Hai Goan
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Rav Hai ben Sherira, better known as Hai Gaon (939 - March 28, 1038), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi, scholar, and judge who served as the head (Gaon) of the important yeshiva Pumbedita (modern Fallujah) during the early eleventh century. It was said of him that "he was the last of the geonim in time, but the first in importance."
Rav Hai received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina, and acted as his assistant in teaching. At 44, he joined his father as ab bet din—head of the rabbinical court—and with him delivered many joint decisions. As a consequence of the accusations of disloyalty Hai and his aged father were briefly imprisoned together, and their property was confiscated, by the caliph al-Qadir in 997. Shortly thereafter Rav Sherira appointed his son to the position of gaon.
As the judge of Pumpedita's rabbinical court, Hai Gaon issued numerous decisions regarding the practice of Judaism in the diaspora, which impacted not only local tradition, but the Jewish culture throughout the Middle East, Africa, India, and the fledgling Jewish communities of Europe.
Characteristics
Hai was not only a master of Hebrew lore, but was also familiar with the Quran and the Hadith, with Plato, Aristotle, Alfarabi, the grammarian al-Halil, the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible, the Greek calendar,Greek history, works in the Persian language. He did not hesitate to consult even the writing of the Assyrian Christian bishops in an exegetical difficulty over Psalms 114.
He demonstrated precise knowledge of the theological movements of his time, of which that of the Ash'ariyyah (Twelver Shiism) attracted him the most. Hai argued with Muslim theologians, and sometimes adopted their polemical methods. Moses ibn Ezra even called him a practitioner of Jewish Kalam, as Saadia Gaon had been the rival Babylonian yeshiva at Sura.
In many passages of his responsa he warns against deviating from a custom even when the meaning of its origin has been lost, as in the case of the practice of not drinking water during the Tekufot (soltices and equinoxes). However, this did not prevent him from opposing the abuses common to his time. Thus he protested against the practice of declaring null and void all oaths and promises which may be made during the coming year, and against the refusal to grant an honorable burial to excommunicated persons and their associates.
He also warned against the extensive study of philosophy, even when pursued with the plea that it leads to a better knowledge of God. Regarding foreknowledge and predestination, he held that God knows ahead of time both hypothetical and actual occurrences. In other words, God is aware not only of all the possible outcomes of a given situation, but also what will actually occur, even giving the fact of free human will. In this he is sought to show the influence of is Saadia Goan.
Hai's standpoint was essentially a conservative one. In the study of esoteric traditions he detected a danger to religious life and a deterrent to the study of the Torah. His attitude toward the Kabbalah similarly reflects his conservative standpoint. He accepted kabbalisic traditions as true only insofar as they could be traced back to the Talmud. When the inhabitants of the city of Fez made inquiries regarding the proportions of God, he replied that God is above any corporeal qualification and that the Talmud forbids the public discussion of these things. However, he also refers to the opinion of various scholars that, by means of asceticism and the reciting of psalms, specially favored persons could attain to an ecstatic state in which they might behold the heavenly halls. He even deemed it possible that God should reveal the marvels of heaven to the pious while in this state of ecstasy. In this, he took a position contrary to his father-in-law Samuel ibn Hofni, the gaon of Sura. On the other hand, he rejected as foolishness such kabbalistic beliefs as the idea that miracles could be performed by reciting the names of God.
Works
Responsa
Hai Gaon is most remembered his numerous responsa, in which he gives decisions affecting the social and religious life of the diaspora. Questions reached him from Germany, France, Spain, Anatolia, the Maghreb, and even India and Ethiopia. His responsa, more than 800 in number, deal with the civil law, especially the laws concerning women, ritual, holidays, and other topics. Many of his rulings may have been written in Arabic. Unfortunately, only a few of them have been preserved.
Complicating matters is the fact that some of the responsa attributed to him are apparently forgeries. Others were affected by later additions and interpolations, such as attacks upon Aristotle and his philosophy, thought to have been inserted against the arguments of Jewish scholastics such as Maimonides.
Legal Treatises
Rav Hai codified various branches of Talmudic law. He wrote a treatise in Arabic on purchases, translated into Hebrew by Isaac Albargeloni with the title Ha-Meqah weha-Mimkar (1078). Another work, Sefer ha-Mashkon, is a treatise on mortgages. Mishpete ha-Tanna'im, a work on conditions. These three treatises were published together in Venice, in 1604). Later editions include commentaries by Eleazar ben Aryeh (Vienna, 1800) and Hananiah Isaac Michael Aryeh (Salonica, 1814). Another translation of them exists in manuscript under the title "Dine Mamonot." Hai also reportedly wrote a treatise on oaths called either Sha'are Shebu'ot or Kitab al-Aiman. The Sha'are Shebu'ot were later arranged metrically by an anonymous writer. Hai's treatise on boundary litigations, "Metzranut," is known only through quotations. The works titled Hilkot Tefillin, Siddur Tefillah and Metibot are also quoted as belonging to Hai.
Commentaries on the Mishnah
Hai Gaon's abilities were also directed to the expounding of the Mishnah. Of this work only the portion on Seder Tohorot is extant. Tt was published by T. Rosenberg in "Qobetz Ma'aseh" (Berlin, 1856). This commentary contains especially interesting linguistic notes, in which Hai compares Arabic and Aramaic renditions. He quotes the Mishnah, the two Talmuds (Babylonian and Jerusalem), the Tosefta, the Sifra, the Septuagint, the works of Saadia Gaon, the Sifre Refu'ah, and other sources. He also quotes his own commentary on Zera'im (p. 34) and on Baba Batra. The commentary extended to the whole Mishnah, containing both historical and archeological notes. Some passages of the commentary are quoted by later rabbinical authorities.
Hai also wrote commentaries in Arabic on the Bible, although it is not known whether these covered the whole of the scripture or only parts of it. Abraham ibn Ezra quotes several of Hai's explanations in his commentary on the Book of Job.
Hai also compiled a dictionary of especially difficult words in the Bible],the Talmud, and other Jewish works, the Arabic title of which was al-Hawi, known in Hebrew as either Ha-Me'assef or Ha-Kolel. Fragments of this dictionary were discovered by Harkavy, and published by him (St. Petersburg, 1886). Judah ibn Balaam is the earliest Jewish author who expressly quotes this dictionary. Moses ibn Ezra and some North African rabbis of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries also mention it.
Poetry
Of Hai's poetical writings few have been preserved, and even of these the genuineness is doubted. The didactic poem "Musar Haskel" is generally regarded as authentic. The first edition appeared about 1505; others were published in Constantinople (1531), in Paris (1559), and elsewhere. Several modern editions were also published. The "Musar Haskel" consists of 189 double verses in Arabic meter rajaz, and it is said to have therefore received the title of "Arjuzah." If it really belongs to Hai, then he was the first known Eastern writer to use an Arabic meter in Hebrew poetry.
Some piyyutim (Jewish liturgical poems) are also ascribed to him, including one beginning with the words "Shema' qoli," which is preserved in the Sephardic liturgy for the evening of Yom Kippur.
Many spurious writings have been ascribed to Hai, especially by the kabalists of later centuries.
Legacy
An old tradition[1] says that on the Sabbath after Sherira's death, at the end of the reading of the weekly lesson, the passage[2] in which Moses asks for an able follower was read in honor of Hai. Thereupon, as haftarah, the story of Solomon's accession to the throne was read,[3] Hai's installation was greeted with great enthusiasm by the Jewish population. the last verse being modified as follows: "And Hai sat on the throne of Sherira his father, and his government was firmly established." Hai remained gaon until his death in 1038.[4]. He was celebrated by the Spanish poet Solomon ibn Gabirol and by Samuel ha-Nagid.[5]
Hai's students included Rabbeinu Chananel and Rav Nissim, the head of the academy at Kairouan.
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Groner, Tsvi. The Legal Methodology of Hai Gaon. Brown Judaic studies, no. 66. Chico, Calif: Scholars Press, 1985. ISBN 9780891307488
- Mann, Jacob. The Responsa of the Babylonian Geonim As a Source of Jewish History. The Jewish people: history, religion, literature. New York: Arno Press, 1973. ISBN 9780405052798
- Neusner, Jacob. A History of the Jews in Babylonia. Studia post-Biblica, v. 9, 11, 12, 14, 15. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1965. OCLC 6961350
- This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
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