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Hayye bar Sherira

Metadata

Gender
Male
Social role
Jewish communal official

Description / Bio

Gaʾon of the yeshiva of Pumbedita in Baghdad 998–1038. Born in 939. Author of numerous responsa and legal monographs in Judaeo-Arabic, as well as a commentary on the Mishnah. Two of Hayye's monographs spread widely in the Middle Ages and were translated into Hebrew more than once: Kitāb al-Aymān, on judicial oaths; and Kitāb al-Shirāʾ wa ʾl-Bayʿ, on the laws of sale. Before serving as gaʾon, Hayye held the position of chief judge (Heb. av bet din) of the yeshiva of Pumbedita. According to Robert Brody (s.v. Hay (Hayya) Gaʾon in EJIW), Hayye was the only gaʾon to serve as his father’s immediate successor. The correct pronunciation of his name is Hayye (the Aramaic form of Ḥayyim), at least according to the rhyme-scheme of a poem published by Shelomo Morag in Tarbiẓ in 1962.

Marina Rustow, "Hayye bar Sherira," available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/hayye-bar-sherira/, accessed November 14, 2024.
https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/hayye-bar-sherira/