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Title: Philosophy/Philosophers/S/Saadia Gaon - Jewish Personalities Saadia Gaon Brief article on his life and work, from the Rabbi Scheinerman's Home Page.
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Rabbi Scheinerman's Home Page - Saadia Gaon
Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 B.C.E. - 50 C.E.)
Moses Chaim Luzzatto (d.
1746)
Leo Baeck (1873-1956)
Saadia Gaon (882 to 942)
Israel ben Eliezer (Baal Shem
Tov) 1700-1760)
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)
Judah HaLevi (1075 to 1141)
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935)
Moses Maimonides (Moshe ben
Maimon) (1135-1204)
Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983)
Saadia Gaon (882 to 942 C.E.)
Babylonia
was the primary locus of Jewish learning for many centuries. The
heads of the Babylonian academies of Sura and Pumbedita were called
Gaon and were widely recognized as the preeminent scholars of
their day. With this distinction came the authority to promulgate
religious decisions for the community. Saadia was the the greatest
Gaon of all times. He lived from 882 to 942 C.E., during the time
that the Muslims ruled Asia Minor.
In
Saadia's day, he sought to reconcile the philosophical perspective
of Islam, to which Jews living in Islamic countries were exposed,
with the Torah. Much of Islamic philosophy at this time was grounded
in the thinking of Aristotle and Plato, and so Saadia wrote about
this, as well. His most famous book is entitled "The Book of Beliefs
and Opinions" and it was written originally in Arabic, later translated
into Hebrew by the Ibn Tibbon family. In this book, Saadia attempts
to reconcile Judaism with the philosophical thinking of Aristotle
and Plato, his goal being to bring assimilated Jews back to Torah
and halakhah. Saadia accept the notion that reason is a legitimate
standard for truth and set out to demonstrate that the Torah is
compatible with philosophical reason. Jewish religious beliefs,
according to Saadia, pass the test of reason. What is more, Saadia
contended, the Torah is the finest source of truth available and
the study of Torah further develops one's rational judgment.
In
addition, Saadia wrote the first Arabic translation of the Bible,
which included commentaries and grammatical notes. He also wrote
the first Hebrew dictionary, and a book about Hebrew grammar.
Muslims at this time were involved in Arabic language and grammar
studies and Saadia hoped to inspire Jews to explore their own
religious roots more deeply. Moses Maimonides said of Saadia,
"If not for our master Saadia Gaon, Torah would have been forgotten
in Israel."
In
Saadia's day, one of the most significant threats to Jewish life
came from the Karaites, a group whose origins lay in the Jewish
community, but who had separated from the Jewish community in
opposition to rabbinic Judaism. The Karaites maintained that the
laws of the Talmud were not obligatory upon Jews because they
were written not by God, but by the rabbis. The Karaites claimed
that only the Torah comes from God and it, alone, should serve
as the basis of Jewish authority and life. Traditional Judaism
has always maintained that the Talmud is the Torah she'b'al peh
(the Oral Torah, given at Sinai but transmitted orally for much
of our history until it was finally written down in the academies
of Babylonia). Saadia defended rabbinic authority against the
claims of the Karaites, going so far as to declare that they were
not Jews.
Some
key aspects of Saadia's thinking:
1.
The laws of the Torah can be divided into two groups. The first
set encompasses those laws which human reason immediately identifies
as necessary for human society, such as the prohibition against
murder. Such laws are common-sense. The second set of laws, however,
are far less obvious and their purpose often eludes people. Included
among these are Shabbat observance, kashrut, and the laws of family
purity. Saadia tells us that if we examine these laws closely
we will discover that they do, in fact, yield benefits for individuals
and society, though sometimes these benefits are not immediately
apparent. As an example, abstaining from work on holy days leads
to more study and the development of family relationships.
2.
Saadia maintained that human beings possess free will, the capacity
to make choices about their behavior. Muslim philosophers at this
time promoted the Kallam, a system of thought which denies the
existence of free will as an allusion and even denies causality
of events in the universe, ascribe all power and will to Allah.
Saadia parted company with Muslim philosophers over the issue
of free will, for several reasons. First, if God is the first
and only cause in the universe, then there is no difference between
the righteous and sinners; all do the will of God. Hence there
is no difference between a righteous deed and a sin. Second, if
God is fully in control of people's behavior, then it makes no
sense to punish one who breaks the law, since s/he is merely doing
the will of God. Finally and most importantly from a Jewish perspective,
in a universe totally dominated by the will of God, mitzvot have
no purpose or meaning, since people are incapable of "obeying"
or "disobeying" them. There can only be a commandment if there
is someone capable of accepting the commandments. In an effort
to emphasize the role of free will in Jewish thinking, Saadia
placed great emphasis on the covenant made at Sinai, in which
the Israelites freely obligated themselves to God. Hence Saadia
maintained that God created us with free will, a concept that
has always been central to Jewish thinking.
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Brief | article | on | his | life | and | work, | from | the | Rabbi | Scheinerman's | Home | Page. |
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http://scheinerman.net/judaism/personalities/saadia.html
Jewish Personalities Saadia Gaon 2008 August
dvd rental
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Brief article on his life and work, from the Rabbi Scheinerman's Home Page.
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