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Hai ben Sherira

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Hai Gaon was the head of the Talmudic Academy ofPumbeditaduring the era of theAbbasidCaliphate,where the modern city ofFallujah,Iraqis located.

Hai ben Sherira(Hebrew:האיי בר שרירא) better known asHai Gaon(Hebrew:האיי גאון), was a medievalJewishtheologian,rabbiand scholar who served asGaonof theTalmudic academy ofPumbeditaduring the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038.[1][2][3]He received hisTalmudiceducation from his father,Sherira ben Hanina,and in early life acted as his assistant in teaching.[4]In his forty-fourth year he became associated with his father as "av bet din,"and with him delivered many joint decisions. According toSefer HaKabbalahof RabbiAbraham ben David(Ravad), he was the last of theGeonim.

Appointment as Gaon[edit]

As a consequence of the calumnies of their antagonists Hai and his father were imprisoned together and their property was confiscated by theAbbasid caliphal-Qadirin 997.[5]The imprisonment was brief, but shortly thereafter (in 998) the aged and infirm Sherira appointed his son to the position of gaon. Hai's installation was greeted with great enthusiasm by the Jewish population. An old tradition[6]says that on the Sabbath after Sherira's death, at the end of the reading of the weekly lesson, the passage[7]in which Moses asks for an able follower was read in honor of Hai. Thereupon, ashaftarah,the story ofSolomon's accession to the throne was read,[8]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.[9]He was celebrated by the Spanish poetSolomon ibn Gabiroland bySamuel ibn Naghrillah.[10]

Writings[edit]

Responsa[edit]

Hai ben Sherira's chief claim to recognition rests on his numerousresponsa,in which he gives decisions affecting the social and religious life of theDiaspora.Questions reached him fromGermany,France,Iberia,Anatolia,theMaghreb,and evenIndiaandEthiopia.[11]His responsa, more than 800 in number, deal with civil law, especially laws concerning women, with ritual, holidays, and so on. Many of them contain explanations of certainhalakhot,aggadot,and Talmudic matters. In halakhic decisions he quotes theJerusalem Talmud,but without ascribing any authority to it.[12]Many of his responsa may have been written inArabic;only a few of them have been preserved.[13]

Legal treatises[edit]

Hai ben Sherira codified various branches of Talmudic law. His works include:

  • An Arabic treatise on sales and transactions, translated intoHebrewbyIsaac Albargeloniwith the titleHaMekach vehaMimkar(Hebrew:הַמֶּקַח וְהַמִּמְכָּר;1078).[14]
  • Sefer ha-Mashkon,a treatise onmortgage law,anonymously translated into Hebrew
  • Mishpetei haTena'im,a treatise on conditions, also anonymously translated into Hebrew.

These three treatises were published together (Venice, 1604); later editions also contain commentaries byEleazar ben Aryeh(Vienna, 1800) and byHananiah Isaac Michael Aryeh(Salonica, 1814). Another anonymous translation of them exists in manuscript under the title "Dinei Mamonot."

According to Rabbi David Azulai, Hai also wrote in ArabicSha'arei Shevu'ot,a treatise onoaths.According to another Hebrew source, the original title wasKitab al-Aiman.This treatise was twice anonymously translated into Hebrew: (1)Mishpeṭe Shebu'ot(Venice, 1602; Altona, 1782); (2)Sefer Mehubbar be-Kotzer Min ha-Dinim be-Bi'ur Kelalim we-'liqarim be-Helqe Hiyyub la-Shebu'ah[15]Sha'arei Shevu'otwas metrically arranged by an anonymous writer, probably of the 13th century, under the titleSha'arei Dinei Mamonot ve-Sha'arei Shevu'ot,and byLevi ben Jacob Alkalai.

Hai's treatise on boundary litigations, "Metzranut," is known only through quotations.[16]

HilkotTefillin,SiddurTefillahandMetibotare also quoted as his.[17]

Commentaries on the Mishnah[edit]

Hai ben Sherira'sphilologicalabilities were directed towards interpreting theMishnah;of this work only the portion on Seder Tohorot is extant; it was published by T. Rosenberg in "Qobetz Ma'aseh" (Berlin, 1856). This commentary contains especially interesting linguistic notes, Arabic andAramaicbeing often adduced for comparison. The author quotes the Mishnah, the two Talmuds, theTosefta,theSifra,TargumsOnkelosand Jonathan, theSeptuagint,the works ofSaadia Gaon,theSifre Refu'ah,and other anonymous sources. He also quotes his own commentary onZera'im(p. 34) and onBaba Batra(p. 43). These quotations, and many others cited by the Arukh, prove that the commentary extended to the whole Mishnah, containing among other explanations historical and archeological notes. Some passages of the commentary are quoted byAlfasiandHananelon Yoma, and bySolomon ibn Adretin hisHiddushim.[18]whileAbu al-Walid ibn Janahcites Hai's commentary toShabbatfrequently.[19]

Other works[edit]

It is uncertain whether Hai wrote commentaries in Arabic on the Bible as a whole or on parts of it.Abraham ibn Ezra,however, in his commentary on theBook of Jobquotes several of his explanations.

Hai compiled also a dictionary of especially difficult words in theBible,Targum, and Talmud, the Arabic title of which wasal-Hawi.Abraham ibn Ezratranslated this title, in hisMoznayim,into "Ha-Me'assef," whileAbu Bukrat's translation,Ha-Kolel,andMoses Botarel's translation, "Ha-Qemitzah," did not become popular. Fragments of this dictionary were discovered and published by Harkavy;[20]these show that the work was arranged according to an Alpha betic-phonetic plan of three consonants in every group; for instance, s.v. אהל it quotes the permutations אהל, אלה, הלא, האל, לאה.Judah ibn Balaamis the earliest Jewish author who expressly quotes this dictionary.[21]Moses ibn Ezraand some North African rabbis of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries also mention it.[22]

Works of disputed attribution[edit]

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, though Dukes expressed some doubts as to its genuineness, as old Jewish authors likeal-Hariziandibn Tibbondo not mention it;[23]andSteinschneideralso regarded it as of doubtful authenticity.[24]The first edition appeared about 1505 (see Fano); others were published inConstantinople(1531), inParis(1559), and elsewhere.[25]The modern editions are as follows: Dukes,Ehrensäulen,p. 96; Grätz,Blumenlese,p. 27; Steinschneider,Musar Haskel,Berlin,1860; Weiss,Liqquṭe Qadmonim,Warsaw,1893; Philipp,Sämmtliche Gedichte des R. Hai Gaon,Lemberg,1881; aLatintranslation byJean Mercier,Cantica Eruditionis Intellectus Auctore per Celebri R. Hai,Paris, 1561; another byCaspar Seidel,Carmen Morale ΣτροφορυΘμον Elegantissimum R. Chai,etc.,Leipzig,1638. The "Musar Haskel" consists of 189 double verses in the Arabic meter "rajaz," and it is said to have therefore received the title of "Arjuzah." If it really belongs to Hai, he was, as far as is known, the first Eastern writer to use an Arabic meter in Hebrew poetry. Every strophe is complete in itself, and independent of the preceding strophe.

Somepiyyutimare ascribed to him, as the piyyut beginning with the words "Shema' qoli," preserved in theSephardicliturgy for the evening ofYom Kippur.[26]

Many spurious writings have been ascribed to Hai, especially by laterkabalists.Among them are aSefer kol ha-Shem ba-Koah;[27]Pitron Halomot,Ferrara,1552;Sefer Refafot,ib.;Perush me-'Alenu;Teshubah,on the thirteen rules of R. Ishmael and on the TenSefirot;A Letter to the Priests of Africa.[28]Some of the responsa attributed to him are mereforgeries.Others again were falsified or mutilated by later additions and interpolations, as, for instance, the one containing attacks uponAristotleand his philosophy.[29]

Characteristics[edit]

Hai was not only a master of Hebrew lore, but was also familiar with theQuranand theHadith,withPlato,Aristotle,Alfarabi,the grammarianal-Halil,the Septuagint, theGreek calendar,[30]Greek history,[31]and thePersian languagetranslation ofKalilah wa-Dimnah.He did not hesitate to consult even theCatholicosof theAssyrian Christiansin an exegetical difficulty over Psalms 141:5, as theSiciliandayyanMatzliah ibn al-Basakrelates in his biography of Hai.[32]Hai justified his action by saying that scholars in former times did not hesitate to receive explanations from those of other beliefs. He had an exact knowledge of the theological movements of his time, of which that of the orthodoxAsh'ariyyahattracted him the most. Moses ibn Ezra, in hisPoetik(fol. 1196), even called him aMutakalam.He was also competent to argue withMuslimtheologians, and sometimes adopted theirpolemicalmethods.[33]Hai was orthodox as regards tradition, and upheldminhagto its fullest extent. He established the principle that where the Talmud gives no decision traditional customs must be adhered to.[34]He even went so far as to recommend the observance of every custom not in direct opposition to law.[35]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 theTekufot.[36]But 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,[37]and against the refusal to grant an honorable burial toexcommunicated persons and their connections.[38]

Hai's conservative standpoint explains the fact that in the study of esoteric sciences he detected a danger to the religious life and a deterrent to the study of the Law. He warned against the study ofphilosophy,even when pursued with the plea that it leads to a better knowledge of God.

Of his own views on religious-philosophical subjects only those regarding the anthropomorphisms of the Bible (expressed in his appeal to a well-known dictum of R. Ishmael: "The Torah spoke in language of men" ) and one or two other subjects[39]were known prior to the publication of ibn Balaam's commentary on theBook of Isaiah.[40]A responsum of Hai given in this commentary discloses his opinion on the subjects of divine fore-knowledge and the predestined length of human life. The essence of divineprescienceseems to consist, according to him, in a preknowledge of both hypothetical and actual occurrences. In this he shows the influence of Saadia.[41]

His attitude toward theKabbalahis determined by his conservative standpoint. Its elements, as far as they can be traced back to the Talmud, he considered to be true. When the inhabitants ofFezmade inquiries regarding the proportions of God,[42]he answered, as one of the signers of the responsum, that God is above any corporeal qualification and that the Talmud forbids the public discussion of these things.[43]His answer to the question regarding the interpretation of the Talmudic tradition that four men entered paradise is interesting, and has caused much discussion.[44]He refers to the opinion of various scholars that specially favored persons could attain, by means of castigation and the reciting of psalms, to an ecstatic state in which they might behold theheavenlyhalls ( "heikhalot") as vividly as if they really had entered them. Contrary to his father-in-law,Samuel ben Hofni,gaon ofSura Academy,he followed former scholars in deeming it possible that God should reveal the marvels of heaven to the pious while in this state of ecstasy.[45]But all the elements of the later Kabbalah not found in Talmudic tradition, such as the belief that miracles could be performed with the names of God, he designated as foolishness not credited by any sensible man.

The best characterization of Hai is given by Steinschneider:[46]"Certain Kabbalistic pieces were ascribed to him; but in truth he was no mystic in the usual sense of the word. In fact he fought against superstition. He was an orthodox Jew, in possession of general culture, but hostile to deeper philosophical research."

Legacy[edit]

Hai's students includedRabbeinu ChananelandRav Nissim,the head of the academy atKairouan.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Hai ben Sherira".Encyclopædia Britannica.Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. March 16, 2018.Retrieved21 April2018.Hai ben Sherira, (born 939—died March 23, 1038)
  2. ^Schloessinger, Max."Jewish encyclopedia".
  3. ^"Hai Gaon".Oxford Reference.2011-01-01.Retrieved21 April2018.
  4. ^Schechter, "Saadyana," p. 118.
  5. ^SeeAbraham ibn Daud inM. J. C.i. 67.
  6. ^Abudarham, ed. Venice, p. 70c.
  7. ^Numbers 27:16et seq.
  8. ^I Kings2:1-12.
  9. ^according toAbraham ibn Daud,l.c. p. 66.
  10. ^seeHa-Karmel,1875, p. 614.
  11. ^see Müller,Mafteahpp. 197-201et seq.;Harkavy,Studien und Mittheilungen,iv. 225.
  12. ^Teshubot ha-Ge'onim,ed. Lyck, No. 46.
  13. ^Sha'are Tzedek,Salonica, 1792; Harkavy,Teshubot ha-Ge'onim,Nos. 83-117, 197, 198, 201, 203, 325, 410, 421; Derenbourg, inR. E. J.xxii. 202; Steinschneider,Hebr. Uebers.p. 909;idem,Die Arabische Literatur der Juden,p. 101; Müller, l.c.
  14. ^Hai Gaon(1949). Michel Y. Lefkowitz (ed.).Meḳaḥ u-mimkar(in Hebrew). Jerusalem:Diskin Orphanage.OCLC903479321.
  15. ^Neubauer,Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS.No. 813.
  16. ^Rapoport, inBikkure ha-'Ittim,x. 93, note 27.
  17. ^Rapoport, l.c. xi. 91.
  18. ^Weiss,Dor,iv. 185et seq.
  19. ^Bacher, "Leben und Werke des Abulwalid," p. 87.
  20. ^In "Mitzpah" (St. Petersburg, 1886), inHadashim Gam Yeshanim(No. 7), and inMi-Mizrah umi-Ma'Arab(1896, iii. 94et seq.
  21. ^see his commentary on thePentateuch,Kitab al-Tarjih;Neubauer,Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS.No. 292; Schorr, inHe-Halutz,"ii. 61.
  22. ^Steinschneider, inZ. D. M. G.lv. 129et seq.
  23. ^"Orient, Lit." xi. 505.
  24. ^Cat. Bodl.p. 2161; "Jewish Lit." p. 366, notes 39, 40.
  25. ^Steinschneider,Cat. Bodl.p. 1021.
  26. ^Landshuth, "'Ammude ha'Abodah," p. 62.
  27. ^Moses Botarel,commentary on the "Sefer Yeẓirah," p. 10a,Grodno
  28. ^Steinschneider,Cat. Bodl.p. 1029;idem,Hebr. Uebers.p. 893; Harkavy,Studien und Mittheilungen,iii. 14.
  29. ^Monatsschrift,xi. 37; Grätz,Gesch.vi., note 2; Geiger, inWiss. Zeit. Jüd. Theol.i. 206.
  30. ^Harkavy, l.c. No. 45.
  31. ^ib. No. 376
  32. ^Sirat R. Hai;see Steinschneider,Die Arabische Literatur,§ 85
  33. ^seeHarkavy, l.c. iii. 173.
  34. ^Eshkol,i. 1.
  35. ^Eshkol,ii. 3.
  36. ^Teshubot ha-Ge'onim,ed. Lyck, No. 14.
  37. ^ib.No. 38
  38. ^ib.No. 41.
  39. ^seeSchreiner inMonatsschrift,xxxv. 314et seq.
  40. ^R. E. J.xxii. 202.
  41. ^Kaufmann in "Z. D. M. G." xlix. 73.
  42. ^Shi'ur Qomah
  43. ^Ta'am Zeqenim,Nos. 54–57.
  44. ^Teshubot ha-Ge'onim,ed. Lyck, No. 99.
  45. ^SeeHananelandTosafotto Hagigah 14b, s.v. "Arba'ah she-niknesu."
  46. ^"Hebr. Uebers." p. 910

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Hai Ben Sherira".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.It has the following bibliography: In addition to the works quoted above: Steinschneider, Die Arabische Literatur, § 57;

  • Grätz,Gesch.v. 320, vi. 1 et seq., note 2;
  • Weiss,Dor,iv. 174 et seq.;
  • idem,Liqqute Qadmoniyyot,1873, Introduction;
  • idem, inHa-Asif,iii. 151;
  • Winter and Wünsche,Die Jüdische Litteratur,ii. 54 et seq.;
  • Schechter,Saadyana,p. 113;
  • idem,Genizah MS. offprint from Festschrift zum 70 Geburtstage A. Berliners,pp. 2 et seq.;
  • idem,Studies in Judaism,pp. 94, 254, 255, 330, 421;

External links[edit]

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Preceded by Gaonof thePumbedita Academy
1004-1038 		Succeeded by
AcharonimRishonimGeonimSavoraimAmoraimTannaimZugot
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