Talmudic academies in Babylonia
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The Talmudic academies in Babylonia, also known as the
The key work of these academies was the compilation of the
For the Jews of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the yeshivot of Babylonia served much the same function as the ancient Sanhedrin, i.e., as a council of Jewish religious authorities. The academies were founded in pre-Islamic Babylonia under the Zoroastrian Sasanians and were located not far from the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon, which at that time was the largest city in the world.[3] After the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century, the academies subsequently operated for four hundred years under the Islamic caliphate.
The first gaon of Sura, according to
The three centuries in the course of which the Babylonian Talmud was developed in the academies founded by Rav and Samuel were followed by five centuries during which it was zealously preserved, studied, expounded in the schools, and, through their influence, recognized by the whole diaspora. Sura and Pumbedita were considered the only important seats of learning: their heads and sages were the undisputed authorities, whose decisions were sought from all sides and were accepted wherever Jewish communal life existed.
Geographic area
Jewish sources regularly use the term "Babylonia" when referring to the location of the Talmudic academies in the northern half of
The term "Babylonia" from Jewish sources has always been an anachronism, as the area they refer to is in no way identical with the by far more ancient empires of Babylonia. The Jewish sources only concentrate on the area between the main two academies, Pumbedita (modern Fallujah; west of Baghdad) in the north, and Sura in the south. Both academies, as well as Nehardea and Mahuza, are situated between, or in the immediate vicinity of, the rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
History
Background
The
The principal seat of Babylonian Judaism was
Founding of academies
Among those that helped to restore Jewish learning, after Hadrian, was the Babylonian scholar Nathan, a member of the family of the exilarch, who continued his activity even under Judah the Prince. Another Babylonian,
When Odaenathus destroyed Nehardea in 259—twelve years after Rav's death, and five years after that of Samuel—its place was taken by a neighboring town, Pumbedita, where Judah bar Ezekiel, a pupil of both Rav and Samuel, founded a new school. During the life of its founder, and still more under his successors, this school acquired a reputation for intellectual keenness and discrimination, which often degenerated into mere hair-splitting. Pumbedita became the other focus of the intellectual life of Babylonian Israel, and retained that position until the end of the gaonic period.
Nehardea once more came into prominence under Amemar, a contemporary of Rav Ashi. The luster of Sura (also known by the name of its neighboring town, Mata Meḥasya) was enhanced by Rav's pupil and successor, Rav Huna, under whom the attendance at the academy reached unusual numbers. When Huna died, in 297, Judah ben Ezekiel, principal of the Pumbedita Academy, was recognized also by the sages of Sura as their head. On the death of Judah, two years later, Sura became the only center of learning, with Rav Chisda (died 309) as its head. Chisda had in Huna's lifetime rebuilt Rav's ruined academy in Sura, while Huna's college was in the vicinity of Mata Meḥasya (Sherira). On Chisda's death Sura lost its importance for a long time. In Pumbedita, Rabbah bar Nahmani (died 331), Joseph (died 333), and Abaye (died 339) taught in succession. They were followed by Raba, who transplanted the college to his native town, Mahuza (al-Mada'in). Under these masters the study of the Law attained a notable development, to which certain Judean-Palestinian scholars, driven from their own homes by the persecutions of Roman tyranny, contributed no inconsiderable share.
After Raba's death, in 352,
The unusual length of Ashi's activity, his undeniable high standing, his learning, as well as the favorable circumstances of the day, were all of potent influence in furthering the task he undertook; namely, that of sifting and collecting the material accumulated for two centuries by the Babylonian academies. The final editing of the literary work which this labour produced did not, it is true, take place until somewhat later; but tradition rightly names Ashi as the originator of the Babylonian Talmud. Indeed, Ashi's editorial work received many later additions and amplifications; but the form underwent no material modification. The Babylonian Talmud must be considered the work of the Academy of Sura, because Ashi submitted to each of the semiannual general assemblies of the academy, treatise by treatise, the results of his examination and selection, and invited discussion upon them. His work was continued and perfected, and probably reduced to writing, by succeeding heads of the Sura Academy, who preserved the fruit of his labors in those sad times of persecution which, shortly after his death, were the lot of the Jews of Babylonia. These misfortunes were undoubtedly the immediate cause of the publication of the Talmud as a complete work; and from the Academy of Sura was issued that unique literary effort which was destined to occupy such an extraordinary position in Judaism. Ravina II (R. Abina), a teacher in Sura, is considered by tradition the last amora; and the year of his death (812 of the Seleucidan, or 500 of the Common Era) is considered the date of the close of the Talmud. After his death the Jewish center moved to Pumbedita, where Raba Yossi was the head of the academy. Sura declined in this period as the Jews were persecuted. In Pumbedita the study continued and the academy became the leading one in Babylonia.
Exposition of Talmud
The three centuries in the course of which the
The inherited higher standing of Sura endured until the end of the eighth century, after which Pumbedita came into greater importance. Sura will always occupy a prominent place in Jewish history; for it was there that
When the
Organization of the academies
Since the academies were convened in certain months of the year, they were known as
The Kallah (general assembly)
At the side of the rosh metibta, and second to him in rank, stood the rosh kallah (president of the general assembly). The kallah (general assembly) was a characteristic feature of Babylonian Judaism altogether unknown in Judea. Owing to the great extent of Babylonia, opportunities had to be furnished for those living far from the academies to take part in their deliberations. These meetings of outside students, at which of course the most varying ages and degrees of knowledge were represented, took place twice a year, in the months Adar and Elul. An account dating from the 10th century, describing the order of procedure and of the differences in rank at the kallah, contains details that refer only to the period of the Geonim; but much of it extends as far back as the time of the Amoraim. The description given in the following condensed rendering furnishes, at all events, a curious picture of the whole institution and of the inner life and organization of the Babylonian academies:
In the kallah-months, that is, in Elul, at the close of the summer, and in Adar, at the close of the winter, the disciples journey from their various abodes to the meeting, after having prepared in the previous five months the treatise announced at the close of the preceding kallah-month by the head of the academy. In Adar and Elul they present themselves before the head, who examines them upon this treatise. They sit in the following order of rank: Immediately next to the president is the first row, consisting of ten men; seven of these are rashe kallah; three of them are called 'ḥaberim' [associates]. Each of the seven rashe kallah has under him ten men called 'alufim' [masters]. The 70 allufim form the Sanhedrin, and are seated behind the above-mentioned first row, in seven rows, their faces being turned toward the president. Behind them are seated, without special locations, the remaining members of the academy and the assembled disciples. The examination proceeds in this wise: They that sit in the first row recite aloud the subject-matter, while the members of the remaining rows listen in silence. When they reach a passage that requires discussion they debate it among themselves, the head silently taking note of the subject of discussion. Then the head himself lectures upon the treatise under consideration, and adds an exposition of those passages that have given rise to discussion. Sometimes he addresses a question to those assembled as to how a certain Halakah is to be explained: this must be answered only by the scholar named by the head. The head adds his own exposition, and when everything has been made clear one of those in the first row arises and delivers an address, intended for the whole assembly, summing up the arguments on the theme they have been considering. … In the fourth week of the kallah-month the members of the Sanhedrin, as well as the other disciples, are examined individually by the head, to prove their knowledge and capacity. Whoever is shown to have insufficiently prepared himself is reproved by the head, and threatened with the withdrawal of the stipend appropriated for his subsistence. … The questions that have been received from various quarters are also discussed at these kallah assemblies for final solution. The head listens to the opinions of those present and formulates the decision, which is immediately written down. At the end of the month these collective answers (responsa) are read aloud to the assembly, and signed by the head.
See also
Talmudic academies in Babylonia
- Firuz Shapur, modern-day Anbar, a town adjacent or identical to Nehardea; academy of Pumbedita was moved to this town for half of the 6th century
- Mahuza, modern-day Al-Mada'in; the academy of Pumbedita was relocated to Mahuza during the time of the Amora sage Rava
- Nehardea Academy (in Nehardea)
- Pumbedita Academy (in Pumbedita for most of its history, near modern-day Fallujah)
- Pum-Nahara Academy
- Sura Academy, in Sura – the political center of Jewish Babylonia after Nehardea
Talmudic academies in Syria Palaestina
- Talmudic Academies in Syria Palaestina (in the Land of Israel)
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Academies in Babylonia". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- ^ See Eras within Jewish law.
- ^ cf. Louis Ginzberg in Geonica.
- ^ Rosenberg, Matt T. (2007). "Largest Cities Through History". New York: about.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- ^ (also Gaonim, Geonim is the plural of גאון (Gaon), which means "pride" or "splendour" in biblical Hebrew and since the 1800s "genius" as in modern Hebrew. As a title of a Babylonian college president it meant something like "His Excellency."
- ^ "ĀSŌRISTĀN". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
ĀSŌRISTĀN, name of the Sasanian province of Babylonia.
- ISBN 9780791497944.
- ^ The dates of Nehemiah's and Ezra's respective missions, and their chronological relation to each other, are uncertain, because each mission is dated solely by a regnal year of an Achaemenian Emperor Artaxerxes; and it is not known in either case whether the Artaxerxes in question is Artaxerxes 1 (imperabat 465-424 B.C.) or Artaxerxes 11 (imperabat 404-359). So it is not known whether the date of Ezra's mission was 458 B.C. or 397 B.C.' Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History, vol.12 (1961) Oxford University Press, 1964 pp.484-485 n.2
- ^ Epistle of Sherira Gaon, 1:85
- Tanhuma, Noah, 3
- ^ Marina Rustow, Baghdad in the West: Migration and the Making of Medieval Jewish Traditions
- ISBN 978-1-60520-943-2.
- ^ Singer, Isidore; Adler, Cyrus (1925). The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 6. Funk & Wagnalls. p. 492.