Commentators:R. Yehudai Gaon (Halakhot Pesukot)/0

R. Yehudai Gaon (Halakhot Pesukot) – Intellectual Profile

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R. Yehudai Gaon (Halakhot Pesukot)

Name	Yehudai, Yehuda'i b. Nahman יהודאי בן נחמן
Dates	c. 700 - c. 760
Location	Iraq
Works
Exegetical Characteristics
Influenced by
Impacted on

Background

Life

• Name – Yehuda'i b. Nahman
  • Hebrew name – יהודאי (גאון) בן נחמן¹
• Dates – c. 700-760
• Location – Pumbedita (near modern-day Fallujah) and later, Sura (modern-day Iraq)
• Occupation – Head ("Gaon") of the Yeshiva of Sura, appointed in 757.² 
• During this time period, there were two Yeshivot south of modern-day Baghdad: that of Sura and that of Pumbedita, both of which were headed by a leader referred to as the "Gaon." Additionally, the Jewish community of Babylonia recognized an additional political leader with the title of Exilarch, or Reish Geluta. Although R. Yehudai was a leading scholarly member of the Yeshiva of Pumbedita, the Reish Geluta appointed him as Gaon of Sura because no members of that yeshiva were suitable candidates for the position.³
• Students – Pirkoi b. Bavoi, a student of R. Yehudai Gaon, wrote a polemic on the superiority of the Babylonian tradition and its Geonim over those of the Land of Israel.⁴
• Time period – R. Yehudai was appointed as Gaon just a few years after the Abbasid Empire was established (having overthrown the Umayyad caliphate) and approximately at the same time that the Abbasids established Baghdad as their capital city, close to the Geonic Yeshivas. This may have contributed to the fact that R. Yehudai seems to have been the first Gaon to write a large number of responsa to communities throughout the Jewish diaspora.⁵
• World outlook – Although written works are attributed to him, it appears that R. Yehudai Gaon himself believed that oral transmission of Torah knowledge was far superior to written works, including the Talmud.⁶

Works

• Talmud – A geonic tradition attributes the first page of Masekhet Kiddushin to R. Yehudai Gaon,⁷ among a few other passages in the Talmud Bavli.⁸
• Halakhic codes – Various halakhic works have been attributed to R. Yehudai Gaon and his students, referred to as either Hilkhot R. Yehudai, Halakhot Pesukot,⁹ "Hilkhot Re'u",¹⁰ or Halakhot Ketzuvot,¹¹ although it is unclear if these are different names for the same work, or were written as separate books - or if these were even written by R. Yehudai at all.¹²
• Responsa – Like many Geonim after him, R. Yehudai oversaw the writing of many responsa, numbering in the hundreds, thousands or perhaps even tens of thousands.
• Misattributed (or questionable) – As one of the most prominent Geonim, numerous works have been attributed to him, including the work known as Halakhot Gedolot.¹³ Because of the nature of Geonic writings and their history, it is difficult to ascertain the contribution of any single Gaon to works and commentaries that may have been collaborative efforts over several generations.¹⁴ 

Torah Commentary

Records of Geonic Practices

• R. Yehudai acknowledged that the Geonic Yeshiva had ceased to study the laws and tractate of Nedarim long before his tenure as head of the yeshiva, and he saw this as a reflection of the practice not to annul vows.¹⁵ 
• Structure – 
• Language – 
• Peshat and derash – 

Methodological and Programmatic Statements

• R. Yehudai ruled that if two alternative versions of a teaching are recorded in the Talmud, the latter one is the more authoritative.¹⁶ 
• A talmudic discussion on its own may be insufficient to establish the halakha; R. Yehudai ruled on halakhic matters only when he felt supported both by the talmudic texts as well as by oral teaching he had heard from his teachers.¹⁷

Themes

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Textual Issues

• Manuscripts – 
• Printings – 
• Textual layers – 

Sources

Significant Influences

• Earlier Sources – 
• Teachers – 
• Foils – 

Occasional Usage

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Possible Relationship

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Impact

Later exegetes

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Supercommentaries

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¹ Lewin (ed.), Iggeret Rav Sherira Ga’on, pp. 106

² Lewin (ed.), Iggeret Rav Sherira Ga’on, pp. 106–107

³ Lewin (ed.), Iggeret Rav Sherira Ga’on, pp. 106–107

⁴ Spiegel, ‘‘Le-Parashat ha-Polemos shel Pirqoy’’. According to Pirkoi, R. Yehudai Gaon himself wrote to the Jews of the Land of Israel with instructions to abandon their customs that have developed due to years of persecution and ignorance in favor of Babylonian customs, especially those sourced in the Talmud.

⁵ Brody, Geonim of Babylonia, ch. 12

⁶ Ginzberg, Ginzey Schechter, pp. 556–560

⁷ Otsar ha-Ge’onim (ed. Lewin), Kiddushin, Responsa, no. 6

⁸ Ritva to Bava Metzia 19b and generally the comment of R. Zvi Hirsch Chajes to Bava Metzia 98a, "במסכתא זאת יש הרבה הוספות שהם מרב יהודאי גאון"

⁹ Sassoon, S., ed. ספר הלכות פסוקות לרב יהודאי גאון [Sefer Halachot
Pesuqot Auctore R. Jehudai Gaon]. Jerusalem, 1950

¹⁰ Schlosberg, A. L., ed. ספר הלכות פסוקות או הלכות ראו המיוחסות לתלמידי רב יהודאי גאון [The Book Halakhot Pesuqot or Hilkhot Re’u, Attributed to the
Students of Rav Yehudai Gaon]. Versailles, 1886.

¹¹ Margoliyot [Margulies], M. ספר הלכות קצובות מיוחס לרב יהודאי גאון [Halachoth Kezuboth attributed to R. Yehudai Gaon]. Jerusalem, 1942.

¹² In fact, the work published as Halakhot Pesukot contains third-person quotations of R. Yehudai Gaon. See Danzig, Mavo le-Sefer Halakhot Pesuqot, pp. 411–430 (third-person references to R. Yehudai are listed in n. 3 on p. 415); Brody, ‘‘Mehqar Sifrut ha-Halakhot,’’Brody, ‘‘Mehqar Sifrut ha-Halakhot,’'

¹³ Margaliot, הלכות קצובות, intro, pp. 11–14; Danzig, מבוא לספר הלכות פסוקות, pp. 261–269, Brody, 

¹⁴ Danzig, Mavo le-Sefer Halakhot Pesuqot, pp. 31–34

¹⁵ Brody (ed.), תשובות רב נטרונאי גאון, p. 311, 389-390

¹⁶ Lewin (ed.), Otsar ha-Ge’onim, Berakhot, Responsa, no. 240

¹⁷ Ginzberg, Geonica, 2:53; idem, Ginzey Schechter, 2:558–560; and the discussion in Danzig, Mavo le-Sefer Halakhot Pesuqot, pp. 19–22.