Judaism in the Tenth Century—Saadiah, the Founder of Religious Philosophy—Translation of the Bible into Arabic—Saadiah opposes Karaism—The Karaite Solomon ben Yerucham—Saadiah and the School at Sora—Saadiah retires from Sora—His Literary Activity—Extinction of the Exilarchate—Sahal and other Karaite writers—Jews in Spain—The School at Cordova—Dunash ben Tamim—Chasdaï—His services to Judaism—Menachem ben Saruk—Chasdaï and the King of the Chazars.
928–970 C. E.
With the decay of the Carlovingian rule, the last spark of spiritual life was extinguished in Christian Europe. The darkness of the Middle Ages became thicker and thicker, but the spiritual light of Judaism shone forth in all its splendor.
The Church was the seat of monastic ignorance and barbarity, the Synagogue was the place of science and civilization. In Christianity every scientific effort was condemned by the officials of the Church as well as by the people, as the work of Satan; in Judaism the leaders and teachers of religion themselves promoted science, and endeavored to elevate the people. Far from condemning knowledge, the Geonim considered it as an aid and supplement to religion. For three centuries the teachers of Judaism were for the most part devotees of science, and this position was first assumed during this epoch. Two men especially, one in the east and the other in the west, made science a principle of Judaism. They were the Gaon Saadiah and the statesman Chasdaï.
With them begins a new period of Jewish history, which we may confidently call the scientific epoch. The spring-time of Israel's history returned, and in its pure atmosphere the sweet voice of poetry again made itself heard. Contemporary writers scarcely noticed that a remnant of Jewish antiquity, the Exilarchate, was now at an end. It was soon forgotten in the new life that had just made itself visible. Just as the religious life had freed itself from the Temple of sacrifice, so now it gradually withdrew from the influence of the temple of learning on the banks of the Euphrates, and established a new center for itself. The first half of the tenth century became, through the concurrence of favorable circumstances, a turning-point in the progress of Jewish history.
Jewish history was gradually transferred to European ground. Judaism assumed, so to speak, a European character, and deviated more and more from its Oriental form. Saadiah was the last important link in its development in the East; Chasdaï and the scientific men whom he influenced became the first representatives of a Judæo-European culture.
Saadiah (Arabic, Said) ben Joseph, from the town Fayum in Upper Egypt (892–942), was the founder of scientific Judaism amongst the Rabbanites, and the creator of religious philosophy in the Middle Ages. He was a man of extensive knowledge who had absorbed the learning of the Mahometans and Karaites, and impregnated it with Talmudic elements. More remarkable even than his knowledge was his personality. His was a religious spirit and deep moral earnestness. He had a decided character, and belonged to those who know how to render account of their actions, and who persevere in carrying out what they think right. Little is known of his youth. There were few, if any, great Talmudical scholars in Egypt at that time, and the fact that Saadiah became famous in this branch of literature speaks well for his mental power. He was more at home in the Karaite literature than previous Rabbanites had been. In his twenty-third year (913) he made a fierce attack upon the Karaites, which was felt by them for centuries afterwards. He wrote a book "In Refutation of Anan." The contents of this book are unknown, but it is probable that Saadiah attempted to prove in it the necessity of tradition, and also to expose Anan's inconsistencies. He adduced seven arguments in proof of the necessity of tradition, which, weak as they are, were afterwards accepted for the most part by the Karaites. He wrote another book in which he showed the absurdity of the boundless extension of relationship in the Karaite law. He characterized Anan as "an ambitious man, who possessed too much boldness and too little fear of God," and who rejected Talmudic Judaism only in order to avenge a personal slight.
Before he had arrived at maturity, he undertook a more difficult task, fraught with important consequences for Judaism. Hitherto, the Karaites had devoted special attention to the Scriptural text, whereas the Rabbanite teachers had, to a certain extent, neglected it, because the Talmud satisfied all the needs of their religious life.
The Karaites had composed numerous expositions of the Bible, the Rabbanites but few. Saadiah, who felt this want, undertook to translate the Bible into Arabic, the language understood, at this time, from the extreme West to India. To this translation he added notes, for three reasons. He wished to make the Bible accessible to the people. He thought that thereby the influence of Karaism, which sought to refute Talmudic Judaism through its exegesis, would be counteracted. Finally, he wished to remove the misconceptions of the people, and conquer the perversity of the mystics, who rendered the words of the Bible literally, and thus gave an unworthy description of the Godhead. He favored the philosophical idea which conceives God in His exaltedness and holiness to be a spirit. His translation was to satisfy both reason and Talmudical tradition. This was the basis of his view of Judaism. Teachings of the Talmud are as divine as those of the Bible, and neither the Bible nor tradition may be contrary to reason. According to Saadiah, the contradictions are only on the surface, and he sought by his translation and exposition to remove this illusion. To carry out this aim, he adopted interpretations of the text which are arbitrary and forced.
Out of deference to his Mahometan readers, Saadiah made use of Arabic characters, which were seldom employed by the Jews who wrote Arabic. Although Saadiah shows great mental power and independence in his translation, his renderings cannot be highly praised. The very fact that he does not allow the text to speak its own language, and that he wished to find at one time the Talmudical tradition, at another a philosophical meaning in the words and the context, necessarily prevented him from giving a true exposition. He impressed the exegesis of Scripture into the service of tradition and of the philosophy of the time, and made the text imply more than the meaning of the words allowed. At the same time that he wrote his translation, Saadiah composed a kind of Hebrew grammar in the Arabic language. He also composed a Hebrew lexicon (in Hebrew, Iggaron). Even here he often missed the truth as to the grammar and etymology of the words. His exegetical and grammatical works are of importance in so far as they broke fresh ground in Rabbanite studies, and introduced exegesis and philology as new departments. Even his mistakes proved instructive in later times.
In his exposition of the first book of the Pentateuch, Saadiah again challenged the Karaites. The dispute arose out of his endeavor to prove that the Karaite calendar was not in accordance with Scripture. In attacking Karaism, he had disturbed a hornets' nest, and aroused a host of opponents. The Karaites had hitherto waged war against Talmudic Judaism without meeting with opposition. They were, therefore, greatly disturbed when a Rabbanite, endowed with intellect and knowledge, entered the lists against them. A lively contest arose, which served its purpose in awakening scientific interest. Saadiah's chief opponent was the Karaite Solomon ben Yerucham (Ruchaïm). This Karaite (born in Fostat in 885, died in 960), who lived in Palestine, and was only a few years older than Saadiah, did not rise above mediocrity. He was of a violent and acrid nature, and imagined that he could settle scientific questions by scoffing and abuse. When he returned from Palestine to Egypt, and perceived the impression that Saadiah's written and oral attacks upon Karaism had made even in Karaite circles, he was filled with rage against the young and spirited Rabbanite author, and determined to write a double refutation—in Hebrew for the educated, and in Arabic for the masses generally. In his Hebrew reply, which consists of eighteen doggerel verses alphabetically arranged (Milchamoth), he treats Saadiah like a child. The whole work breathes nothing but slander and coarseness. In fact, the Karaite polemic writings generally deserve consideration more on account of the method by means of which they seek to cover up their mistakes, than on account of their contents or their form. Ben-Yerucham's composition took the shape of a letter to the Karaite communities in Egypt.
Ben-Yerucham was not the only Karaite who sought to defend the sect against Saadiah's attacks. The various writers vied with one another in the fierceness of their attacks upon the young Rabbanite by whom their anti-Talmudic creed was threatened with destruction. If the Karaite authors expected to silence Saadiah by means of abuse they were mistaken. He refuted their arguments, substantiated his assertions, and was always on the alert to take up arms. He wrote two other polemic treatises against Karaism in Arabic, the one "Distinction" (Tamgiz), and one against Ibn Sakviyah, who had entered the lists in defense of the Karaites. Saadiah's works carried his fame to the communities of the African and Eastern Caliphate. The venerable Isaac Israeli read his writings with avidity, and his pupil, Dunash ben Tamim, fairly devoured them. At the seat of the Gaonate, too, he was favorably known, and the attention of the leaders was directed to him.
The school of Sora was in a sad state of decadence, and was so deficient in learned men, that the Exilarch David ben Zaccaï found it necessary to invest a weaver named Yom-Tob Kahana ben Jacob, with the honor of the Gaonate, but he died in his second year of office (926–928). The Gaon of Pumbeditha, Kohen-Zedek, who did his best to establish his college as the exclusive authority, made an agreement with the Exilarch, to whom he had become reconciled, to close the school of Sora, to transplant the members to Pumbeditha, and to appoint a titular Gaon of Sora, who should have his seat in Pumbeditha. The son of a Gaon, named Nathan ben Yehudaï, was invested with this titular dignity, but he died suddenly. His sudden death seems to have been taken as a condemnation of the intention to abolish the old college at Sora. The Exilarch David then determined to fill up the vacancy and to restore the ancient school of Sora. He had two candidates in view: Saadiah, and Zemach ben Shahin, an obscure member of the old nobility. The Exilarch appealed to the blind Nissi Naharvani to assist him in his choice. His advice was the more disinterested as he himself had declined the honor. Nissi voted for Zemach, but not because he had any personal dislike to Saadiah; on the contrary, he manifested much love for him. "Saadiah surpasses all his contemporaries in wisdom, piety, and eloquence," he said of him, "but he is very independent, and shrinks from nothing." Nissi justly feared that Saadiah's inflexible spirit would be the cause of disputes and dissensions between him and the Exilarch. Nevertheless, David decided for Saadiah. He was called from Egypt to Sora, and formally installed as Gaon (May, 928). It was an exceptional circumstance that a foreigner who had not studied in the Talmudic schools, and had not passed step by step through the various offices should, at a bound, attain to the highest honor next to the Exilarchate. Besides, Saadiah was more known for his scientific work than for his Talmudic scholarship. With his call to office, Babylonia in a sense resigned the supremacy which for seven centuries it had held over all other lands. This supremacy was now enjoyed by another country, and philosophy was placed on a level with the Talmud. The spirit of inquiry that had been banished from the halls of the schools with Anan, the founder of Karaism, made a solemn return into those halls with Saadiah.
Saadiah invested the college of Sora with new splendor by his character and fame. During his presidency Pumbeditha was thrown into the shade. He sought to fill up the gaps that had arisen in the academy. He appointed worthy young men to academic offices, and was faithful to the duties of his position. What must have been his feelings when he entered for the first time the halls of learning where the great authorities, the Amoraïm, had taught before him! Soon, however, he no doubt became conscious of the fact that there existed but the smallest remnant of that former greatness, and that the high-sounding titles and dignities were mere semblances of things long since sunk into oblivion. The Exilarchate, the head of the Judæo-Babylonian community, was without intrinsic excellence, and was constantly at variance with the schools. Not being officially recognized at court, the Exilarchate had to purchase its existence from courtiers and ephemeral rulers, and was threatened with extinction, whenever its opponents should offer a larger sum. The money needed to maintain the Exilarchate was forcibly exacted from the people. Alike in the Exilarchate and in the academic colleges, corruption and oppression were the order of the day, the only object in view being to maintain the authority of the chiefs. Eloquence, virtue, piety, were wanting in the hearts of the leaders. The Exilarch David once sent his sons to levy an extraordinary contribution from the different communities; and when the congregation at Fars (Hamadan?) refused it, David excommunicated them, denounced them to the vizir, who accused them before the Caliph, when a heavy fine was imposed upon them. The Geonim had not a word to say against all this! Saadiah himself had to be silent; he had not been in office long enough to protest. His eminence had raised him many enemies who were eager for his downfall. Not alone Kohen-Zedek was jealous of him, because Pumbeditha was thrown into the shade, but a young man from Bagdad, Aaron (Caleb) Ibn-Sarjadu, learned, rich, and influential, distrusted and opposed him. Saadiah observed the great defects in the Jewish communal life in Babylonia in silence. He wished first to be on firmer footing. His sense of justice was, however, too deeply wounded, when he was expected to take part in the iniquities of the representative of the Jewish community. He could no longer restrain himself, and now revealed his inflexible character.
An unimportant circumstance revealed the moral corruption of the Jewish Babylonian chiefs. There was a lawsuit about a large inheritance, which had not been conscientiously decided by the Exilarch David. His decision was influenced by the prospect of great gain. To make his decree legal and unimpeachable, David demanded the signatures of the two Geonim to the document prepared by him. Kohen-Zedek signed without objection; Saadiah, however, would not countenance the injustice. On being pressed by the parties, he gave the reason for his refusal. The Exilarch David, who now was doubly interested in obtaining his signature, sent his son Judah to ask him to sign the document without delay. Saadiah calmly replied that the Law forbade him to do such things, as it is said, "Ye shall not respect persons in judgment." Once more David sent his son to Saadiah to threaten him with deposition in case he still refused. Judah at first assumed a quiet demeanor, and begged Saadiah not to be the cause of quarrels in the community. When, however, he found him determined, he raised his hand against Saadiah, and vehemently demanded his signature. Saadiah's servants soon removed Judah, and locked the door of the meeting hall. David ben Zaccaï, who felt himself insulted, deprived the Gaon of his office. He excommunicated him and appointed a young man, Joseph ben Jacob ben Satia, as his successor. Saadiah, however, was not the man to be terrified by force. He, in turn, declared David to be no longer Exilarch, and named Josiah Hassan as Prince of the Captivity (930). Two factions immediately arose in Babylonia, the one for Saadiah, the other for David. On Saadiah's side were ranged the members of the academy of Sora and many respected and learned men of Bagdad, amongst whom were the sons of Netira. Opposed to him were Aaron Ibn-Sarjadu and his party, and probably also Kohen-Zedek and the members of the college of Pumbeditha. Both parties appealed to the Caliph Al-Muktadir, and bribed his favorites and courtiers to gain him over to their side. Ibn-Sarjadu spent 10,000 ducats to effect Saadiah's deposition. The Caliph wished to hear both parties, and ordered a formal trial to take place in Bagdad under the presidency of the vizir, who was assisted by many important men. The dispute was not settled. This was probably owing to the fact that the Caliph Al-Muktadir was constantly changing his vizirs during the last two years of his reign, and to the disturbed state of the capital during this time (930–932). Saadiah asserted his authority as Gaon, though there was a rival Gaon in the person of Joseph ben Satia. There were likewise rival Exilarchs, David and his brother Josiah Hassan.
It was only when Al-Muktadir was killed in a rebellion (October, 932), and Kahir, who was so poor that he was obliged to borrow clothes for the ceremony of installation, became Caliph, that David's party, which could pour more money into the empty treasury, gained the victory. In order to bring about the downfall of his opponent, the Exilarch squandered the money that had been extorted from the various communities. Saadiah was soon forbidden by the Caliph to continue in office, perhaps also to stay in Sora (commencement of 933). The rival Exilarch Hassan was banished to Khorasan, where he died. Saadiah now lived in retirement in Bagdad for four years (933–937). His health had suffered severely through the constant quarrels and the annoyance he had received, and he became melancholy. But this did not interfere with his intellectual activity. It was during his retirement that his best works, bearing the stamp of freshness and originality, were written.
He wrote Talmudic treatises, composed poetical pieces and prayers in prose, full of religious fervor. He also arranged a prayer book (Siddur), after the manner of Amram, collected the rules of the calendar (Ibbur), wrote a polemic against the Massoret, Aaron ben Asher, of Tiberias, and was in general particularly prolific in literary composition during this period. The greatest of his works, however, are his two philosophical writings, the one a commentary on the "Book of the Creation" (Sefer Yezirah), the other his magnum opus on Faith and Creed. Both these works are in Arabic. Saadiah was the first to set up a tolerably complete system of religious philosophy. The Karaite teachers, it is true, were fond of lengthy philosophical disputations, which they frequently introduced on most unsuitable occasions, but they were never able to develop a complete and perfect religious system, and the Arabs, too, had as yet no systematic philosophy. Saadiah, by his own unaided intellectual power, built up a Jewish philosophy of religion, although he borrowed his method of treatment and his philosophical themes from the Arabic Mutazilist school. His composition on the Ten Commandments, in which he strove to bring them into relation with the Ten Categories of the Aristotelian philosophy, belongs to his earlier and less excellent efforts.
He wrote his work on the philosophy of religion, Emunoth we-Deoth, in 934. Its object was to oppose and correct the erroneous views of his contemporaries as to the meaning of Judaism; on the one hand were the opinions of the unbelievers, who degraded it; and on the other, those of the ignorant people, who condemned all speculating on religious subjects as involving a denial of God. "My heart is sad," he writes in the introduction, "by reason of my people, who have an impure belief and a confused idea of their religion. Some deny the truth, clear as daylight though it be, and boast of their unbelief. Others are sunk in the sea of doubt, and the waves of error close over their heads, and there is no swimmer strong enough to stem the tide and rescue them. As God has given me the capacity of being useful to them, I consider it my duty to lead them to the right path. Should any one object and ask, 'How can we attain a true belief through philosophic thought, when many consider this as heresy and unbelief?' I would reply, 'Only the stupid do so, such as believe that every one who goes to India will become rich, or that the eclipse of the moon is caused by a dragon's swallowing the disc of the moon, and similar things.' Such people need not trouble us. Suppose, however, that one were to quote the warning of the Talmud against philosophical speculation, 'If any one searches into the mystery of eternity and space, such a person does not deserve to live,' we should reply that the Talmud could not have discouraged right thinking, since Scripture encourages us to it. The warning of the sages was intended to keep us only from that one-sided speculation which does not take into account the truth of Scripture. Limitless speculation can give rise only to error, and should it even eventually lead to truth, it has no firm foundation, because it rejects revelation, and puts doubt into its place. But when philosophy works hand in hand with faith, it cannot mislead us. It confirms revelation, and is in a position to refute the objections that are made by unbelievers. The truth of revealed Judaism may be premised, since it was confirmed through visible signs and miracles. Should, however, some one object that if speculation arrives at the same conviction as revelation, the latter is superfluous, since human reason could arrive at the truth without divine interposition, I should reply that revelation is necessary, inasmuch as, without it, men would have to go a long way round to reach clearness through their own thought. A thousand accidents and doubts might hinder their progress. God, therefore, sent His messengers to us in order to save us all this trouble. We thus have a knowledge of Him direct, confirmed by miracles."
Unbelief had already made such progress in the Eastern Caliphate, in consequence of the teachings of the Mutazilist school of philosophy, that an Arabic poet, Abul-Ala, a contemporary of Saadiah, who had rebuked the weaknesses of his time, said, "Moslems, Jews, Christians and Magi are steeped in error and superstition. The world is divided into two classes, those that have intelligence but no belief, and those that believe but have no understanding." In Jewish circles, many began to criticise the responses of the Geonim, and no longer looked upon them as oracular utterances. This criticism was not restricted to the decisions of the Geonim or the Talmud, but went so far as to doubt the trustworthiness of the Bible, and the very fact of revelation.
The unbelief of this time was best illustrated by the Rabbanite Chivi Albalchi, from the town of Balch in ancient Bactria. Chivi wrote a work against the Bible and revelation, in which he propounded two hundred objections against them. Some of these objections are of the same kind as those used even now by opponents of the Bible. Chivi was the first thoroughly consistent, rationalistic critic of the Bible. He had followers in his time; and teachers of the young spread his heretical views in the schools. In combating Chivi's unorthodox opinions, the two opponents, Saadiah and Solomon ben Yerucham, met on common ground. Saadiah, whilst yet in Egypt, had written a book in refutation of Chivi's doctrines. In his philosophy of religion he especially kept in view this tendency, hostile to revelation, and sought to expose its weakness. He likewise did not lose sight of the objections made against Judaism by Christianity and Islam.
Whilst Saadiah was developing thoughts for the elevation of future generations, he was still under the ban of excommunication. He had, therefore, no sphere of action but that of an author. But circumstances had changed meanwhile. The just Caliph Abradhi was now on the throne, in the place of the cruel and avaricious Kahir, who had decreed Saadiah's deposition. His vizir Ali Ibn-Isa was favorably inclined towards Saadiah. The Gaon Kohen-Zedek, who had made common cause with the Exilarch, had died in 936. His successor, Zemach ben Kafnaï, was a harmless man. So David had only Aaron Ibn-Sarjadu to assist him in his quarrel; the people, however, in increasing numbers, sided with Saadiah. It happened that an important lawsuit had to be decided; one party proposed the banished and deposed Gaon as judge, whilst the opposite party proposed the Exilarch. David, in his rage, had personal violence done to the man that had appealed to Saadiah. This act of violence caused the more ill-feeling, as the person so maltreated was not under the jurisdiction of the Exilarch, and had a perfect right to choose his judge without interference from the Exilarch.
Respected members of the community now took counsel as to the best means of putting an end to the contention between the Prince of the Exile and the Gaon. The peacemakers met at the house of an influential man in Bagdad, Kasser ben Aaron, the father-in-law of Ibn-Sarjadu, and impressed upon him the fact that the quarrel had already exceeded all bounds, that the community had been split into two camps, and that these things had been followed by the saddest consequences. Kasser assured them of his co-operation in restoring peace, and succeeded in overcoming the hostility of his son-in-law towards Saadiah. The peacemakers thereupon went to David, and argued with him till he yielded. When Kasser was sure that the Exilarch was inclined to reconciliation, he hastened to inform Saadiah of it. The whole community of Bagdad joined in the rejoicing. Some accompanied David, others Saadiah, until they met. The enemies embraced each other, and henceforward were the firmest of friends. The reconciliation was so complete that Saadiah accepted David's hospitality for several days. The latter restored him to his office, with many marks of honor.
The academy of Sora regained some of its former glory through Saadiah, and threw its sister academy into the shade. In the latter, two men, otherwise unknown, successively filled the post of Gaon. The questions from home and foreign communities were again sent to Sora, and Saadiah answered them without delay, although his health was severely impaired, and he was suffering from incurable melancholy. The responses which have been preserved are numerous; they were probably composed in the last year of his Gaonate. Many of them are in Hebrew, though most of them are in Arabic. His magnanimity was displayed in his conduct toward the family of his opponent, David. When the latter died, in 940, his son Judah, through Saadiah's influence, was elected in his stead, though he filled the post for only seven months, leaving a son twelve years old, whom Saadiah appointed his successor. He received the grandson of his former enemy into his house, and adopted him. Meanwhile a distant relative, a member of the Bene-Haiman family, from Nisibis, was to fill the office. He had scarcely been appointed before he had a quarrel with a Moslem. Witnesses testified that he had spoken disparagingly of Mahomet. For this offense he was put to death. When the last representative of the house of the Exilarch, who had been brought up by Saadiah, was raised to the princedom, Moslem fanaticism raged also against him. It was determined to assassinate him whilst he was riding in his state carriage, because the mere shadow of princely power among the Jews was disliked. The Caliph tried to prevent his murder, but in vain. Thus died the last of the Exilarchs, and the representatives of Judaism, in order to allay this fanatical hatred, determined to leave the office vacant.
Thus, after an existence of seven centuries, ended the Exilarchate, which had been the sign of political independence for Judaism. Just as the dignity of the Patriarchate had ceased in Judæa through the intolerance of the Christian emperors, so the Exilarchate now ceased through the fanaticism of the Mahometans. The two schools alone remained to represent the unity of the Jews, but even these were soon to vanish. With Saadiah's death (942), darkness settled upon the academy of Sora. It is true that he left a son, Dossa, who was learned both in the Talmud and in philosophy—the author of several works—but he was not appointed his father's successor. Joseph ben Satia, who had been deposed, was again made the chief of the school. He, however, was not able to maintain its superiority over the sister academy, which having at its head Aaron Ibn Sarjadu, the former opponent of Saadiah, again rose to importance.
Ibn Sarjadu, a rich merchant of Bagdad, had not gone through a regular course of academic instruction. He was chosen on account of his riches, as well as for his knowledge and energy. He occupied his position for eighteen years (943–960). He possessed a good philosophical education, wrote a philosophical work, and a commentary to the Pentateuch. Like Kohen-Zedek, Ibn Sarjadu endeavored to exalt the school of Pumbeditha at the expense of that of Sora. Questions were addressed to him from foreign countries. The school of Sora consequently, neglected and impoverished, received none of the revenue, and therefore could not train new pupils, who turned to richer Pumbeditha. This decline and decay of the school induced its chief, Joseph ben Satia, to abandon it, and to emigrate to Bassora (about 948). The school that had been founded by Rab was now closed, after it had continued in existence for seven hundred years. The people of Sora felt this so much that they made an energetic attempt to restore it. Four young men were sent abroad to awaken interest in the school, and to get contributions for it. But they did not attain their object. It seemed that fate was against them. They were captured at Bari, on the coast of Italy, by a Moorish-Spanish admiral, Ibn-Rumahis. They were transported, one to Egypt, another to Africa, a third to Cordova, and the fourth to Narbonne. Instead of assisting to raise the school of Sora, these four Talmudists unwittingly contributed to the downfall of the Gaonate.
The copies of the Talmud in Sora, which were now no longer used, were, later on, transferred to Spain. Babylonia, so long the center of Judaism, had to yield its supremacy in favor of a foreign place. The decay of one of the Babylonian schools, and the decline of interest that followed upon it, were utilized by the Karaites to make converts amongst the Rabbanites. They did this with such zeal that they thought they were about to strike the death-blow to Rabbanism. As long as Saadiah, the mighty champion of Rabbanism, lived, they did not venture to do anything to expose themselves to his criticism. But after his death, when they perceived that there was no man of any importance to stand in the breach, they hoped to obtain an easy victory. Saadiah's opponent, Solomon ben Yerucham, immediately hastened from Palestine to Babylonia, in order to prove to the followers of Saadiah, that he had misrepresented facts in his defense of the Talmudists. Thus he expected to bring over the Rabbanites to Karaism.
But a more vehement, zealous and cunning proselytizer was Abulsari Sahal ben Mazliach Kohen, an inhabitant of Jerusalem, who belonged to the ascetic section of the Karaite community. Abulsari Sahal had a thorough knowledge of Arabic and Hebrew, and wrote in a much more elegant style than any of his contemporaries. He compiled a Hebrew grammar, commentaries to several books of the Bible, and also a compendium of religious duties under the title "Mizvoth." However, he did not write anything of great consequence. The Karaites seem to have had no ability to get beyond beginnings; certainly not Sahal, who was possessed by sombre, monkish piety. To his co-religionists, nevertheless, he appeared in the light of a great teacher. Sahal also wrote a refutation of Saadiah's attacks upon Karaism. It was, doubtless, considered an honorable thing amongst the Karaites, to win one's spurs in combat with this great champion. Sahal appears to have delivered his lectures against the Rabbanites in Bagdad. He called upon the people to renounce tradition, and to refuse obedience to the schools, "which were the two women of whom the prophet Zechariah speaks, and who carried sin and left it in Babylon." Sahal implored his hearers to renounce the indulgences that their Rabbanite teachers allowed them, such as keeping oil in camel-skins, purchasing bread from Christians and Mahometans, and leaving their houses on a Sabbath.
Sahal's attacks upon the Rabbanites were too offensive to remain unanswered. An influential Rabbanite seems to have forced him into silence by aid of the government. Saadiah's pupil, Jacob ben Samuel, stung to the quick by the abuse which Sahal and other Karaites had heaped upon his master, took up the cudgels in his behalf. He delivered speeches in the streets and in the public places against Karaism and the proselytizer Sahal. The latter, however, did not remain silent. In a passionate letter to Jacob, written in beautiful Hebrew, he continued his attacks, and gave a faithful picture of the state of Karaism and Rabbanism in his time, leaving out neither the light nor the shade of both sides. After the versified attack and the reproaches for Jacob's incorrect Hebrew and the injury done to Judaism by the Rabbanites, Sahal proceeds:
I am come from Jerusalem in order to warn the people, and to bring them back to the fear of God. Would that I had the power of going from town to town to awaken the people of the Lord. You think that I came here for the sake of gain, as others come who grind the faces of the poor; but I came in the name of God, in order to bring back the thoughts of the people to true piety, and to warn them not to rely on human institutions, nor to listen to the sayings of the two evil women (the Gaonic schools). How shall I not do it, since my heart is moved by the irreligion of my brethren, who are walking in the wrong path, who impose a heavy yoke upon the ignorant people, who oppress them and rule over them through excommunication and persecution, who call to their aid the power of the Mahometan officials, who compel the poor to borrow money on interest, in order to benefit by it and to be able to bribe the officials? They feed themselves, but not their flocks, and they do not teach the word of God in the proper way. If any one asks them the reason for anything they do, they antagonize him. Far be it from me that I should be silent, when I see that the leaders of the community, who say that they constitute the Synhedrion, eat without compunction with non-Jews. How shall I be silent, when I perceive that many of my people make use of idolatrous practices? They sit on the graves of the departed and invoke the dead, and pray to Rabbi José the Galilean, saying, "O heal me, and make me fruitful." They make pilgrimages to the shrines of the pious dead, light candles there, and burn incense. They also make vows that they may be cured of their diseases. O that I had the power to go everywhere and to proclaim it aloud, to admonish men in the name of the Lord, and to deter them from their evil course. And now, O House of Israel, have mercy on your souls, and choose the right path. Do not object and say that the Karaites, too, differ among themselves as regards religious duties, and that you are in doubt with whom to find truth. Know, therefore, that the Karaites do not wish to exercise authority; they only desire to stimulate research. You ask, What should the ignorant do who is unable to search the Holy Scriptures? I tell you that such a one has to rely upon the results arrived at by the investigator and the expounder of Holy Writ.
At the end, Sahal prophesied that God would destroy the yoke of the two women, as it is written in the prophets: "Then and then only will the sons of Israel be reconciled and united, and the Messiah come."
Another prolific Karaite author from Bassorah, Jephet Ibn-Ali Halevi (950–990), wrote polemics against the same Jacob ben Samuel. Jephet was considered a great teacher by the Karaites. He was a grammarian, commentator and expounder of the Law, but he was not free from the errors of the members of his creed. His style was bombastic and diffuse, and like them, he was superficial and literal-minded. The want of Talmudic dialectics is severely missed in the Karaite authors, for it rendered them tedious talkers. Jephet's absurd polemic against Saadiah's pupil bears this stamp of superficiality and insipidity, and it never displays the beautiful Hebrew style of his contemporary and friend Sahal.
Solomon ben Yerucham, who continued to write till a very old age (certainly till 957), composed commentaries to the Pentateuch and the Hagiographa, and other works no longer known. He was a sworn enemy to philosophical research. In his commentary on the Psalms, he bitterly complains that Jews occupy themselves with heretical writings, whose authors and teachers he curses severely.
"Woe to him," he cries, "who leaves the Book of God and seeks others! Woe to him who passes his time with strange sciences, and who turns his back upon the pure truth of God! The wisdom of philosophy is vain and worthless, for we do not find two who agree upon a single point. They propound doctrines which directly contradict the Law. Amongst them there are some who study Arabic literature instead of always having the word of God in their mouths."
What a contrast there is between Saadiah and his Karaite opponent! The one studied philosophy, and took it into the service of Judaism; the other (without any knowledge of it) declared it heretical, and allowed his Judaism to become petrified. The Rabbanites entered into the temple of philosophy, and the Karaites shunned it as an infected house.
The zeal with which the Karaites sought to exalt their creed over Rabbanism had the desired effect of spreading it widely about the middle of the tenth century. They penetrated to Spain, and attained influence in Africa and Asia. We know that the Egyptian Rabbanites accepted much from the Karaites. Moses and Aaron ben Asher, a father and son of Tiberias, exercised a powerful influence at this period (890–950). They were grammarians and Massorets. They wrote on the Hebrew accents and Biblical orthography, but in so clumsy a style and such miserable verse, that their observations are for the most part incomprehensible. But these insignificant works were of no importance, while considerable value attached to the copies of the Bible, which were corrected by them with the greatest care and exactness according to the Massoretic rules, which they had mastered completely. The Ben-Asher copies of the Bible were looked upon as models both by the Karaites and the Rabbanites, and treated as sacred. New copies were afterwards made from these in Jerusalem and Egypt. The Massoretic texts of the Bible now in use are largely derived from Ben-Asher's original copies, because the Rabbanites afterwards overlooked the fact that the scribe was a Karaite.
Saadiah, on the contrary, who had known Ben-Asher, the son, was dissatisfied with these Massoretic works, and wrote a very keen polemic against him. In addition to Saadiah, Ben-Naphtali raised objections against the results of Ben-Asher's Massoretic investigations, though mostly on insignificant points. Nevertheless, the text of the Bible according to the Massorets of Tiberias maintained its superiority. The old Eastern signs for vowels and accents to the Bible text were changed, extended and improved, by the Massoretic school of Ben-Asher.
With the decay of the Exilarchate and of the school of Sora, Asia lost the leadership of Judaism. If Pumbeditha, under Aaron Ibn-Sarjadu, flattered itself that it possessed the supremacy, it was deceived. After Ibn-Sarjadu's death, internal quarrels prepared for its destruction. Nehemiah, the son of Kohen-Zedek, who had been the rival of Ibn-Sarjadu, but had not met with success, obtained the post of head of the school through cunning (960). The college, however, led by the chief Judge Sherira ben Chananya, opposed him. There were a few members and rich laymen who supported Nehemiah, but his opponents refused to recognize him during the whole period of his office (960–968). During the time that the two parties were contending for the Gaonate of Pumbeditha, and with it for the religious authority over the Jews, the four men who had been sent from Sora to collect contributions from the various communities, and who had been taken captive, had founded new schools in Egypt, Africa (Kairuan), Spain and France, and thereby separated these communities from the Gaonate. These four men who caused the seeds of the Talmudic spirit to blossom in various places were: Shemaria ben Elchanan, who was sold by the admiral Ibn-Rumahis in Alexandria, and then being ransomed by the Jewish community, finally reached Misr (Cairo). The second was Chushiel, who was sold on the coast of Africa, and came to Kairuan. The third was probably Nathan ben Isaac Kohen, the Babylonian, who perhaps reached Narbonne. The fourth was Moses ben Chanoch, who underwent more dangers than the other three. He was the only one of the four who was married. His beautiful and pious wife and his young son had accompanied him on his journey, and were taken prisoners together with him. Ibn-Rumahis had set eyes upon the beautiful woman, and designed to violate her. The wife, however, asked her husband in Hebrew whether those that were drowned could hope for resurrection, and when he answered in the affirmative, and confirmed his answer by a verse from the Bible, she threw herself into the sea and was drowned. In deep sorrow and in the garb of the slave, Moses ben Chanoch with his little son was carried to Cordova, where he was ransomed by the Jewish community. They did not imagine that with him Spain obtained the supremacy over the Jews of all other countries. Moses did not betray his deep knowledge of the Talmud to the community into whose midst he had been cast, so that he might not derive any advantage from his knowledge of the Law. He, therefore, at first behaved like any ordinary captive. Moses soon made his way to the school of Cordova, the president of which was Nathan. He was a rabbi and also judge, and possessed but slight Talmudical knowledge, but was regarded as a shining light in Spain. Moses sat near the door in the corner like an ignorant listener. But when he perceived that Nathan, in expounding a passage in the Talmud, made a childish mistake, he modestly ventured to make some objections, in which he betrayed his scholarship. The audience in the school was astounded to find so thorough a Talmudist in the ill-clad captive who had just recovered his freedom.
Moses was called upon to explain the passage in question, and also to solve other difficulties. He did this in a thorough manner, to the intense delight of all present. On that very day Nathan declared before those who were under his jurisdiction, "I can no longer be your judge and rabbi. That stranger, who is now so miserably clothed, must henceforth take my place." The rich community of Cordova immediately chose Moses for their rabbinical chief, gave him rich presents and a salary, and placed a carriage at his disposal. When the admiral Ibn-Rumahis heard that his prisoner was so precious to the community of Cordova, he wished to retract the sale in order to get a higher ransom. The Jews appealed to the just Caliph, Abdul-Rahman III, through the Jewish statesman Chasdaï, and represented to him that they would be able, through Rabbi Moses, to sever themselves from the Gaonate of the eastern Caliphate. Abdul-Rahman, who, to his intense regret, had seen considerable sums of money yearly taken out of his land for the Gaonate, i. e., to the land which was hostile to him, was glad that a place would now be founded in his own kingdom for the study of the Talmud, and signified to the admiral the wish that he desist from his demand. Thus Cordova became the seat of an important school that was independent of the Gaonate. Moses' former fellow-prisoners also were recognized by the communities of Kahira and Kairuan as eminent scholars, and founded important Talmudical schools in Egypt and in the land of the Fatimide Caliphate. These men undesignedly severed the communities of Spain and of Mahometan Andalusia from the Gaonate. The state of politics and culture eminently fitted Spain or Mahometan (Moorish) Andalusia to become the center of united Judaism, and to take the leadership which Babylon had lost. Egypt was no longer an independent kingdom, but only a province of the Fatimide Caliphate, which had conquered it through the policy of a Jewish renegade. In addition to this, Egypt did not offer a favorable field for higher civilization, but continued to be what nature had made it, the granary of the world. The empire of the Fatimides in north Africa, whose chief town was Kairuan (afterwards Mahadia), at least afforded the principal conditions for the development of Judaism, and might well have become one of its chief centers. The rich community of Kairuan took the liveliest interest in the study of the Talmud, as well as in scientific efforts. Even before Chushiel's arrival they had had schools, and a chief who bore the title of Resh-Kalla or Rosh. Just as they had befriended and honored the banished Exilarch Ukba, they now bestowed the title Rosh on Chushiel, and enabled him to give a stronger impulse to the study of the Talmud. The latter educated two pupils during his office (950–980), and they were afterwards recognized as authorities. These were his son Chananel and a native, Jacob ben Nissim Ibn-Shahin. The physician and favorite of the first two Caliphs, Isaac Israeli, had sown the seeds of Jewish science, which was developed by a pupil of his who likewise obtained court favor.
This pupil, Abusahal Dunash ben Tamim (900–960), the head of Jewish science in the Fatimide dominions, was physician to the third Fatimide Caliph, Ishmael Almansur Ibnul' Kaim, perhaps also to his father. Dunash was held in such favor by this ruler that he dedicated to him one of his works on astronomy. Dunash ben Tamim came from Irak, perfected himself in his youth under Isaac Israeli in Kairuan, learning from him medicine, languages, and metaphysics. Dunash ben Tamim was accomplished in the whole circle of sciences then known, and wrote books on medicine, astronomy and mathematics. He also classified the sciences; in his opinion, mathematics, astronomy, and music rank lowest; next come physics and medicine; highest of all is metaphysics, the knowledge of God and the soul. The Arabs thought so highly of Dunash that they said that he had became a convert to Islam, doubtless in order that they might count him amongst their own, but he certainly remained faithful to Judaism to the end of his life. He corresponded with the Jewish statesman Chasdaï, for whom he composed an astronomical work on the Jewish calendar.
Meanwhile, though Dunash was not a genius, he was able to give the community of Kairuan, and through them to a wider circle, a more scientific understanding of Judaism. The Fatimide Caliphate, however, was not calculated to become a seat of culture for the Jews. The fanatic Fatimide dynasty—raised to power through an enthusiastic missionary, who saw in the Caliph of the house of Ali a kind of embodied divinity, and founded by a deluded deceiver who considered himself the true Imam and Mahdi (priest)—could not logically tolerate Judaism. The successors of the first Fatimide Caliph used, just as the successors of the first Christian Emperor had done, the sword as the means of spreading religion. Soon there came to the throne a Fatimide who repaired what his ancestors had in their indulgence neglected, and preached the doctrines of the divine Imamate with bloody fanaticism. In such surroundings Judaism could not flourish; it required a more favorable situation.
The European Christian countries were still less fit to become the center of Judaism than were the Mahometan kingdoms of Egypt and northern Africa. At that time the greatest barbarity prevailed there, and circumstances were not at all favorable to the development of science and literature. The literary status of the Jews was very low, and the historical reports are therefore silent on the Jewish communities of Europe. Here and there in Italy appeared Talmudical scholars, as in Oria (near Otranto), but scarcely any of them rose above mediocrity. Though the Italian Jews never attained superiority, they were diligent and faithful disciples of foreign teachers. In Babylonia they laughed at "the wise men" of Rome or Italy. Even Sabbataï Donnolo, the head of Jewish science in Italy at the time of Saadiah, could scarcely be described as a moderate scholar. This man is known rather through his career than through his works. Sabbataï Donnolo (913–970) of Oria was taken prisoner when the Mahometans of the Fatimide kingdom pressed forward across the straits of Sicily, invaded Apulia and Calabria, plundered the town of Oria, and either murdered the inhabitants or took them away as captives (9th of Tammuz—4th July, 925). Donnolo was twelve years old at this time. Ten of the chief citizens were put to death, and Donnolo's parents and relations were transported to Palermo and Africa. He himself was ransomed in Trani. Orphaned and without friends, the young Donnolo was thrown upon his own resources. He studied medicine and astrology, in both of which he made himself proficient. He now became physician to the Byzantine viceroy (Basilicus) Eupraxios, who ruled Calabria in the name of the emperor. He became rich through his medical practice, and spent his money in buying up works on astrology and in traveling. In his journeys Donnolo went as far as Bagdad. He embodied the result of his researches in a work published in 946. But little wisdom was contained in this book, if we are to judge by the fragments that still remain to us. The author, however, put so high a value upon it, that he thought that through it the name Sabbataï Donnolo of Oria would be handed down to posterity.
Meanwhile, unimportant though Donnolo was compared with his contemporaries Saadiah and others, he appears to have been far superior to the head of the Catholics at this time. This was his countryman, Nilus the Younger, whom the Church has canonized. The relations of the two Italians—the Jewish physician and the abbot of Rossana and Grotto Ferrata—serve as a standard by which we can estimate the condition of Judaism and Christianity in Italy in the middle of the tenth century.
Donnolo had known Nilus from his youth; perhaps they had suffered together when southern Italy was plundered. The Jewish physician once noticed that the Christian ascetic was very ill, owing to excessive mortification. He generously offered him a remedy. The holy Nilus, however, declined his offer, remarking that he would not take the medicine of a Jew, lest it be said that a Jew had cured him—the holy one, the worker of miracles—for that would lead the simple-minded Christians to place more confidence in the Jews.
Judaism ever strove towards the light, whilst monastic Christianity remained in the darkness. Thus in the tenth century there was only one country that offered suitable soil for the development of Judaism, where it could blossom and flourish—it was Mahometan Spain, which comprised the greater part of the peninsula of the Pyrenees.
Whilst Christian Europe sank into a state of barbarism, from which the Carlovingians endeavored to free it, and the Eastern Caliphate was in the final stage of its decay, the Spanish Caliphate, under the sons of Ommiyya, was in so flourishing a condition, that it almost makes us forget the Middle Ages. Under Abdul-Rahman III (An-Nasir), who was the first to enjoy the full title of the Caliphs, "Prince of the Faithful" (Emir-Al-Mumenin), Spain was the exclusive seat of science and art, which were everywhere else proscribed or neglected. With him began the classical period of Moslem culture, a period of prosperity and vigor, which could be attained only under the rule of noble princes free from prejudice against the votaries of other religions.
Specially honored in Spain were the favorites of the Muses—the poets. A successful poem was celebrated more than a victorious battle, which itself became the subject of poetry. Every nobleman, from the Caliph down to the lowest provincial Emir, was anxious and proud to number learned men and poets among his friends, for whom he furnished the means of a livelihood. Scientific men and poets were appointed to high offices, and entrusted with the most important state affairs.
This spiritual atmosphere could not fail to have its effect upon the Jews, with their naturally emotional and responsive natures. Enthusiasm for science and poetry seized them, and Jewish Spain became "the home of civilization and of spiritual activity—a fragrant garden of joyous, gay poetry, as well as the seat of earnest research and clear thought." Like the Mozarabs, the Christians who lived amongst the Mahometans, the Jews made themselves acquainted with the language and literature of the people of the land, and often surpassed them in knowledge. But whilst the Mozarabs gave up their own individuality, forgot their own language—Gothic Latin—could not even read the creeds, and were ashamed of Christianity, the Jews of Spain, through this contact with Arabs, only increased their love and enthusiasm for their mother-tongue, their holy law, and their religion. Through favorable circumstances Jewish Spain was in a position at first to rival Babylonia, then to supersede it, and finally to maintain its superiority for nearly five hundred years. Three men were the founders of the Judæo-Spanish culture: (i) Moses ben Chanoch, the Talmudical scholar, who had been carried captive to Cordova; (2) The first Andalusian grammarian, Menachem ben Saruk; (3) and the creator of the artistic form of Jewish poetry, Dunash Ibn-Labrat. This culture, however, unfolded through one man, who by means of his high endowments, his pure character and prominent position, was enabled to give it the proper impulse. This man was Abu-Yussuf Chasdaï ben Isaac Ibn-Shaprut (915–970), a member of the noble family of Ibn-Ezra. He was the first of a long succession of high-minded persons who made the protection and furthering of Judaism the task of their lives.
Chasdaï was quite modern in his character, entirely different from the type of his predecessors. His easy, pliant, and genial nature was free both from the heaviness of the Orientals and the gloomy earnestness of the Jews. His actions and expressions make us look upon him as a European, and through him, so to speak, Jewish history receives a European character. His ancestors came from Jaen; his father Isaac, who probably lived at Cordova, was wealthy, liberal, and in a measure, a Mæcenas. The son inherited from him a love of science, and the worthy application of riches. He attained only a theoretical knowledge of medicine, but in literature, as well as in diplomacy, he was a master. Not only did he know Hebrew and Arabic well, but he also knew Latin, then understood only by the clergy amongst the Spanish Christians.
The Caliph Abdul-Rahman III, who stood in diplomatic relations with the small Christian courts of northern Spain, perceived Chasdaï's value and usefulness, and appointed him as interpreter and diplomatist (940). At first Chasdaï only had to accompany the principal ambassadors to the Spanish Christian courts. But the more able he proved himself, the more was he honored and advanced. On one occasion Chasdaï's diplomacy proved very useful. He once induced a king of Leon (Sancho Ramirez) and a queen of Navarra (Toda), together with the clergy and other great people, to visit Cordova, in order to conclude a lasting treaty of peace with Abdul-Rahman. The Caliph rewarded his services by appointing him to various offices. Chasdaï was, in a certain sense, minister of foreign affairs. He had to receive foreign ambassadors and their presents, and to give them presents from the Caliph in return. He was, at the same time, the minister of trade and finance, and the revenue that arose from the various taxes and tolls that went to the treasury, passed through his hands. In spite of all this Chasdaï had no official title. He was neither vizir (the Hagib of the Spanish Arabs) nor the secretary of state (Katib). For the Arabs at first also had a strong prejudice against the Jews, in consequence of which they did not allow them to be included amongst the state officials. The dawning culture of Mahometan Spain was not yet sufficiently advanced to overcome the anti-Jewish sentiments of the Koran.
Even the just and noble prince who in his time was the greatest ornament of the throne, dared not throw off these inborn prejudices. It remained for the Jews themselves to overcome them gradually through their spiritual superiority. Chasdaï inspired a favorable opinion of his co-religionists amongst the Andalusian Moslems, and was able, through his personal intercourse with the Caliphs, to shield them from misrepresentation. And so a Jewish poet was able to say of him: