20 Nisan · Yahrzeit
Hai Gaon ben Sherira
Hai Gaon ben Sherira was a medieval Jewish rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic Academy in Pumbedita in the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and passed away on March 28, 1038.
Yahrzeit - 20 Nissan
Resting place - Fallujah, Iraq
Hai bar Sherira – האי בר שרירא, better known as Hai Gaon – האיי גאון – was the last authoritative Gaon of Babylonia, who became the heir of the Amoraim (sages of the Talmud).
He received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina, and served as his assistant in his youth.
He was a descendant of King David and the fourth consecutive Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita in his family line, beginning in the 9th century. As the son of Sherira Gaon, he worked on his father's famous letter (Iggeret). Hai Gaon married the daughter of the great Rav Shmuel ben Chofni, who had contested the position of Gaon in 998. Hai Gaon had a great influence on Shmuel HaNagid.
Although he served as Gaon during the decline of the Abbasid dynasty, Hai Gaon was still regarded as a great halachic authority. Abraham ibn Daud wrote that "he, more than all the Geonim, spread Torah throughout Israel … both in the east and in the west … None of his predecessors could compare with him; he was the last of the Geonim."
At the age of 44, he became "Av Beit Din" and, alongside his father, made important decisions.
As a result of slander from their opponents, Hai and his father were imprisoned, and their property was confiscated by Caliph al-Qadir in 997. The imprisonment was brief, but soon afterward (in 998) the elderly and infirm Sherira appointed his son to the position of Gaon.
The appointment of Hai Gaon was met with great enthusiasm by the Jewish population.
An old tradition tells that on the Shabbat after Sherira's death, at the end of the reading of the weekly Torah portion — the passage in which Moshe Rabbeinu speaks of his successor — the Haftarah told of Shlomo's ascension to the throne, with the last verse altered as follows: "And Hai sat upon the throne of Sherira his father, and his reign was firmly established." Hai remained Gaon until his death in 1038.
Universal recognition came to Hai Gaon ben Sherira through his numerous responsa, in which he set forth rulings touching upon the social and religious life of the diaspora.
Questions came to him from all over the world: from Germany, France, Iberia, Anatolia, the Maghreb, and even India and Ethiopia. His responsa, numbering more than eight hundred, address civil law, especially laws concerning women, rituals, holidays, and so on.
The scope and extent of his influence can be seen from the fact that approximately a third of all existing Geonic responsa belong to him (some jointly with his father).
In his "Piyutim" (spiritual songs), he bitterly expressed his feelings about living in exile from the Land of Israel. He was a mystic. Contrary to the opinion of his father-in-law, he believed that "G-d performs signs and awe-inspiring deeds through tzadikim, just as He did through the prophets."
He was opposed to the absolute annulment of vows on the eve of Yom Kippur; his formulation of the Kol Nidrei prayer stated: "Of all the vows … which we have sworn … and have not fulfilled, either through neglect or through constraint, we beseech that the L-rd of Heaven release us and forgive us."
His attitude toward Kabbalah was defined by his conservative viewpoint.
When the residents of Fez asked questions regarding the corporeal dimensions of G-d, he replied that G-d is above all bodily qualification, and that the Talmud forbids public discussion of such matters.
His response to the question of interpreting the Talmudic tradition according to which four men entered Paradise (Pardes) is interesting and generated much debate. He cites the opinion of various sages that specially chosen individuals could, through kavanot (intentions) and psalms, attain an ecstatic state in which they could envision the heavenly halls, the "Heichalot," as vividly as if they had actually entered them. He held that it was not impossible for G-d to reveal the wonders of Heaven to the pious who are in a state of ecstasy. He strongly opposed those who believed that the Divine Names could alter the course of nature, firmly stating that its laws cannot be changed by such means.
His greatest work, "Shimush Tehillim" (according to the "Sdei Chemed" of Rabbi Chaim Hizkiyahu ben Rafael Medini) — is an 11th-century manuscript that was found in the Cairo Geniza in the 11th century.
The sefer "Shimush Tehillim" describes the kabbalistic use of individual chapters and verses from the Book of Tehillim for preventive and healing purposes.
All the greatest rabbis relied on this treatise, indicating which psalms to recite in which circumstances. "Shimush Tehillim" is mentioned in the "Teshuvot" of the Rashba (413), and in the works of Rabbeinu Chida.
Hai Gaon ben Sherira teaches that one reading of the entire Book of Tehillim on Shabbat = 1,750,000 hours of reading Tehillim on weekdays.
He passed away to the World to Come at the age of 99, on 20 Nissan, on the eve of the last day of Yom Tov of Pesach, in 1038.
The famous Jewish poets Solomon ibn Gabirol and Shmuel HaNagid praised him — a man who left no children behind, but who raised countless students in every country of the world. (Ben Tehillim, 11)
Tehillim le-Refuah Shleimah according to "Shimush Tehillim"
https://silatehilim.com/теилим-ле-рефуа-шлема-по-шимуш-теилим/
May the merit of the tzadik Hai Gaon ben Sherira protect all of us, our entire people!
(Photo from the book "Likutim me-Rav Hai Gaon by Hai ben Shrira" from the Gross family collection, Warsaw)