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Saadia Gaon and Abraham Ibn Ezra and Their Defense of the Written and Oral Torah

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Saadia Gaon and Abraham Ibn Ezra and Their Defense of the Written and Oral Torah CHAPTER 10 Saadia Gaon and Abraham Ibn Ezra and Their Defense of the Written and Oral Torah In contrast to the problematic relationships between Jews and Arabs and Syrians in the pre-Islamic era, which is discussed in the previous chapter, this one presents two great Jewish scholars who grew up and acted under Islamic dominion, namely Rab Saadia Gaon and Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra. Although these scholars disputed with Islamic religious concepts and interpretations,1 and ibn Ezra was even forced to flee from his hometown because of a radical Islamic sect, the Almohades, still they enriched their biblical interpretation by through their detailed knowledge of the Arabic language and their encounters with Muslims. Sephardic-oriental Jewish biblical exegesis built-up and established itself especially in the Jewish communities under Islamic rule, such as Spain, Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia. Yet, it also developed in some Christian lands such as Italy, Christian Iberia, and Provence. Like other Jews, the Sephardic-rabbinic commentators desired to maintain the continuity of Judaism as it was based on the Written as well as the Oral Torah. They completely embraced rabbinic authority and interpretation, especially those related to the mitzvot (com- mandments) and Halachot. At the same time, however, these commentators sought to recover the peshat, the simple meaning of the text, and developed new methods to search and understand the Bible—specifically through philo- logical interpretations based on their knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic, and philosophical reflections influenced by Greek and Islamic philosophy. Among the Sephardic-oriental commentators, Saadia Gaon and Abraham ibn Ezra tower above their contemporaries.2 These most prolific and distin- guished Sephardic exegetes and philologists share several common meth- odological approaches to biblical interpretation. They also vigorously and repeatedly disputed with a variety of Karaite biblical commentators, who denied the Oral Torah. In addition, they challenged Islamic beliefs, opinions, 1 See above, Chapter Four, §5.3. 2 Here it is worth mentioning also the commentators from Provence—the Kimchi fam- ily from Narbonne, as well as Gershonides, and the Spanish and Italian exegetes, such as Nachmanides, Isaiah of Tirana, and Isaac Abarbanel. On these commentators, see above, the Introductory Chapter, §3. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004339��8_0�� 232 CHAPTER 10 and religious views, as well as various Christian doctrines and allegorical bibli- cal interpretations,3 and laid the groundwork for much later Jewish exegesis, in the medieval period and beyond. 1 Rab Saadia Gaon Rab Saadia ben Joseph Gaon (acronym: RaSaG) was born in 882 CE in Abu Suweir, a small town in the district of Upper Egypt named Fayyum. Therefore, he was also called “Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayyumi,” or in Arabic: Sa’id ibn Yusuf al-Fayyumi. No specific information is available about his childhood, his fam- ily or what caused him to leave Egypt. Nevertheless, it is known that he stud- ied several years in Yeshiva (Talmudic Academy) in Eretz-Israel. Afterwards, he moved to Haleb (Aleppo, Syria) and later settled in Babylonia. He died in September 942, in the city of Sura, Babylonia. 1.1 Exegete, Biblical Theologian and Philosopher In 922, Saadia was appointed by the Resh Galuta (= the “Exilarch” or the “Chief of Exile”), David ben Zakkai, to serve as the head of the renowned Talmudic Academy at Sura. Thus, he was entitled to use the epithet “Gaon” (rabbinic leader).4 Two years later, however, controversy erupted between Saadia and ben Zakkai over an inheritance that Saadia refused to certify as legitimate. Saadia justified his refusal by saying that a large payment was made to ben Zakkai. According to Saadia, involving oneself in matters of inheritance con- tradicts halachic teaching, and is therefore illegal. As a result, Saadia Gaon was removed from his high position in Sura. Another scholar was appointed, and Saadia was forced to hide for approximately four years. Saadia used this incident for productive writing and composed his mag- num opus, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions.5 This book, the first of its kind in Jewish literature, was written originally in flowing Arabic, the daily language 3 See the variety of examples from Karaite and Rabbinite commentators that were discussed above in Chapter Four, §§3–5. 4 The post-talmudic Sages, who were appointed as heads of the great Yeshivot in Sura and Pumbedita, were named Gaonim. The Gaonic Period ended with the closing of the Yeshiva in Pumbedita, in 1040. 5 See S. Rosenblatt, Saadia Gaon, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions: Translated from the Arabic and the Hebrew (New Haven: Yale University Press/London: Geoffrey Cumberlege/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948; reprinted: Dexter: Yale University Press, 1976)..
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