Yehudai ben Nahman (or Yehudai Gaon; Hebrew: יהודאי גאון, sometimes: Yehudai b. Nahman) was the head of the yeshiva in

Sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

from 757 to 761, during the Gaonic period of Judaism. He was originally a member of the academy 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 Exilarch Solomon ben Hisdai appointed him as Gaon of Sura as "there is no one there (at Sura) as distinguished as he is for wisdom". He waged a strong campaign, continued by his disciple

Pirqoi ben Baboi Pirqoi ben Baboi ( he, פירקוי בן באבוי), also written Pirqoi ben Babui, was a Babylonian scholar of the Talmud who lived sometime in the 8th–9th century. He is chiefly remembered for a polemical letter he wrote, addressed to all pla ...

, for the acceptance of the Babylonian Talmud as the standard for Jewish law in all countries. This was opposed by the Jews of Eretz Yisrael, who relied on the Jerusalem Talmud and their own older traditions. Yehudai argued that, as a result of Byzantine persecution, the Jews of Eretz Yisrael had only preserved Jewish tradition in a fragmentary and unreliable form.

Works

He was author of the book ''Halachot Pesukot'', which discusses those halachot that were practiced in the

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

since the destruction of the

Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...

. The text, which is generally organized along the same pattern as the tractates of the Babylonian Talmud, was the subject of many abridgements and summaries. The original was lost for many years, and was only known in the form of a Hebrew paraphrase called ''Hilchot Re'u'' (publishe
Versailles 1886
, until it was discovered in a Yemenite manuscript purchased in 1911 and published i
Jerusalem in 1951

Halachoth Gedoloth controversy

One rabbinic school of thought credits him with authorship of the ''Halachot Gedolot'', or of the core of it, though it is generally agreed that the final form of that work is to be attributed to Simeon Kayyara. Based on anachronistic discrepancies, the '' Semags opinion that it was Rav Yehudai Gaon who composed the work Halachoth Gedoloth was thought to be an error. Rabbi David Gans may have been the first to suggest that the ''Semag'', in referring to "Rav Yehudai" as the author, was actually alluding to Rav Yehudai Hakohen ben Ahunai, Gaon of the

Sura Academy 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 ...

(served 4519 - 4524 of the Hebrew calendar)Tzemach David to year 5000, vol. 1, p. 46 (Warsaw 5638 Hebrew Calendar) At all events the ''Halachot Pesukot'' was an important source for the larger work.

References

* Robert Brody, ''The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture'', Yale 1998 Geonim 8th-century rabbis Rabbis of Academy of Sura Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Exponents of Jewish law Authors of books on Jewish law {{MEast-rabbi-stub