History of the Jews, Vol. 3 (of 6)

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.