Zemah ben Hayyim ( he, צמח בן חיים), or sometimes Zemah b. Hayyim, was
Gaon of
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 889 to 895.
He was the stepbrother and successor of
Nahshon ben Zadok
Nahshon ben Zadok Gaon (Hebrew: נחשון בן צדוק or sometimes: Nahshon b. Zadok) was head of the Academy of Sura from 874 to 882, in succession to Mar Amram ben Sheshna. He wrote explanations to difficult words in the Talmud, not in alph ...
, and has become known especially through the reply which he made to the inquiry of the
Kairwan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...
ites regarding
Eldad ha-Dani
Eldad ben Maḥli ha-Dani ( he, אֶלְדָּד בֶּן מַחְלִי הַדָּנִי, 'Eldad son of Mahli the Danite') () was a ninth-century Jewish merchant, traveller, and philologist. Though probably originally from South Arabia, he profes ...
. This responsum, which appeared in part in the first edition of the ''
Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah'' (Venice, 1480), was republished as completely as possible by
A. Epstein in Vienna in his ''Eldad ha-Dani.'' It embraces nine points and concludes with an apology for Eldad's forgetfulness. According to Epstein, only one other responsum by Ẓemaḥ has been published; it is given in the Constantinople edition of the ''Pardes'', and ends with the same words as does the first-mentioned responsum: לנטות ימין ושמאל.
I.H. Weiss
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 ...
, however, ascribes to this gaon also the authorship of responsa in ''Sha'arei Tzedek'' (iv., No. 14) and in the compilation ''Ḥemdah Genuzah'' (Nos. 58–61, 111-131). Nothing is known of the gaon's personal career.
References
Its bibliography:
*
A. Epstein, Eldad ha-Dani, pp. 6–10, Presburg, 1891;
*Reifmann, in
Ha-Karmel
''Ha-Karmel'' () was a Hebrew periodical, edited and published by Samuel Joseph Fuenn in Vilna from 1860 to 1880. It was one of the important forces of the Haskalah movement in the Russian Empire.
History
''Ha-Karmel'' was founded by Samuel Joseph ...
, viii., No. 32;
*Monatsschrift, 1874, p. 553;
*
Z. Frankel
Zecharias Frankel, also known as Zacharias Frankel (30 September 1801 – 13 February 1875) was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau. He was the foun ...
, ib. 1878, p. 423;
*
Grätz, Gesch. v. 243-245;
*
Weiss, Dor, iv. 124, 264.
Geonim
9th-century rabbis
Year of death unknown
Rabbis of Academy of Sura
Year of birth unknown
{{Rabbi-stub