Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon(Hebrew:אגרת רב שרירא גאון), also known as theLetter of Rav Sherira Gaon,and theEpistle of Rav Sherira Gaon,is aresponsumpenned in the late 10th century (987 CE) in thePumbedita AcademybySherira ben Hanina,the Chief Rabbi and scholar of Babylonian Jewry, to RabbiJacob ben NissimofKairouan,in which he methodologically details the development of rabbinic literature, bringing down a chronological list of the Sages of Israel from the time of the compilation of theMishnah,to the subsequent rabbinic works (Tosefta,Sifra,Sifre,etc.), spanning the period of theTannaim,Amoraim,Savoraim,andGeonimunder the BabylonianExilarchs(Jewish Babylonian Aramaic:רֵאשׁ גלותאRēsh Galūthā), concluding with his own time. Therein, Sherira ben Hanina outlines the development of theTalmud,how it was used, itshermeneuticprinciples, and how its lessons are to be applied in daily life whenever one rabbinic source contradicts another rabbinic source. It is considered one of the classics in Jewish historiography.[1]
Sherira's letter (henceforth:Iggeret), in its length, takes the form of a short book. In it, Sherrira endeavored to answer an inquiry fromKairouanabout the authorship and composition of theMishnahandTalmud,and in particular why earlier authorities are seldom cited by name and the authorities that are so cited do not seem to be chronologically continuous. Sherira is one of the first to present a detailed discussion on theSavoraim,including their activity in revising and finishing the Talmud.[1]The letter he wrote is the chief source for the history of the Talmudic, post-Talmudic, and geonic periods.Jacob ben Nissimof Kairouan addressed, in the name of his community, a number of questions of historical interest to Sherira, inquiring especially into the origin of the Mishnah and the sequence of the redactions, the origin of theTosefta,and the sequence of the Talmudic, post-Talmudic, and geonic authorities. The reply seeks to clarify the basic principles upon which the chain of transmission of theOral Lawis founded.
Sherira clearly and lucidly answers all these questions, throwing light upon many obscure passages of Jewish history. This historical responsum, which is composed half in Aramaic and half in Hebrew, reveals Sherira as a true chronicler, with all the dryness and accuracy of such a writer, though his opinions on the princes of the Exile belonging to the branch ofBostanai,as well as on some of his contemporaries, are not entirely unprejudiced. As narrator of the history of Halakhah in the course of the first millennium. The literary topoi of his historical account have some parallels to the Islamic historical genre – theṭabaqāt.As a chronicler, he exposes monumental documented information about the rabbis and the Babylonian communities, especially the Jewish seats of learning (academies) atSuraandPumpeditha.Sherira also relates to the persecution underYazdegerd II.[2]Apparently, he also refers to some mythical imagery while reconstructing the chronology of the Halakhah as a profound historical picture.
This letter is included in theAhimaaz Chronicle,but it has also been edited from manuscripts by B. Goldberg[3]and under the title "Iggeret Rab Sherira Gaon";[4]also by J. Wallerstein, under the title "Sherirae Epistola."[5]The best edition of this letter prior to 1900 is that byAdolf Neubauer.[6]The best modern source for the letter is the edition of B.M. Lewin, in which the French and Spanish recensions are printed side by side. Most later editions are based on one or other of these.
All dates appended in Sherira's work are according to theSeleucid eracounting. Modern translations of theIggerethave converted these dates into their correspondingGregorian calendardate for easy comprehension.
Another letter by Sherira, also addressed to Jacob ben Nissim of Kairouan,[7][clarification needed]deals with the various titles given to the Talmudic sages, as "Rabban," "Rabbi," "Rab," and "Mar," and explains why some sages are simply mentioned by their names, without the addition of any titles.
TheIggeretexists in its originalAramaicboth in "French" and "Spanish"recensions.[8]The "French" recension is written completely inAramaic,while the "Spanish" recension (now at theVienna National Bibliothek,Ms. Hebr. 120) is a 13th or 14th-century copy written on paper, in what appears to be North African or Greek rabbinic script, measuring 270 x 202 mm, and composed of a higher proportion ofHebrew.The two recensions appear to differ on the question of whether the Mishnah was recorded in writing by RabbiJudah haNasi.The Spanish recension definitely says that it was. The French recension appears to say that it was not, and this was the traditional view amongAshkenazi Jews.However, the notes to a recent edition of the French recension[9]argue that the French wording is also consistent with the Mishnah having been written down. The scholarly consensus, up to and includingSolomon Schechter,was that the "Spanish" recension was the original version, and this is strongly urged by RabbiIsrael Moses Hazan.[10]More recent scholarship holds that the names are wrongly attributed: the so-called "French" version is the older, but is in fact a product not of France but of Spain.[11]
A partial translation of theIggeretwas made in English in 1975 by David M. Goodblatt,[12]and a complete translation in English made by R.Nosson Dovid Rabinowichin 1988 where he conflates both the Spanish and French editions in his new translation, especially where he thought one text would lend greater clarity to the subject.[9]Earlier translations were made of theIggeretinLatin,[13]French,[14]andHebrew,[15][16][17]although of poor quality.
Brody, Robert (2013).The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0300189322.OCLC898028875.
Filipowski, Z. (1857).Sefer HaYuchasin HaShalem(in Hebrew). London: Ḥevrat meʻorere yeshenim.OCLC1037578511.
Goodblatt, David M. (1975).Rabbinic Instruction in Sasanian Babylonia.Leiden: Brill. pp. 22–27.OCLC1654598.
Landau, L. (1904).Epitre Historique du R. Scherira Gaon (Traduite de l'hébreu moderne -- araméen et commentée avec une introduction)(in French). Antwerp: Anvers Imp. L. Bary.OCLC977254898.
Lewin, Benjamin Manasseh (1972).Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon(in Hebrew and Aramaic). Jerusalem.OCLC233343783.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link);Lewin's addenda not reprinted in this edition (first printed in a 1910 Berlin publication entitled "Prolegomena zu einer neuen Ausgabe vom Sendschreiben des R. Sherira Gaon", and reprinted in Jaffa in 1917, in Frankfurt in 1920, and in Jerusalem in 1944)
Sherira Gaon(1988).The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon.Translated by Nosson Dovid Rabinowich. Jerusalem: Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press - Ahavath Torah Institute Moznaim.OCLC923562173.
Wallerstein, Josue (1861).Scherirae Quae Dicitur Epistola (Interpretatione Lativa Advolationibus et Criticis et Exegeticis Instructa)(in Latin). Krotochini: B.L. Monasch.OCLC876614004.
Gafni, I.(1987). "On the Talmudic Chronology in 'Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon'".Zion(in Hebrew).52(1). Jerusalem: Historical Society of Israel: 1–24.JSTOR23559527.(JSTOR23559516)
Baer, M. (1967), "Iyyunim B'Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon",Bar-Ilan Yearbook(in Hebrew), vol. 4–5, Ramat-Gan, pp. 181–197,OCLC741061227{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Sherira Gaon(1873). Dov Bär Goldberg (ed.).Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon: publication based on the versions in various handwritten manuscripts, with emendations and annotations(in Hebrew) (2 ed.). Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany): Yechiel Brill.OCLC233343774.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."SHERIRA B. ḤANINA".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
