Nahshon ben Zadok Gaon (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: נחשון בן צדוק or sometimes: Nahshon b. Zadok) was head of the

Academy of Sura Sura Academy (Hebrew: ישיבת סורא) was a Jewish yeshiva located in Sura, Babylonia. With Pumbedita Academy, it was one of the two major Jewish academies from the year 225 CE at the beginning of the era of the Amora sages until 1033 CE at ...

from 874 to 882, in succession to Mar Amram ben Sheshna. He wrote explanations to difficult words in the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

, not in alphabetical order, as did his contemporary Gaon Ẓemaḥ ben Paltoi of

Pumbedita Pumbedita (sometimes Pumbeditha, Pumpedita, or Pumbedisa; arc, פוּמְבְּדִיתָא ''Pūmbəḏīṯāʾ'', "The Mouth of the River,") was an ancient city located near the modern-day city of Fallujah, Iraq. It is known for having hosted t ...

, but in the order of the tractates. The ''Re'umah,'' on ritual slaughtering (Constantinople, 1566), is ascribed to him, but his authorship is doubtful. He devoted much attention to the study of the

Jewish calendar The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...

. He is said to have found that the order of the week-days on which any particular festival occurs in successive years repeats itself after a cycle of 247 years, and that the years with regard to their characteristic dates can be arranged in 14 tables. This erroneous notion is known as, and is contained in, the ''Iggul ycledi R. Nahshon,'' which work was printed with the ''She'erit Yosef'' of Joseph b. Shem-Ṭob b. Joshua (1521). Nahshon and his son

Hai Gaon Hai ben Sherira (Hebrew: האי/י בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon (Hebrew: האי/י גאון, חאיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the ...

did not approve of saying the "

Kol Nidre Kol Nidre (also known as Kol Nidrey or Kol Nidrei; Aramaic: ''kāl niḏrē'') is a Hebrew and Aramaic declaration which is recited in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on every Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"). Strictly ...

" on the eve of

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

. Most of his

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

, contained in the collection ''Sha'are Ẓedeḳ,'' are written in

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

in a curt, difficult style; but the responsa ascribed to him in ''Teshubot Ge'onim Ḳadmonim'' are written in mixed

in a plain, easy diction. Some of his decisions conflict with the

, and in his

haggadic Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...

interpretations he did not always agree with the older haggadists. He was greatly respected by his contemporaries.

References

Its bibliography: *

Grätz, Gesch. Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielkopo ...

v. 280; * Heilprin, Seder ha-Dorot, i. 181, Warsaw, 1883; *

Weiss, Dor Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia. After having received elementary instruction in Hebrew ...

, iv. 109, 122-124; *

Zacuto Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal. ...

, Yuḥasin, ed. Filipowski, p. 206, London, 1857. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nahshon Ben Zadok Geonim 9th-century rabbis Year of death unknown Rabbis of Academy of Sura Year of birth unknown