She'iltot

She'iltot of Rav Achai Gaon, also known as Sheiltot de-Rav Ahai, or simply She'iltot (

Each inquiry deals with one halakhic topic in a special order and style, divided into four parts: an opening with a particular biblical command (mitzvah), a halakhic question related to it, the aggadic teachings generally related to the topic, and finally an answer to the halakhic question.

The beginning of the fourth Sheilta, which is based upon the weekly lesson on Noah, may serve as a specimen of the Sheiltot.^[1] Stealing or robbery was explicitly forbidden to the Israelites; and the divine punishment for the transgression of this command is more severe than for other crimes. Thus, the generation of the Flood were punished solely on account of their violence, as it is said, "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them."^[11] Aḥai elaborates on this moral condemnation, quoting from the Talmud and Midrash many passages concerning the baseness and godlessness of such crimes.^[1] He follows this statement (preceded by the introductory formula, "It was, however, necessary [to state]" [ברם צריך‎ = beram ṣarikh]) with casuistic inquiries; for example, whether it is proper to include in the designation of robbery, for which the Law requires a double restitution, the case of a theft committed in the interest of the victim.

This illustration serves to show that the work is not intended for scholars alone, but also for popular instruction.^[1] However, the statement (often repeated since the time of Meiri) that the Sheiltot was a book merely for the instruction of youth is also baseless. More likely, it is a collection of aggadic-halakhic sermons, which Aḥai delivered in Palestine, where certainly he was held in high regard. According to Ginzberg, with the decline of rabbinical knowledge in Palestine, Aḥai would have found but few pupils for pure halakhic instruction; and he therefore added aggadic elements to his lectures, in obedience to the general disposition of the Palestinians, who just then favored aggadah.^[1]

This view best explains the word derashah (lecture), which occurs about thirty times in the Sheiltot, in connection with the citation of passages from the Talmud.^[1] If the Sheiltot were indeed derived from sermons, they may properly be considered, in the form in which they appear, as extracts or abstracts of such sermons, giving the introduction and the conclusion of the original derashah; while of the derashah proper (which no doubt consisted of aggadic and halakhic quotations from Talmud and Midrash) only the heading is mentioned. Considering them as portions of sermons, the frequent repetitions that occur in the Sheiltot are not strange, as this would happen to the best of preachers; while it would be difficult to explain to them if they were found in the strictly literary productions of one man.

Recent scholars, when reviewing the fragments of the She'iltot discovered in the Cairo Geniza (now in the Antonin Collection at the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg) and comparing them with the printed text, observed that the printed text lacks much that, according to older authorities, was formerly included. Various explanations have been given for these variants, some alleging that they are merely a later recension.^[12]

Impact

Aḥai's work very soon won great esteem, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Simeon Kayyara, who compiled the Halakot Gedolot in the year 741.^[3] Sherira ben Hanina and his son Hai mention the book by title, and it was likewise freely consulted by Rashi and Nathan ben Jehiel.

Today, scholars closely examine Aḥai's She'iltot to determine the original textual variants found in the Babylonian Talmud.^[13]

Reminisces of ancient Jewish customs

One of the old Jewish practices still in vogue at the time of Rabbi Aḥai Gaon's compilation of his She'iltot is the practice mentioned in Parashat Nitzavim, section # 161, and which is a carry-over from Mishnah Megillah 4:4 and Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 3a), where he wrote: "And when he reads [from the Torah], a translator must respond [to each verse], and they are to adjust the tone of their voices together [so that they are the same]. But if the translator cannot raise his voice, let the reader [from the Torah] lower his own voice." The translation commonly used by all is the Targum known as Targum Onkelos, for the five books of Moses, and Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel for readings from the Prophets, or what is known as the Haftarah. Today, only the Yemenite Jews have preserved this ancient practice.

Another ancient custom mentioned by Rabbi Aḥai concerns the

The first edition of the "Sheiltot" appeared in Venice, 1546, from which a facsimile edition was published by Makor Publishing Ltd. in Jerusalem in 1971.[15] The first printing in Venice was succeeded by the following:

• An edition with a short commentary by Isaiah Berlin (Dyhernfurth, 1786);
• Another edition under the title תועפות ראם‎, with the commentary of Isaac Pardo, Salonica, 1800–01;
• An edition with an extended commentary by Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (Wilna, 1861, 1864, 1867). This edition contains the commentary of Isaiah Berlin, as well as a number of variant readings taken from a manuscript of the year 1460, and a short commentary by Saul ben Joseph, who probably lived in the first half of the 14th century (reprint Jerusalem, 1955).
• She'iltot (Samuel Kalman Mirsky, ed., She'iltot de-R. Achai Ga'on, vols. 1-2 [Jerusalem: Ha-Makhon la-Mehkar u-le-Hoza'at Sefarim Sura ve-Yeshiva Universita, 1982]), being a variorum edition with extensive notes and alternative manuscript readings, along with commentaries from medieval manuscripts, originally composed in five volumes, the final one posthumous, (New York & Jerusalem, 1960–1974).
• She'iltot de-Rav Ahai Gaon, 3 volumes (Mossad Harav Kook, Jerusalem)

Manuscripts of the Sheiltot, but with essential divergences from the printed text, are to be found among the Hebrew manuscripts in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Nos. 308, 309, and in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, Nos. 539, 540, 1317. In the latter library may be found also the hitherto unprinted commentaries by Solomon ben Shabbethai (541), and Johanan ben Reuben (542).

Manuscripts

• Sassoon Ms., described in Catalogue Ohel Dawid, vol. 1, pp. 112–123.^[16] Manuscript is written in an Oriental semi-cursive hand of the 12th century, contains 256 pages, written on paper and defective in parts, beginning in Parashat Vayetze. Sassoon points out differences between this Ms. and the Ms. used by Dyhrenfurt.
• Cincinnati Ms., Hebrew Union College (Ms. said to be a thousand years old)
• Vatican Ms. (Vat. ebr. 51), at the Vatican Library in Rome.^[17] Parchment, 14th century. Description of Ms. given by S.K. Mirsky in his edition of She'iltot (Jerusalem 1960), Introduction, pp. 31–33
• Netziv Ms.,
  The Jewish Theological Seminary of America
• Oxford Ms., Bodleian Library, MS. Oppenheim 70 (Neubauer's Catologue no. 539), dated 1492
• Oxford Ms., Bodleian Library, MS. Huntington 343 (Neubauer's Catalogue no. 540), 15th-century^[18]
• Paris Ms., no. 308 (Bibliothèque Nationale)
• Paris Ms., no. 309 (Bibliothèque Nationale)
• Budapest Ms.
• Mertzbacher Ms., no. 113

References