halakhot gedolot ( great laws
11Judaism — This article is about the Jewish religion. For consideration of ethnic, historic, and cultural aspects of the Jewish identity, see Jews. Judaica (clockwise from top): Shabbat candl …
12MASORAH — This article is arranged according to the following outline: 1. THE TRANSMISSION OF THE BIBLE 1.1. THE SOFERIM 1.2. WRITTEN TRANSMISSION 1.2.1. Methods of Writing 1.2.1.1. THE ORDER OF THE BOOKS 1.2.1.2. SEDARIM AND PARASHIYYOT …
13SAADIAH (Ben Joseph) GAON — (882–942), greatest scholar and author of the geonic period and important leader of Babylonian Jewry. Saadiah was born in Pithom (Abu Suweir), in the Faiyum district in Egypt. Little is known about his family except that his opponents slandered… …
14AḤA (Aḥai) OF SHABḤA — (680–752), scholar of the Pumbedita yeshivah in the geonic period and author of She iltot ( Questions ). He came from Shabḥa, which is adjacent to Basra. When a vacancy occurred in the geonate of Pumbedita a few years before the death of Aḥa, the …
15ḤEFEẒ BEN YAẒLI'AḤ — (ha Ashuri, the Assyrian ; probably second half of 10th century), Babylonian talmudic scholar. Few personal details are known about him save that he was a native of Mosul, was blind, and bore the identical titles of alluf and resh kallah,… …
16JUDEO-ARABIC LITERATURE — JUDEO ARABIC LITERATURE, written in Arabic by Jews for Jews. It is written in an idiom which is linguistically closer to the spoken form of Arabic than is the idiom used in Muslim literature. It may plausibly be assumed that, prior to the rise of …
17RESPONSA — (Heb. שְׁאֵלוֹת וּתְשׁוּבוֹת; lit. queries and replies ), a rabbinic term denoting an exchange of letters in which one party consults another on a halakhic matter. Such responsa are already mentioned in the Talmud, which tells of an inquiry… …
18HEBREW LANGUAGE — This entry is arranged according to the following scheme: pre biblical biblical the dead sea scrolls mishnaic medieval modern period A detailed table of contents precedes each section. PRE BIBLICAL nature of the evidence the sources phonology… …
19RISHONIM — (Heb. רִאשׁוֹנִים; lit. the early authorities ), a term with many connotations–chronological, literary, ethical, and halakhic–serving to indicate the standing and authority of preceding scholars in relation to the scholars of the time in the… …
20MINHAG — (Heb. מִנְהָג; custom, usage ) from the verb to lead. DEFINITION The word is found in the Bible (II Kings 9:2) meaning the driving (of a chariot) but it was taken by the rabbis to refer to usage. As such, it is used in a wide variety of senses.… …
