This praise is by no means exaggerated. Chasdaï was indeed a comforter and deliverer to all the communities far and near. His high position and wealth rendered him useful to his brethren. His deep religious feeling caused him to see that he must thank God for the high estimation in which he was held, and that it was not due to his own deserts; he therefore felt a call to be active in the cause of his religion and his race. He was, to some extent, the legal and political head of the Jewish community of Cordova. The Babylonian school, which received many contributions from him, gave him the title "Head of the School" (Resh-Kallah), although he knew less of the Talmud than the Nathan who had resigned his position in favor of Moses. He corresponded with Dunash ben Tamim, whom he asked to work out some astronomical calculations on the Jewish calendar. He also corresponded with Saadiah's son Dossa, and requested him to send him a biography of his father. The ambassadors of many nations, who either sought the favor or the protection of the Caliph, brought him presents in order to secure his interest in their cause. From them he always asked particulars as to the condition of the Jews, and obtained favors for his brethren.
Chasdaï played an important part in two embassies from the mightiest courts of Europe. The Byzantine empire, oppressed on all sides, had remained lifeless for several centuries, and was now in need of foreign assistance. The weak and pedantic Emperor Constantine VIII, the son and brother of the emperors who had caused the Jews so much trouble, sought a diplomatic alliance with the mighty Moslem conqueror of Spain, in order to gain an ally against the Eastern Caliphate. He therefore sent a magnificent embassy to Cordova (944–949) with rich presents, amongst which was a beautiful copy of a Greek medical work by Dioscorides on simple remedies, which the Caliph and his medical college greatly desired to obtain. The ambassadors from the most anti-Jewish court were received by the Jewish statesman and introduced to the Caliph. But the work upon which the Arabic physicians and naturalists had set so high a value was a sealed book to them. Abdul-Rahman, therefore, begged the Byzantine emperor to send him a scholar who understood both Greek and Latin. Constantine, who wished to show his good-will to the Mahometan court, sent a monk named Nicholas as interpreter. Amongst all the physicians of Cordova, Chasdaï was the only one who understood Latin, and he was, therefore, requested by the Caliph to take part in the translation. Nicholas translated the original Greek into Latin, and Chasdaï re-translated it into Arabic. Abdul-Rahman was pleased with the completion of a work which, according to his thinking, lent great splendor to his reign. Chasdaï also had a peculiar rôle to play in the embassy which was sent by the powerful German emperor Otto I to the court of Cordova. Abdul-Rahman had previously sent a messenger to Otto, and in a letter had made use of certain unseemly expressions against Christianity. The Andalusian ambassadors had to wait several years before they were admitted to an audience with the emperor. After they had been received, the German emperor sent an embassy, at whose head was the abbot John of Gorze (Jean de Vendières), and a letter, in which there were harsh expressions against Islam. The Caliph, who suspected something of the kind, asked Chasdaï to find out for him the contents of the diplomatic letter. Chasdaï treated with John of Gorze for several days, and although the latter was very clever, Chasdaï outwitted him, and learnt from him the purport of the letter. Thereupon Abdul-Rahman kept the German envoys waiting for a whole year before admitting them to an audience. He would have kept them waiting still longer, had not Chasdaï and the Mozarab Bishop of Cordova induced John of Gorze to procure a new and unobjectionable document from the emperor (956–959).
Chasdaï, who, from his elevated position, was accustomed to deal with public affairs on a large scale, was deeply grieved when he thought of the state of the Jews, of their dependent and suffering position, their dispersion, and their want of unity. How often must he have heard Mahometans and Christians pronounce that most powerful argument against Judaism, "Inasmuch as the scepter hath departed from Judah, God hath rejected it!" Even Chasdaï shared the restricted view of the time, viz., that a religion and a people without a country, a king, a court, sovereignty, and subjects, has neither stableness nor vitality.
The rumor of the existence of an independent Jewish community in the land of the Chazars, which had penetrated to Spain, roused his interest. Eldad's appearance in Spain, several decades before Chasdaï's birth, had given probability to the vague tradition, but, on the other hand, rendered it improbable through the exaggeration that the ten tribes were still in existence in all their strength. Chasdaï never failed to make inquiries about a Jewish kingdom or a Jewish ruler when embassies came to him from far or near. The news of a Jewish community in the land of the Chazars, which he received from ambassadors from Khorasan, was very welcome to him, especially when he learnt that a Jewish king was on the throne there. He now heartily wished to enter into communication with this king. He rejoiced when the news was confirmed by the Byzantine ambassadors, who gave him the additional information that the reigning king of the Chazars was called Joseph, and that they were a powerful and warlike nation. This information served only to increase his desire to enter into close communication with the Jewish kingdom and its ruler. He therefore sought a trustworthy messenger who could take charge of his letter of homage, and at the same time bring back further particulars. After several vain attempts, he succeeded in effecting the desired communication. In an embassy of the Slavonic king from the Lower Danube there were two Jews who had to act as interpreters in Cordova. Chasdaï gave the Slavonic ambassadors a letter to the king of the Chazars. This letter, in beautiful Hebrew prose, with introductory verses, written by Menachem ben Saruk, is a priceless document for the history of the time. The author, in his pious wishes and in his humble bearing, skilfully permitted his statesmanship and a sense of his own worth to be seen. Chasdaï's letter fortunately reached the hands of King Joseph, through the instrumentality of a man Jacob ben Eleazar from the land of Nemes (Germany). Joseph was the eleventh Jewish prince since the time of Obadiah, the founder of Judaism in that country. The country of the Chazars even at that time (960) still possessed great power, although it had already lost several districts or feudatory lands. The residence of King Joseph was situated on an island in the Volga, and included a golden tent-like palace having a golden gate. The kings had to oppose the Russians, who had become more powerful since the immigration of the Waragi, and who had always coveted the fruitful country of the Chazars. They found it necessary to keep a standing army so as to be able to attack the enemy at a moment's notice. In the tenth century there were 12,000 regular soldiers, partly cavalry, provided with helmets and coats of mail, and partly infantry armed only with spears. The decaying Byzantine empire was forced to respect the kingdom of the Chazars as a great power, and to recognize the Jewish ruler as "the noble and illustrious king." Whilst the Byzantine emperors used to seal their diplomatic letters to the Pope and to the Frankish emperors with a golden bull of light weight (two solidi), they made it one-third heavier when they wrote to the kings of the Chazars. Whoever is acquainted with the pedantic etiquette of this unstable court will at once recognize how much of fear was expressed by this mark of honor. The Chazar kings took great interest in their foreign co-religionists, and made reprisals for wrong done to the Jews. The king expressed his joy at receiving Chasdaï's letter, and corrected the false impression that the land of the Chazars had always been inhabited by Jews. "The Chazars were rather of heathen origin," he wrote in his answer, and narrated how his great ancestor Bulan had been converted to Judaism. He went on to enumerate the successors of Bulan, all of whom had Jewish names. He then describes the extent of his dominions, and the various peoples that were subject to him. As regards the hopes of a Messianic redemption which he also cherished, he remarks that neither he nor his people knew anything definite. "We set our eyes upon Jerusalem," he says, "and also upon the Babylonian schools. May God speedily bring about the redemption." "You write," he says, "that you long to see me. I have the same longing to make the acquaintance of yourself and your wisdom. If this wish could be fulfilled, and I might speak to you face to face, you should be my father and I would be your son, and I would entrust the government of my state to your hands."
When Joseph wrote this letter, he could boast of the peaceful state of his kingdom. But circumstances changed in the course of a few years. One of Rurik's descendants, the Russian Prince Sviatislav of Kief, formerly almost a subject of the Chazars, made a formidable attack upon the country, and captured the fortress of Sarkel (965). The conqueror grew more powerful, and, a few years later, in 969, the same Sviatislav took the capital, Itil (Atel), and also captured Semender, the second town of the Chazars. The Chazars took to flight, some going to an island in the Caspian Sea, others to Derbend, and yet others to the Crimea, in which many members of the same race lived, and which henceforth received the name of "the Land of the Chazars." Its capital was Bosporus (Kertch). Thus did the kingdom of the Chazars decline, and Joseph was its last king who possessed any power. When Chasdaï received his letter, his patron, Abdul-Rahman, had died. His son Alhakem, a more zealous patron of science and poetry even than his father, now sat upon the throne. More peacefully disposed than his father, he honored Chasdaï, whom he made an important state official, and whose superior talents he employed as freely as his father had done.
Imitating the example of two Caliphs, who respected genius, Chasdaï protected the Jews, and to him is credit due for having given the impulse to the Jewish-Andalusian culture. He gathered around him at Cordova a band of talented philosophers and poets, who in turn immortalized him in their works and poems. "In Spain far and wide, wisdom was cherished in Chasdaï's time. His praise was sung by eloquent tongues." Only two of the philosophers and poets of this time became famous, Menachem ben Saruk and Dunash ben Labrat. Both of these made the Hebrew language, which they considerably enriched, the object of deep research. They went far beyond all their predecessors that had worked at philology, the Karaites and even Saadiah.
Dunash ben Labrat in his works developed a symmetry and harmony of expression in the holy language such as was scarcely conceivable by his predecessors. He was the first to employ meter in Hebrew poesy, which he made melodious through the introduction of the strophe. Dunash was blamed by Saadiah for this as though he had made an unheard-of innovation. Saadiah thought that violence was done to the Hebrew language thereby. However, the new Hebrew poetry was enriched through the efforts of the Jewish-Andalusian writers. Hitherto, poetical compositions had been of a synagogal character, always gloomy, and never assuming a joyful tone. Even hymnal poetry was not devoid of this characteristic, and continued halting and rugged like Kaliri's. In didactic and controversial poems a miserable doggerel was used, as in the verses of Solomon ben Yerucham, of Abu-Ali Jephet, of Ben-Asher and Sabbataï Donnolo. Chasdaï, however, gave the poets an opportunity of changing their subjects. His imposing person, his high position, his deeds, and his princely liberality had an inspiring influence upon the poets, and whilst they sang his praises in animated strains, they breathed new life into the apparently dead Hebrew language, rendering it harmonious and capable of development. Of course, the Jewish-Andalusian poets took the Arabs as their model. They in truth do not deny that "Arab became the teacher of Eber." But Dunash and others, who imitated him, did not slavishly adhere to their Arab pattern, nor adopt its unnatural meter, but they selected its beauties and imitated them. The verses at the beginning of this flourishing period of poetry were brisk and lively in their measure, and yet the Hebrew poetry of the epoch of Chasdaï did not entirely cast off its fetters, nor change its high-flown style. "The poets in Chasdaï's time first began to chirp," as the inimitable critic of a later time remarks. The favorite themes of the new Hebrew poesy now became panegyric and satire, but it did not lose sight of liturgical poetry, which it also adorned with the beauty of meter.
Little is known of the life and character of the first two founders of the Andalusian-Jewish culture. As far as can be gathered from existing sources, Menachem ben Saruk, of Tortosa (born 910, died 970), was in needy circumstances from his earliest years; at any rate, his patrimony was too small to maintain him. Chasdaï's father Isaac was interested in him, and took care that pecuniary difficulties should not destroy the germ of poetry which was latent in him. His favorite occupation was the study of the Hebrew language; he made use of the works of his predecessors, but he did not acquire his noble Hebrew style from them—that was inborn.
When Chasdaï attained his high position, he invited the favorite of his father, with flattering words and glowing promises, to come to Cordova. Menachem became Chasdaï's court poet, and was warmly attached to him, praising him in every kind of verse, and, as he himself affirms, "exhausted poetry in singing Chasdaï's praises." Chasdaï encouraged him to write on the philology of the Hebrew language, and to endeavor to ascertain its various forms, and to investigate the meanings of words. Menachem in consequence wrote a complete Hebrew dictionary (Machbereth), with some grammatical rules, in which he corrected his predecessors in many respects. Brought up amidst surroundings by which harmonious and impressive speech was prized, the grammarian of Tortosa valued language in general very highly, and the Hebrew language in particular, and it was the aim of his work to discover the peculiar refinements of this language. Menachem ben Saruk was the first to distinguish clearly the pure roots in the Hebrew language, and to separate them from the formative prefixes and suffixes—a theory which now appeared for the first time, and which had been misapprehended by previous grammarians. This misapprehension, indeed, had led them into using malformed and ill-sounding words in their verses. Menachem, in his lexicographical work, puts the various forms under each root, and often expounds their meanings with surprising clearness and nicety. In cases where he gives a peculiar explanation according to his understanding of the Biblical verse, he often shows healthy thought and refined taste, and there is a marked step forward in exegesis from Saadiah to Menachem. Now and again he gave explanations which were opposed to Talmudic tradition and the ideas of the time. His lexicographical work was much read and used, because it was written in Hebrew. It found its way into France and Italy, supplanted the works of Saadiah and the Karaites, and, for a long time, was the guide-book for Bible expositors. But grand and flowing as Menachem's Hebrew prose is, his verse is unattractive and awkward; he did not understand how to handle Hebrew meter. He was, however, supplemented by his rival, Dunash ben Labrat.
This poet (also called Adonim) came from Bagdad, and was younger than Menachem (born 920, died 970). He afterwards lived in Fez, and was likewise invited to Cordova by Chasdaï. Dunash appears to have been wealthy, and was thus able to be freer and more independent than the grammarian of Tortosa. He was a man of spirited and reckless disposition, who did not weigh his words, and was well qualified for literary controversy. He, too, possessed a deep knowledge of the Hebrew language, and was a far more successful poet than Menachem. As has been mentioned, he was the first of the Rabbanite circle in Spain to introduce meter into the new Hebrew poetry, to which he thereby gave a fresh charm. He was, however, bold and venturesome. He criticised Saadiah's exegetical and grammatical works in a polemic (Teshuboth), assuming rather a harsh tone, although he was personally acquainted with the author, and was perhaps his pupil. As soon as Menachem's dictionary reached him, Dunash determined to write an unsparing criticism of it, and to bring its mistakes to light. His review was witty but scornful. Dunash did not keep within the limits of scientific discussion, but used it to promote his own interests. He dedicated his critical works against Menachem to the Jewish statesman, whom he flattered so abjectly in some prefatory verses, that we can hardly fail to see that his object was to gain over the Jewish Mæcenas to his side, and to injure Menachem in the eyes of the latter.
Dunash's flattery of the Jewish statesman and his coarse polemic against Menachem are not wanting in power. The admiration of Chasdaï for Ben-Saruk was diminished when he perceived that Dunash was a better poet, and at least as good a philologist. When various calumniators who wished to ingratiate themselves with the Jewish prince, traduced Menachem before him, Chasdaï's favor was withdrawn from the latter, and changed into direct hostility. In what their defamations consisted is not known.
Menachem appears to have died before his rival Dunash, and his pupils undertook to justify him. Jehuda ben Daud, Isaac Ibn G'ikatilia, and Ben-Kafren (Ephraim) were the most important of these. They, too, dedicated their polemical writings to the Jewish minister, and sent him a panegyric and a satire against Dunash. Chasdaï seems to have just returned from a diplomatic victory which he had won for the Caliph Alhakem. The followers of Menachem celebrated his triumph: "The mountains greet the protector of learning, the prince of Judah. All the world rejoices at his return, for whenever he is absent, darkness sets in, the haughty rule and fall upon Judah's sons. But Chasdaï brings back peace and order. God has appointed him prince, and granted him the king's favor, whereby He exalted him above all the nobles."
Menachem's defenders endeavored to appeal to Chasdaï's love of truth, and to make him the arbiter against Dunash, "who set himself up as the chief of commentators, who knows neither law nor limit of change, and who desecrates and spoils the holy language through his foreign meter." The study of the Hebrew language was carried on in Spain by means of severe contention and virulent satire. The pupils of Dunash continued the quarrel. The followers of Menachem and Dunash hurled witty lampoons against each other, which fact contributed largely towards making the Hebrew language at once pliant and rich.
As Chasdaï Ibn-Shaprut had given an impulse to various poets and writers by means of encouragements and rewards, so also he founded a home in Spain for the study of the Talmud. Jewish science in Europe had not yet attained a sufficiently firm footing to enable it to dispense with the fostering care of a protector. Moses ben Chanoch, too, who had been chosen to collect contributions for the school of Sora, and who had been brought as a slave to Cordova and there redeemed, found a patron in Chasdaï, and the two Caliphs who were friendly to science beheld with pleasure the study of the Talmud springing up in their realms, because it would tend to sever their Jewish subjects from the Caliphate of Bagdad. Moses could have come to Spain at no more favorable time for establishing firmly the study of the Talmud, without which the literary activity just springing up could not have made progress. Just as the Spanish Moors had busied themselves with the task of casting the Caliphate of Bagdad into the shade, in the hope of monopolizing all political and literary distinctions, so the Spanish Jews longed to obscure the Babylonian schools, and to transfer to the school which Moses had opened in Cordova the supremacy which the former had hitherto enjoyed, owing to the deeper knowledge of the Talmud there.
They consequently treated Moses with great deference, surrounded him with splendor, and recognized him as their head. Religious questions which had hitherto been sent to the Babylonian schools, henceforth were directed to Moses. From all parts of Africa, eager students flocked to his school. There now arose a strong desire for thorough Talmudical knowledge, which would enable them to dispense with the Babylonian teachers. Chasdaï gave orders for copies of the Talmud to be bought at his expense in Sora, where many lay idle and unused. These he distributed amongst the pupils, whom he doubtless furnished with means of subsistence. Thus Cordova became the Andalusian Sora, and the founder of the school there had the same significance for Spain as Rab had for Babylon. Although he bore the modest title of judge (Dayan), he yet performed the various functions of a Gaon. He ordained rabbis for the various communities, as it appears, by the ceremony of laying on the hands (Semicha); he expounded the Law, the highest appeal was made to him in legal cases, and he could excommunicate rebellious members of the community. All these functions devolved upon the rabbis in later times.
Thus Spain became in many ways the center of Judaism. Several apparently accidental events contributed to this result, and the aroused self-importance of the Spanish Jews did not allow this supremacy to depart from their midst; in fact, they took the greatest pains to assert and to deserve it. The prosperity of the Cordova Jewish community made it possible for them to make the Andalusian capital the center of all undertakings. Cordova numbered several thousand rich families, well able to vie with the Arabs in display. They clothed themselves in silk, wore costly turbans, and drove in splendid carriages. They rode on horses, and adopted the manners of chivalrous society, which distinguished them from the Jews of other lands. It cannot be denied, however, that some of them owed their wealth to their trade in Slavonian slaves. These they sold to the Caliphs, who gradually formed their body-guard from them.
After Moses' death (965) the community of Cordova was threatened with a division on account of the succession. On the one side was Moses' son Chanoch, who, when a child, had shared his parent's captivity, and had seen his mother throw herself into the sea. His rival was Joseph ben Isaac Ibn-Abitur, who was the distinguished pupil of Moses. He possessed sound knowledge of Arabic literature, was a tolerable poet, and a native of Spain. But Chanoch possessed no attainments except knowledge of the Talmud, and the advantage of being the son of a man who had been highly esteemed.
The two rivals were equally distinguished for their piety and their character. There were consequently two parties—the one siding with the native, who was the representative of culture, the other with Moses' son. Meanwhile, before the strife had taken a serious turn, Chasdaï exerted his powerful influence in favor of Chanoch. The latter thus became rabbi of Cordova and the authority for the Jewish-Spanish communities. As long as the Jewish minister of Alhakem lived, Chanoch's right to the rabbinate remained unchallenged. Chasdaï Ibn-Shaprut died during the lifetime of the noble Caliph (970), and left behind him an illustrious name, and both Jews and Mahometans vied with each other in perpetuating it for posterity.
The Gaon Sherira and his son Haï—Sherira's Historical Letter—The Jewish Congregations in Spain—Jewish Culture in Andalusia—The Disciples of Menachem and Dunash—Jehuda Chayuj—Contest between Chanoch and Ibn Abitur—Jacob Ibn Jau—The Jews of France—Nathan the Babylonian and Leontin—The Jews of Germany—Gershom and his Ordinances—The Emperor Henry II.—The Caliph Hakem—The Jewish Communities of Northern Africa—Chananel, the Son of Chushiel, and Nissim bar Jacob Ibn-Shahin—The Jerusalem Talmud—Haï Gaon—His Character and Importance—Samuel bar Chofni—Chiskiya, the last Gaon—Samuel Ibn-Nagrela—Jonah Ibn-Janach.
970–1050 C. E.
When an institution of historic origin is doomed to sink into oblivion, the most strenuous exertions of men cannot save it; and though they succeed by generous sacrifices in deferring the time of its extinction, its continuance is at best like that of a man in a trance.
So it happened to the Babylonian Gaonate, once so full of life. After the most cultured communities of Spain and Africa had withdrawn their support, and had made themselves independent of it, its fate was sealed. It was in vain that the two men who successively adorned the school of Pumbeditha by their virtue and knowledge, made a strenuous effort to give it new life. They only succeeded in staying the death of the Gaonate for somewhat more than half a century, but they were unable to restore its vitality. These two men—father and son, the last distinguished presidents of the school of Pumbeditha—were Sherira and Haï (Haaja), to whom later generations gave the name of "the fathers and teachers of Israel."
Sherira, son of the Gaon Chanina (born 920, died 1000), was of distinguished parentage both on his father's and his mother's side, several members of both families having filled the office of Gaon. He boasted that he could trace his descent to the line of the Exilarchs before Bostanaï. The seal of the Sherira family bore the impress of a lion, which is said to have been the coat-of-arms of the Jewish kings.
Sherira was a Gaon of the old school, who valued the Talmud above everything, and steered clear of philosophical ideas. He was sufficiently acquainted with the Arabic language to use it in answering questions which were directed to him by the Jewish communities in Moslem countries. He preferred, however, to make use of the Hebrew and Chaldee languages, and had no taste for Arabic literature. His literary activity was entirely devoted to the Talmud and cognate subjects. He did not trouble himself much about Biblical exegesis, but his moral earnestness makes us overlook his lack of higher culture. As a judge, he always endeavored to elicit the truth and to decide accordingly. As head of the school, he spared no pains to spread instruction far and near, hence his decisions are voluminous. But Sherira kept most conscientiously to Talmudic precedents in framing his decisions; and on one occasion severely criticised a master who taught his young slave the Bible, and when he had grown up, allowed him to contract an illegal marriage with another slave, because this was contrary to the decision of several Talmudical teachers. Sherira was versed in theosophy, which had but few followers at his time.
Sherira is especially distinguished on account of his "Letter," which is the main authority for the history of the Talmudical, post-Talmudical, and Gaonic periods of Jewish history. Jacob ben Nissim (Ibn-Shahin), a pupil of the Chushiel who had been taken captive to Africa, and who taught the Talmud in Kairuan, sent a letter of inquiry in the name of the community of Kairuan to Sherira. In it the following questions were propounded: "In what way was the Mishna written down? If the traditional law is of remote origin, how does it happen that only authorities of a comparatively recent period are known to us as bearers of the same? In what order were the various books of the Mishna compiled?" Jacob also asked about the order of the Saboraim and the Geonim, and about their respective terms of office. Sherira wrote an answer (987) half in Hebrew and half in Chaldee, in which he threw light upon several dark portions of Jewish history. The chronicle of the Saboraim and Geonim as given by him is our guide for this epoch. Sherira in this "Letter" answers the questions put to him with the simple straightforwardness of the chronicler. But his opinions about the Exilarchs of the line of Bostanaï, and about some of his contemporaries, e. g., about Aaron Ibn-Sarjadu, are not altogether unbiased. We have to thank the Gaon Sherira for the preservation of the facts of Jewish history from the period of the conclusion of the Talmud till his own time. It was not in his power to produce an historical work of a critical character, nor, indeed, was this possible for the genius of the Middle Ages.
In spite of his incessant activity as head of the school, he was unable to prevent the decay of the school of Pumbeditha. The zeal for the study of the Talmud and scientific activity had cooled in the Babylonian countries. The academy had so few scholars at this time that Sherira was compelled to promote his young son Haï, when only sixteen years old, to the high office of chief judge. The respect for the Gaon had vanished. Malicious persons had Sherira arraigned before the Caliph Alkadir on some unknown charge, probably growing out of the rigor of his administration (997). In consequence of this, father and son were deprived of their liberty, all their property was confiscated, and there was not enough left to them for a bare livelihood. They were, however, liberated at the intercession of an influential man, and restored to their dignity. Sherira soon after, on account of old age, abdicated in favor of his son (998), and died a few years later.
His son Haï, although he was only 30 years old, was so popular that to the reading of the Law on Sabbath, as a mark of honor to him, the portion of the Pentateuch was added in which Moses prays for a worthy successor, and instead of the usual prophetic lesson, the story of David anointing his successor was read, and in conclusion the words, "And Haï sat on the throne of Sherira his father, and his kingdom was firmly established."
We turn gladly from the decay of the internal organization of the Jews in the East to the vitality of the communities on the Guadalquiver and the Guadiana. Vigorous forces and spiritual currents of most varied character asserted themselves everywhere, and produced the brilliant efflorescence of Jewish culture. There arose in the Jewish communities of Andalusia intense zeal for the various branches of knowledge, and an eager desire for creative activity.
The seed which had been sown by Chasdaï, the Jewish Mæcenas, by the study of the Talmud under Moses the Babylonian, and by the poetical and philological works of Menachem and Dunash, produced the fairest fruit. Many-sided knowledge was considered among the Spanish Jews, as well as among the Andalusian Moslems, a man's most beautiful ornament, and brought its possessor honor and riches. Following the example of Abdul-Rahman the Great, the Moslems admitted Jews to state offices, owing to their superior insight and business capacity; thus we find both Jewish consuls and Jewish ministers at Mahometan and Christian courts. These emulated the conduct of Chasdaï in encouraging learning and poetry. The knowledge of the period was neither one-sided nor barren; on the contrary, it was full of healthy life, useful and productive. The cultured Jews of Andalusia spoke and wrote the language of the country as fluently as their Arab fellow-citizens, who were as proud of the Jewish poets as the Jews themselves.
The Andalusian Jews were equally active in Bible exegesis and grammar, in the study of the Talmud, in philosophy and in poetry. But the students in any one of these departments were not narrow specialists. Those who studied the Talmud were indifferent neither to Biblical lore nor to poetry, and if not poets themselves, they found pleasure in the rhythmic compositions of the new Hebrew poesy. The philosophers strove to become thoroughly versed in the Talmud, and in many instances rabbis were at the same time teachers of philosophy.
Nor were science and art looked upon by the Spanish Jews as mere ornaments, but they exalted and ennobled their lives. Many of them were filled with that enthusiasm and ideality which does not allow the approach of any kind of meanness. The prominent men, who, either through their political position or their merits stood at the head of Jewish affairs in Spain, were for the most part noble characters imbued with the highest sentiments. They were as chivalrous as the Andalusian Arabs, and excelled them in magnanimity, a characteristic which they retained long after the Arabs had become degenerate. Like their neighbors, they had a keen appreciation of their own value, which showed itself in a long string of names, but this self-consciousness rested on a firm moral basis. They took great pride in their ancestry, and certain families, as those of Ibn-Ezra, Alfachar, Alnakvah, Ibn-Falyaj, Ibn-Giat, Benveniste, Ibn-Migash, Abulafia, and others formed the nobility. They did not use their birth as a means to obtain privileges, but saw therein an obligation to excel in knowledge and nobility, so as to be worthy of their ancestors. The height of culture which the nations of modern times are striving to attain, was reached by the Jews of Spain in their most flourishing period. Their religious life was elevated and idealized through this higher culture. They loved their religion with all the fervor of conviction and enthusiasm. Every ordinance of Judaism, as prescribed in the Bible and as explained in the Talmud, was considered holy and inviolable by them; but they were equally opposed to stolid bigotry and to senseless mysticism. Although they often carried their investigation to the borders of unbelief, yet there is scarcely one of the Jewish-Spanish thinkers who crossed these bounds, nor did extravagant mysticism find favor with them during the flourishing period. No wonder, then, that the Jews of Spain were looked upon as superior beings by their uncultured brethren in other lands—in France, Germany, and Italy—and that they gladly yielded them the precedence which had formerly been enjoyed by the Babylonian academies. Cordova, Lucena, and Granada soon took the place of Sora and Pumbeditha. The official chief of the Jews in Andalusia was Chanoch, of whom we have already spoken (940–1014). He succeeded his father in the rabbinate. His rival, Joseph ben Isaac Ibn-Abitur (Ibn-Satanas or Santas), a member of a respected Andalusian family, was as learned in the Talmud, and excelled him in the extent of his secular knowledge. Ibn-Abitur wrote in verse. Among other things he composed synagogue poetry for the Day of Atonement, but his verse is harsh, awkward, and altogether devoid of poetic charm. He had not profited by the poetry of Dunash. Joseph Ibn-Abitur understood the Arabic language so well that he was able to translate the Mishna into that language. The Caliph Alhakem had expressed a wish to possess a translation of the work containing the sources of Jewish tradition, and Ibn-Abitur gratified that wish to his satisfaction. The refined Caliph probably only desired to increase his library (which was of such proportions that the catalogue took up twenty-four volumes) by the addition of the Mishna, which was so highly valued by the Jews. The men most distinguished in philology and Hebrew poetry during the period after Chasdaï were the pupils of Menachem and Dunash. They carried on a controversy in epigrams, in prose and verse. Of these, Isaac Ibn-G'ikatilia was a poet, and Jehuda Ibn-Daud a Hebrew grammarian. The latter, whose Arabic name was Ibn-Zachariah Yachya Chayuj, descended from a family which came from Fez, was the first to place Hebrew philology on a firm basis, and may be regarded as the first scientific grammarian. Chayuj, too, was the first to recognize that Biblical Hebrew roots consist of three letters, and that several consonants (the liquids, semi-vowels, and the sounds produced by the same organ) become assimilated and change into vowels. He thereby made it possible to know the different forms and their changes, and to apply this knowledge to poetry. Chayuj thus brought about a complete reform in the Hebrew language, and illumined the darkness wherein his predecessors, amongst them Saadiah, Menachem, and Dunash, and to a greater extent the Karaites, had been lost. Chayuj wrote his grammatical works in Arabic; on this account they remained unknown to the Jews out of Spain, who retained the imperfect systems of Menachem and Dunash in their philological studies.
Although the rabbinate of Cordova was merely an honorary office, and Chanoch derived no income from it, nevertheless it gave rise to contention after Chasdaï's death. The followers of Joseph Ibn-Abitur, amongst whom were the numerous Ibn-Abitur family, and the brothers Ibn-Jau, silk manufacturers, who were employed at court, endeavored to put their favorite at the head of affairs. The greater portion of the Jews of Cordova clung to Chanoch. The quarrel became too serious to be peaceably settled, and each party appealed to the Caliph on behalf of its favorite. Seven hundred influential men, partisans of Chanoch, betook themselves, in festive apparel, several days in succession to Az-Zahra, Alhakem's residence, not far from Cordova, in order to obtain the Caliph's favor for their rabbi.
The opposition party made up in zeal what it lacked in number. Alhakem decided in favor of the majority, and confirmed Chanoch in his rabbinate. But as Ibn-Abitur would not relinquish his claim, he was excommunicated by the victorious party. In spite of this he did not abandon hope. He appealed in person to the Caliph. He hoped to gain him over through his knowledge of Arabic literature, and through his service in translating the Mishna, and so effect a reversal of the decree. But his hopes were vain. The Caliph addressed him in the words: "If my subjects scorned me, as the community of Cordova scorns you, I would abdicate my kingdom. My only advice to you is to emigrate." The wish of the Caliph appeared to Ibn-Abitur a command, and he left Cordova (975). When he saw that he could not gain any followers in Spain, he set sail for Africa, traversed Maghreb, the Fatimide dominion, and probably also Egypt, without finding favor anywhere. Meanwhile, however, affairs suddenly took a favorable turn for Ibn-Abitur. One of his chief supporters was raised to a high position, and used his influence on his behalf. This was the silk manufacturer, Jacob Ibn-Jau, whose checkered career bears witness to the arbitrariness dominant in the Spanish Caliphate after the death of the last just and cultured Caliph, Alhakem (976).
The title of Caliph appears to have descended to his son Hisham, a sickly youth, but the chief power lay in the hands of Mahomet Almansur, the terror of the Christians in the mountains of northern Spain and of the Africans in their fortresses. Under this Mahometan "Major Domus," Jacob Ibn-Jau, the supporter of Ibn-Abitur, obtained great respect and considerable power over the Jewish-Spanish community. The circumstances of his good fortune are rather extraordinary. Jacob Ibn-Jau and his brother Joseph supplied the court with costly embroidered silk. Their goods were admired and sought after. Their business brought them into contact with Almansur, and on one occasion they found a considerable sum of money in the court of his palace, which had been lost by some provincials who had been ill-treated. The brothers Ibn-Jau spent the money in presents for the young Caliph and Almansur, so as to obtain their favor, and procure the recall of the banished Ibn-Abitur. Their attempt succeeded. In 985, Almansur appointed the elder brother Jacob as prince and chief judge of the various Jewish communities in the kingdom of the Andalusian Caliphate on both sides of the strait, from Segelmessa in Africa as far as the Douro. He had the sole right to appoint judges and rabbis in the communities, and to determine the taxes for state purposes and for communal wants. Jacob Ibn-Jau held court, as it were, had eighteen pages in his retinue, and drove about in a state carriage. The community of Cordova, proud of the distinction shown to one of its own members, recognized him as its chief, paid homage to him, made his office hereditary, and the poets sang his praises.
As soon as Ibn-Jau was appointed chief of the Jews of the Andalusian Caliphate, he tried to realize the purposes for which he had sought the favor of the court. He gave Chanoch notice to discontinue his rabbinical functions, threatening that, in case he disobeyed, he would be set adrift at sea in a ship without a rudder, thus returning to the place whence he had come. Ibn-Jau next made preparations to recall his favorite, Ibn-Abitur, and to invest him with the dignity of the rabbinate. But before he could do that, the ban of excommunication had to be removed, and for this act the consent and approval of the whole community were required. Out of regard for Ibn-Jau, who was respected at court, all the members of the community, amongst whom were his former opponents, sent a flattering letter to Ibn-Abitur, inviting him to accept the rabbinate of Cordova. Chanoch was deposed. When the community of Cordova, and especially his friends, had made preparations to meet Ibn-Abitur in a worthy manner, they received a letter from him which speedily undeceived them. He inveighed, in harsh terms, against their reckless treatment of his opponent. He praised Chanoch in unmeasured terms, saying that in all his wanderings he had never met with a man like him in virtue and piety, and at the same time he advised the community of Cordova to re-instate him in his office.
Meanwhile Ibn-Jau could not maintain his authority. His patron, Almansur, deposed him, and cast him into prison, the reason of his condemnation being his probity and disinterestedness. The regent (Hajib) had believed that the Jewish prince would use his power over the communities of the western Caliphate for the purpose of extorting money, and would make him the recipient of rich presents; but Ibn-Jau did not burden the community, and, consequently, could not satisfy Almansur's avarice. For this he was deprived of his liberty. After he had been imprisoned for a year he was set free by the Caliph Hisham, and restored to his former dignity (987). Since, however, Almansur was unfavorable to him, he was practically powerless. When Ibn-Jau died, one of Chanoch's relatives hastened to convey the news to him, thinking that he would receive it with joy. But this noble rabbi wept at the death of his enemy, and said, "Who will now care for the wants of the poor like him who has just departed? I cannot take his place, for I myself am poor."
Chanoch lived to see the beginning of the decadence of Cordova, and the first general persecution of his co-religionists in Germany, Africa, and in the East. He was killed by the fall of the reading-desk in the synagogue on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (September, 1014).
The condition of the Jews in France and Germany at this time shows how dependent their spiritual life was upon external circumstances.
During the feeble rule of the last Carlovingians, and even under the first Capets in France, when the temporal and spiritual vassals became more powerful than the kings, and also under the Saxon emperors, the Jews were oppressed, and their literary activity almost entirely checked. The canonical laws had long before this debarred them from filling offices. They did not seek honor, but only desired to be allowed to live quietly, and to observe their religion. But the chiefs of the Church disturbed their peaceful condition without any profit to themselves. In the French territory, the chief power lay in the hands of the barons and the clergy. The power of the kings was as yet limited on all sides, and could not protect the Jews from tyrannical caprice. Only the fanatical clergy had entertained prejudices of a theological nature against the Jews, but their zeal aroused the hatred of the people against the Jews. The people, uncouth, brutish, and slaves to superstition, looked upon the sons of Israel as a cursed race, unworthy of compassion. They accused the Jews of employing evil spells against Christians. When the king, Hugh Capet, died of a dangerous illness (996), after having been treated by a Jewish physician, the people gave credence to the report that the Jews had murdered him. The chroniclers, too, looked upon this as a fact, and entered it upon their annals.
The Jews, it is true, had fields and vineyards, but they lacked personal safety, which could be granted only by a strong government. In the south of France, in Provence and Languedoc, where the king's power was insignificant, the fate of the Jews was still more dependent upon the caprice of the counts and viscounts. In one place they possessed landed property and salt mines, and were even allowed to become bailiffs (Bailli); in another they had to submit to be treated as bondmen. The chief community was that of Narbonne. There had been a Talmudical school there since the time of Charles the Great, but it does not seem to have been well supported. There suddenly appeared on the scene a Talmudist from the school of Sora, who instilled true zeal for the study of the Talmud into the Jews of southern France. This may have been Nathan bar Isaac, the Babylonian, but more probably it was his pupil Leon or Leontin (Jehuda ben Meïr), who, although he left no works behind him, was yet the first founder of the scientific study of the Talmud, which henceforth flourished in France and Germany. His famous pupil, Gershom, confessed that he owed all his knowledge to Leon.
The Jews in Germany at this time of the Saxon emperors did not suffer oppression, though they were not specially favored. The feudal system which existed in Germany forbade them to possess landed property, and thus compelled them to be tradesmen. Jew and merchant were synonymous in Germany. The rich were bankers, those of moderate means borrowed money in order to visit the fair at Cologne, for which loan they had to pay a low, reasonable interest. The German emperors continued the custom, which had been introduced by the first Carlovingians, of exacting a fixed tribute from the Jews. When Otto the Great wished to grant a subsidy to the newly-built church at Magdeburg, he made it a present of the revenue he derived from "the Jews and other merchants" (965). Otto II likewise presented "the Jews of Merseburg" to the bishop of that town in 981. In the retinue of this emperor was an Italian Jew, Kalonymos, who was greatly attached to him, and on one occasion assisted him at the risk of his own life (982). But the much praised rule of the Ottos gave the Jews subject to them no chance of raising themselves from their lowly position. The Christian peoples had learnt much from the Arabs, but they had not learnt to encourage science amongst members of religions different from their own. The German Jews in consequence, although they led more moral and industrious lives than their Christian brethren, were not more cultured. They had not even any Talmudical teachers of note of their own, but got them from abroad. Their first Talmudical authority was Gershom. He, together with his brother Machir, spread the seeds of Talmudic knowledge from the south of France to the Rhine, and gave it an importance that it had not obtained even in the Gaonic schools.
Gershom ben Jehuda (born 960, died 1028) was born in France, and emigrated for some unknown reason to Mayence. As was mentioned, he was a pupil of Leon. In Mayence, Gershom founded a school which soon attracted numerous pupils from Germany and Italy. The respect for Gershom was so great that he was named "The Light of the Exile." He expounded the Talmud to his pupils with a lucidity unattained by any of his predecessors, and his commentaries to the Talmud are also distinguished for clearness and directness.
Gershom was the first commentator of the vast Talmud, and he who knows the difficulty of such a work will appreciate how much energy, devotion, and patience were required for it. He was at once recognized as an authority by the German, French, and Italian communities. Questions were submitted to him, and unwittingly he became the rival of the last Gaon Haï, although he looked upon him with the reverence of a disciple. Through a peculiar combination of circumstances those who respected the Gaonate most, contributed to its decay. Gershom's commentaries on the Talmud, written in Hebrew, had the result that the Gaonic school could be dispensed with, and thus severed the German communities and those of northern France from it. Any one who chose to do so could obtain a deep knowledge of the Talmud without first seeking aid from Babylonia. Gershom also busied himself with the Massora, and made a place for its study, which until then had been pursued only in Mahometan countries, in Germany and in France.
Gershom became even more famous through his decrees than through his commentaries. They produced a very wholesome effect upon German and French Judaism. Amongst other things he forbade polygamy, practiced even among European Jews, allowing it in extreme cases only. He decreed further that the consent of the wife was necessary for a divorce, whilst, according to the Talmud, the husband could give her a bill of divorce against her wish. He also made an important rule about the carrying of letters, viz., that the bearer must not read a letter, even though it be not sealed. In those times intercourse with one's friends was carried on by means of travelers who happened to be going in the direction required. Hence this regulation was of the utmost importance. Those who transgressed this decree were to be laid under the ban of excommunication. Although these and other institutions were without synodal formality, and the author of them was in no way invested with official authority, yet, so great was the respect felt for Gershom, that they were received by the German and French communities like the decrees of a synhedrion, and scrupulously obeyed.
Contemporary with this authority of the German-French communities, there lived in Mayence a man whose merits were, until recently, unappreciated. This man was Simon ben Isaac ben Abun, of French descent, from Le Mans. He was learned in the Talmud, and wrote an original work (Yessod) on it. He was, besides, a versatile and prolific Hebrew poet (Poetan), and wrote a number of liturgical compositions in the style of Kaliri, as heavy and ungraceful as his, in which he introduced the Agadic literature, often in an enigmatical way. Simon ben Isaac was wealthy, and was thus able to avert the storm which had gathered, and was threatening to break over the Jews of Germany.
In the eleventh century occurred the first persecutions of the Jews in Germany. It is possible that the conversion of a churchman to Judaism, which the chroniclers mentioned in their annals as an unlucky event, roused the anger of the clergy against the Jews. The convert, whose name was Wecelinus, was chaplain to Duke Conrad, a relative of the emperor. After his conversion to Judaism (1005), Wecelinus wrote a lampoon on his former religion, bearing witness to his own great hatred of Christianity, and to the coarseness of the taste of the time. The emperor Henry, however, was so angry at the conversion of the chaplain, that he commissioned one of his clergy to write a reply. This he did, and it was couched in equally coarse and undignified language. Some years later (1012), the emperor decreed that the Jews should be expelled from Mayence, as a punishment for their refusal to be baptized. The decree was probably not confined to Mayence, but applied to other communities. The poet, Simon ben Isaac, composed dirges, lamenting the expulsion, as though it were a terrible persecution, intended to uproot Judaism from the hearts of its followers.
Gershom, too, though by no means a poet, gave utterance to his grief at the severe persecution of Henry II in penitential hymns. "Thou hast made those who despise Thy Law," he says, "to have dominion over Thy people; they bow down to senseless images, and would compel us, too, to worship them. They urge Thine inheritance to change Thee for a God of their own making. They are determined no longer to call Thee God, and to overthrow Thy word. If I say, 'Far be it from me to forsake the God of my fathers,' they gnash their teeth, put forth their hand for plunder, and open their mouth in scoffing. Thy people are driven from their homes, they raise their eyes in longing to Thee." During this persecution many Jews became Christians, either to save their lives or their possessions. Among them was Gershom's son. When the latter died a Christian, his hapless father observed the mourning ceremonials for him as for one who had died a Jew.
Simon ben Isaac, by his zeal, and probably by bribing the officials with large sums of money, succeeded in staying the persecution, and even in obtaining permission for the Jews to settle again in Mayence. Those Jews who had been compelled to submit to baptism now gladly returned to their religion, and Gershom protected them from the scorn of their brethren on account of their temporary apostasy, by threatening to excommunicate any one who reproached them.
The grateful community was anxious to perpetuate the memory of Simon. It was done by mentioning his name in the synagogue every Sabbath, and adding, "that he had exerted himself on behalf of his brethren, and that through him persecutions had ceased." The name of Gershom was likewise perpetuated, because "he had enlightened those in exile through his decrees."
The school that had been founded by Gershom in Mayence flourished for more than eighty years, and became the center of Talmudic activity for Germany, France and Italy. At the same time, about the end of the fourth century of the Hejira, when the Karaites expected the coming of the Messiah, persecution broke out against the Jews in the East and in Egypt, and lasted longer than that in Germany. The German Jews had been persecuted because they did not believe in Christ and the saints; the Eastern Jews were now oppressed because they would not believe in Mahomet and the immaculate Imam, in the heavenly guide (Mahdi).
This persecution was originated by the mad Egyptian Caliph Hakim, a Mahometan Caius Caligula, who believed that he was the incarnation of the divine power, and the vicegerent of God on earth. Hakim persecuted all who dared doubt his divinity—Mahometans, Jews, and Christians, without distinction. At first he decreed that if the Jews of his dominion did not become converts to the Shiitic Islam, they would have to wear round their necks the picture of a calf in commemoration of the golden calf of their ancestors in the wilderness. In addition, they were to be distinguished from the believers by their external appearance, as ordained by Omar. Those who transgressed were to be punished by exile, and by the loss of all their possessions (1008). A similar regulation was enacted against the Christians. When Hakim heard that the Jews evaded his decree by wearing a golden image of a calf, he added a further clause, viz., that they should wear in addition a block of wood six pounds in weight, and have little bells attached to their garments that they might be known at a distance as unbelievers (1010). He afterwards ordered the churches and synagogues to be destroyed, and drove both Jews and Christians out of his kingdom (1014). The Fatimide dominions at that time were very extensive. They embraced Egypt, northern Africa, Palestine and Syria, and since Hakim had adherents also in the Caliphate of Bagdad, there were but few places of refuge open to the Jews. Many, therefore, outwardly conformed to Islam, while waiting for better times to come. The persecution lasted till the Mahometans themselves grew tired of the half-witted Caliph, and assassinated him (1020).
Northern Africa, too, which had enjoyed a brief efflorescence under Isaac Israeli, Dunash ben Tamim, and the alien R. Chushiel, produced its last set of great men in the latter part of the eleventh century, and then sank into oblivion. Its two great authorities were Chananel, the son of Chushiel, the immigrant, and Nissim bar Jacob Ibn-Shahin (1015–1055). They lived in the same place, and are usually named together, but they do not appear to have been on friendly terms with each other. On the contrary, there appears to have been the same rivalry between them as there had been between Chanoch and Ibn-Abitur, Nissim, like the latter, being a native, and Chananel, like the former, the son of an alien. We are not even certain which of the two was the official rabbi of Kairuan; both of them, however, presided over the school. Chananel, in addition, had a large business; whilst Nissim was so poor that he had to be supported by the Jewish minister in Granada. They, however, showed remarkable similarity in their ideas; they pursued the same studies, and wrote works on the same subjects, but Chananel made use of the Hebrew language, and Nissim of Arabic.
A new element in the study of the Talmud, which established it on a firmer basis than that on which the Geonim had been able to place it, was added by the labors of these two men. The Jerusalem Talmud, although more ancient than the Babylonian, had suffered considerably by the fate to which books as well as men are exposed. Whilst the Babylonian Talmud was known and studied in the East to the boundaries of Khorasan and India, and in the West to the end of the ancient world, its companion remained for a long time unknown outside of its birthplace. The former had commentators, who explained and expounded it thoroughly; the latter was for a long time neglected. In consequence of the connection of northern Africa with Palestine, brought about through its conquest by the Fatimide Caliphs, the Jewish teachers of the two lands came into contact with each other, and the Talmud of the Holy Land (as it was called) became known in Kairuan. The two great Talmudists, Chananel and Nissim, were the first in Talmudic circles to busy themselves with it. In their Talmudical writings, which consisted partly of commentaries, explanations of separate words and the subject-matter, and partly of practical decisions, they gave prominence to the Jerusalem Talmud. Both wrote commentaries to the Pentateuch, in which they followed the path marked out by Saadiah for rational exposition of difficult passages in the Pentateuch.
They were both in constant communication with Babylonia on the one hand and with Spain on the other, and formed, so to speak, the link between the two lands. They lived to see the utter extinction of the Gaonate, but after their death the school of Kairuan sank into complete insignificance. One of its pupils, who afterwards became famous as a rabbinical authority, owed his fame solely to his emigration to Spain.
The institutions, too, and the traditions of Babylonian-Persian Judaism showed manifest signs of decay at this time. They possessed, it is true, two men of extraordinary ability, viz. Haï and Samuel ben Chofni, but these were not in a position to stay its dissolution, and could only throw a dim light upon the dying Gaonate.
Haï (or Haya, born 969, died 1038), who had in his eighteenth year been raised to the highest office next to the Gaon, at the age of thirty years succeeded his father Sherira in the Gaonate of Pumbeditha. At his installation the high honor was accorded him of having his name mentioned when a portion from the Prophets was publicly read, and he was compared to King Solomon. Foreign communities, as well as the Babylonians, showed him the highest respect. His character was noble, and he was a man of independent thought. He was versed in all branches of science as they were then taught, and displayed great literary activity. Haï reminds one of Saadiah, whom he took as his model, and whom he defended from attacks, but he was essentially a Talmudist, whereas Saadiah was a religious philosopher. Like him Haï was a thorough Arabic scholar, and made use of that language in many of his letters, and in numerous scientific treatises. Like the Gaon of Fayum he was free from that narrow-minded exclusiveness which permits men to see the truth only in their own religion, and causes them to look upon everything outside as untrue. He was on friendly terms with the head of the Eastern Christians of Bagdad, and on one occasion, when in his exegetical lectures he chanced upon a difficult passage, he did not hesitate to consult the Patriarch (Mar-Elia I.).
In his explanation of rare and archaic words in the Bible, Haï boldly sought assistance from the Koran and the old traditions of the Mahometans in order to confirm their meaning. He was an unprejudiced sage, who loved the light and avoided darkness. He often had disputations with Mahometan theologians about the relation between Judaism and Islam, and is said often to have silenced them by his eloquence. His main study, however, was the Talmud. In this he resembled his father Sherira, but his study was productive of better results. He wrote a terse commentary, in which he explained the words in the most difficult portions of the Mishna and the Talmud.
Haï treated of the civil law of the Talmud, of contracts, loans, boundaries and oaths, with systematic precision. He did this as no one before him had done, and he therefore became the model and authority for later generations. He did not enter upon the field of metaphysics, but although he was not a philosopher, he had sound opinions on mysticism. Surrounded with a halo of religion, a mystic belief often appears reasonable to those of weak reasoning powers, but Haï perceived its deceptive character.
The belief in miracles has, in every country, at all times, and in all creeds, befogged the intellect of unthinking men, and robbed them of the ability to form a rational view of divine wisdom and of life. This belief was fostered by the Jews in many ways, and took as firm a hold on them, as it had on the Christian and the Mahometan world. It was especially prevalent in Palestine and Italy. Its devotees believed that any one who is truly pious can perform at will miracles as great and surprising as those of the prophets of old. They thought, however, that for this purpose it is necessary to pronounce certain magical formulæ, consisting of various combinations of the letters in the name of God. Haï's true religious insight prompted him to write indignantly against this belief, which, despite the fact that his father was not free from it, he considered a desecration of religion. A pupil of Jacob ben Nissim of Kairuan once asked Haï what he thought of the magical power of the names of God, which, many boasted, they could use. Haï answered briefly and sensibly:—"If any one by the mere use of formulæ could perform miracles, and thereby alter the course of nature, wherein lay the distinction of the prophets?" God gave the prophets the power of temporarily altering the laws of nature that they might prove themselves His true messengers. Now, if pious persons could do the same, and if there happened to be many of them, miracles would become daily occurrences, and the motion of the sun from west to east would appear no more extraordinary than its common motion in the opposite direction—in short, miracles would cease to be miracles. "It is wrong," said Haï, "to make use of the name of God for such purposes," and he warned the people against this practice, in which there is much doubt and little truth; and a man must be indeed foolish who believes everything.
Haï was universally acknowledged as an authority, and through his influence the school of Pumbeditha somewhat recovered its prestige. The great scholars Nissim and Chananel of Kairuan, the community of Fez, the vizir Samuel Nagid, Gershom of Mayence, the authority of the German Jews, and the other authorities of the communities of three parts of the world, submitted questions to him, and honored him as the chief representative of Judaism. He was called "the father of Israel." The Exilarchate had been practically extinct since the death of the grandson of David ben Zaccaï, and Haï stood at the head of Judaism. No fitter man could have been found to represent it. Unlike the former Geonim of Pumbeditha, who all looked askance at the sister academy, unlike his father, who felt a keen delight when Sora was without a chief, Haï did his best to give it a leader in the person of Samuel ben Chofni, who filled his office during Haï's Gaonate. Samuel was his father-in-law, and his equal in learning and character. He wrote several systematic works on the ritual, and a commentary on the Pentateuch, in which he set forth the same philosophical views about the unity of God as the followers of the Mutazilist school. His commentary on the Pentateuch, indeed, is not very much praised. It was, like the Karaite commentaries, diffuse, and contained discussions on irrelevant questions. But although his exegetical works mark no distinct progress, yet they show the important fact that the Geonim followed the scientific lines laid down by Saadiah. Samuel ben Chofni's interpretations of the Bible are all rationalistic. He always endeavors to explain the miraculous events narrated in the Bible as if they were natural. He explained the story of the witch of Endor, and of Balaam, as dreams. Like Saadiah, he attacked Karaism, the occasion being a keen controversy which broke out at that time between the Karaites and the Rabbanites. Samuel ben Chofni died four years before his son-in-law Haï (1034), and thus ended the line of the Geonim of Sora.
This school does not appear to have made any effort to continue after his death. The times were in every way unfavorable to the Gaonate, and it was impossible for it to regain its pristine vigor. When Haï died, in 1038, mourned by all the Jews, and eulogized by the greatest poet of the time, Ibn-Gebirol, and by his admirer Chananel, in Africa, the time for the dissolution of the school of Pumbeditha had also come. It is true that the college immediately chose a successor, who acted at once as Gaon and as Exilarch, it seems only in order to have the two offices buried together in the same grave with his person.
Chiskiya, the great grandson of the quarrelsome Exilarch David ben Zaccaï, was appointed head of the school. But the glory which it was thought he would shed upon the school could not make itself visible. Chiskiya had many implacable enemies who were jealous of his elevation. They slandered him at court, for what reason or under what pretext is unknown. The political power of the Eastern Caliphate was at that time in the hands of Jelal Addaulah. He had wrested from the phantom caliph the title of "King of kings," and exacted tribute from both Jews and Christians. The great Sultan may have made use of the just or unjust complaint against Chiskiya for his own profit. The last Gaon was imprisoned, tortured probably, that he might discover his treasures, robbed of all his property, and then executed (1040). Thus the Gaonate came to an end through the oppression of the weak Caliphate. Babylonia had played its part in Jewish history, and for a long time it sank into complete oblivion. Chiskiya's two sons were also in danger of arrest, but they escaped, and after traveling about for a long time, settled in Spain, where they were respected as the last members of the House of David, and under the name Ibn-Daudi, devoted themselves to the cultivation of the muses.
Jewish Spain thus became the heir of Judæa, Babylonia, and northern Africa, and greatly increased its inheritance for succeeding generations. There the exiled sons of the Jewish-Chazar princes, and of the Exilarchs, found a refuge. At the head of the community of Andalusia was Samuel Ibn-Nagrela (or Nagdela), a man distinguished for wisdom, virtue and position, the first of the succession of Jewish teachers coming after the Geonim. He united in his person all the virtues of the three men who had made Jewish Spain famous. He was like Chasdaï, a generous chief and a patron of learning, like Moses ben Chanoch, a thorough Talmudist, and like Dunash ben Labrat, a poet and grammarian.
The life of Samuel (Ishmael) Halevi Ibn-Nagrela was remarkable. He was born in Cordova (in 993), whither his father had emigrated from Merida, and studied the Talmud in the school of Chanoch. Jehuda Chayuj, the father of Hebrew philology, instructed him in the subtleties of the Hebrew language, and the Andalusian capital, which was then the center of culture, offered him sufficient opportunity to make himself master of Arabic. When he was 20 years old, in consequence of civil war, he and many others were obliged to quit Cordova. The Barbary chieftain, Suleiman, having defeated the Arabs and the Sclavonian body-guard of the Caliphs in battle, destroyed the beautiful buildings of the capital with African fury, permitted the women to be violated, and reduced the richest families to beggary (April, 1013).
The noble Jewish families emigrated to Granada, Toledo, and even to Saragossa, to escape this persecution. Samuel Ibn-Nagrela settled in the port of Malaga.
He had a small business, and at the same time pursued Talmudic and linguistic studies. Besides Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldee, he understood four languages, including Latin, Castilian and the Berber tongue. Unlike most other Jews, who wrote Arabic in Hebrew characters, Ibn-Nagrela was a master of Arabic calligraphy, an art highly esteemed among the Arabs. To his knowledge of languages and calligraphy he owed the high position which he held, and which had not been attained by any Jew since the destruction of the Jewish state.
Civil wars and the ambition of the Emirs had broken up the empire of the Ommiyyade Caliphs into small principalities. Andalusia, after the fall of the last Ommiyyades, was subdivided like Germany and Italy of the past. The Arab historians call the regents of this period the "Kings of Anarchy." One race of Berbers, the Sinhajas, founded a kingdom of their own in the south of Spain, under a leader named Maksen (1020). Granada, largely populated by Jews, became the capital of this kingdom, and Malaga was also a part of it. In Malaga, Abulkasim Ibn-Alarif, the vizir of Habus, the second king of Granada, had a palace next to Samuel's little shop. This brought good fortune to the poor scholar, and raised him above want, and ultimately exalted him to a height worthy of his greatness.
A slave of the vizir who frequently furnished information to her master, regularly had her letters written by the poor Jew. These letters displayed so much linguistic and calligraphic skill that the vizir Ibn-Alarif became anxious to know the writer. He had Ibn-Nagrela called into his presence, and took him into his service as his private secretary (1025). The vizir soon discovered that Samuel possessed great political insight, and consulted him on all important affairs of state, and as his advice was always sound, the vizir at length undertook nothing without Samuel's approval.
When Ibn-Alarif fell ill, King Habus was in despair as to what to do about his complicated relations with neighboring states. The dying vizir referred him to his Jewish secretary, confessed that his successful undertakings had been mainly due to Samuel's wise suggestions, and advised Habus to employ him as a counselor. The Berber king of Granada, who had fewer prejudices against the Jews than the Arab Mussulmans, raised Samuel Ibn-Nagrela to the dignity of minister (Katib), and put him in charge of the diplomatic and military affairs (1027). Thus the shopkeeper of Malaga lived in the king's palace, and had a voice in all matters concerning the Pyrenean peninsula. For a Mahometan who chose a vizir ruled, but did not govern. This was the affair of the chief minister, who was answerable to the king with his life. Habus had no reason to regret his choice. His kingdom flourished under the rule of the wise and active Jewish vizir. Samuel knew how to occupy the king, and how to please him. He composed a poem of praise to Habus in seven different languages. Diplomatic, wise, and always master of himself, Ibn-Nagrela knew how to employ circumstances, and had the art of disarming his opponents. He drew a masterly picture of a worthy governor, which seems to have been his own guide: "He whose counsel is as pure as sunlight, who is free from base desires, whose eyes do not close in sleep, whose thoughts are firm as towers, whom dignity encompasses like shining armor, who knows how to subdue the will of others, and keeps aloof from what brings disgrace, is worthy to rule." His wisdom and piety preserved him from the pride peculiar to those that have risen from low estate, making them hateful. The gentleness with which he opposed his enemies is shown by an anecdote. Near the palace of Habus there lived a Mussulman seller of spices, who no sooner beheld the Jewish minister in the company of the king, than he overwhelmed him with curses and reproaches. Habus, indignant at such conduct, commanded Samuel to punish this fanatic by cutting out his tongue. The Jewish vizir, however, knew how to silence him who cursed. He gave him money, and converted the curses into blessings. When Habus again noticed the seller of spices, he was astonished at the change, and questioned Samuel about it. He replied, "I have torn out his angry tongue, and given him instead a kind one." The seller of spices, however, was not his only enemy; there were several others, and very dangerous ones. The fanatical Mahometans beheld in the elevation of an unbeliever to so high a rank a mockery of their religion. It aroused their displeasure to see the numerous Jews of the kingdom of Granada hold their heads aloft as though on an equality with the Moslems. Two officers of state, Ibn-Abbas and Ibn-Abi Musa, plotted to depose him. But their plots failed, and they were condemned to death. Fortune ever smiled on this Jewish vizir, although he was at one time in danger of losing his position and his life. When King Habus died in 1037 there arose two parties in Granada, who rallied round two princes. Most of the Barbary grandees, and some of the influential Jews, Joseph Ibn-Migash, Isaac ben Leon, and Nehemia Ashkafa, sided with the younger son, Balkin (or Bologgin); a smaller party (amongst them Samuel) desired that the elder son, named Badis, should be the successor. The influential party were ready to hail Balkin as king, when he abdicated in favor of his brother. Badis became king (October, 1037), and Samuel not only retained his former position, but became the actual king of Granada, as the pleasure-loving Badis gave but little attention to affairs of government. Later on Balkin repented of his generosity to his brother, and put obstacles in the way of his government. Badis therefore hinted to the physician of Balkin to refrain from giving him medicine during an illness, and this led to his death. After his death the government of Badis and the position of Ibn-Nagrela remained undisturbed. Balkin's partisans were forced to leave Granada, and amongst them the three Jews mentioned above. They emigrated to Seville, and were there received in a friendly manner by the king of that country, Mahomet Aljafer, who was an opponent of the king of Granada. One of the fugitives, Joseph Ibn-Migash, was raised by the king of Seville to a high position, and became the ancestor of a prominent personage. It is interesting to see in the writings of a contemporary historian the form used by the Jewish minister in the royal decrees addressed to the Mahometan people. Samuel, or as he was called, Ismael Ibn-Nagrela, did not shrink from using the formulæ of Moslem rulers. He opened with the words, Chamdu-l-Illahi (praised be God), and added, when mentioning the name of Mahomet, the sentence, "May God pray over him and bless him." He exhorted those to whom the circulars were addressed to live according to the principles of Islam; and in general his ordinances were couched in the Mahometan style.