish congregations as a career. In some cases, ''rav'' thus refers to full-time scholars of Torah who do not receive compensation. 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 fi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sherira Gaon
Sherira bar Hanina (Hebrew: שרירא בר חנינא) more commonly known as Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: שרירא גאון; c. 906-c. 1006) was the gaon 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. He wrote the ''Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon'' (" heEpistle of Rav Sherira Gaon"), a comprehensive history of the composition of the Talmud.Abraham ibn Daud, "Sefer ha-Ḳabbalah," in Adolf Neubauer, "Medieval Jewish Chronicles" (Oxford, 1887) , i. 66-67 Life Sherira was born circa 906 C.E., the descendant, both on his father's and his mother's side, of prominent families, several members of which had occupied the gaonate. His father was Hananiah ben R. Yehudai, also a gaon. Sherira claimed descent from Rabbah b. Abuha, who belonged to the family of the exilarch, thereby claiming descent from the Davidic line. Sherira stated that his genealogy could be traced back to the pre- Bostanaian branch of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gaon (Hebrew)
Gaon (gā'ōn) ( he, גאון, , plural ''geonim'' — gĕ'ōnīm) 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 later became known as a general term for pride, both the positive and negative forms ('Pride f; Late Medieval and Modern Hebrew for 'genius'). Today, it may refer to: One of the Geonim during the period 589–1040. Prominent Geonim include: * Yehudai Gaon (Gaon 757–761) * Sar Shalom Ben Boaz (Gaon 838–848) * Natronai ben Hilai, Gaon of Sura (Gaon to 857) * Amram Gaon, Gaon of Sura (Gaon 857–875) * Saadia Gaon (882/892 – 942) * Zemah ben Hayyim (Gaon 889–895) * Sherira Gaon (906–1006) * Samuel ben Hofni (died 1034) * Hai Gaon (939–1038) An honorific title given to a few leading rabbis of other countr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rav Samuel
''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew (language), Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuanced discussion, see semicha.) The term is frequently used by Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jews to refer to their own rabbi. In contemporary Judaism, as the term ''rabbi'' has become commonplace, the term ''rav'' has come to apply to rabbis with levels of knowledge, experience, and wisdom in excess of those found among the majority of rabbis who serve Jewish congregations as a career. In some cases, ''rav'' thus refers to full-time scholars of Torah who do not receive compensation. 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 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geonim
''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; 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, and were the generally accepted 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 (''Gaon) , 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. The Ge ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rabbis Of Academy Of Sura
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic (167 BCE–73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis", and in 19th-century Germany and the United States rabbinic activities including sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance. Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination, and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a rabbi. For examp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |