العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolAARON BEN MEïR
(Redirected from Aaron ben Meir)
'Aaron ben Meïr' was a Palestinian nasi (prince) in the first half of the tenth century. His name was brought to light by several fragments discovered in various ''genizoth''. The fragments contain an account of a controversy on the calendar between Ben Meïr and the academies of Babylon.
Introducing a new rule in the fixation of the ''Molad'' of Tishri, Ben Meïr had decreed that, in the year 922, Passover and the other Jewish feasts should be celebrated two days before the date prescribed by the traditional calendar. Saadia, who was at that time staying at Baghdad, joined his protest to that of the Babylonian academies. Ben Meïr, however, refused to yield to their injunctions, denying them any authority in astronomical matters; and, owing to his own reputation and that of his family, won the confidence of Jews in many countries. A letter was then addressed by the exilarch David ben Zakkai and the Babylonian notables to Ben Meïr, imploring him not to cause a schism and showing him the fallacy of his calculations with regard to the calendar. Ben Meïr answered in an arrogant fashion, and was then excommunicated by David ben Zakkai and the academies. Circular letters were also sent to various parts of the world, warning the Jews against Ben Meïr's teachings. In this manner an end was made of this agitation.
The aim pursued by Ben Meïr in this agitation is obvious. He conceived the project of transferring the dignity of the exilarch from Babylonia back to Palestine, and he endeavored to deprive the exilarchate of one of its most important prerogatives, which was the calculation of the calendar. The moment chosen by Ben Meïr was very propitious. The exilarch David ben Zakkai had no authority, being neither a learned man nor a very scrupulous one; and of the two academies at Sura and Pumbedita, the former had no head, and the latter was directed by the ambitious Cohen Zedek.
Ben Meïr's failure was chiefly due to the intervention of Saadia, whose opinion on the subject of discussion, expounded in his "Sefer ha-Mo'adim" written for that occasion at the request of the exilarch, became authority. The exilarch later rewarded for the services rendered to him by Saadia by appointing the latter gaon at Sura, notwithstanding the disinterested advice to the contrary by Nissim Naharwani, who, knowing Saadia, foresaw the collisions.
★ Harkavy, Zikaron b. Rishonim, v., part i., p. 212;
★ Adolf Neubauer, in Jew. Quart. Rev. ix. 36;
★ Poznanski, ib. x. 152
★ Israel Levi, in Revue Etudes Juives, xl. 261;
★ E. N. Adler, I. Broydé, and Israel Levi, ib. xli. 224;
★ Epstein, ib. xlii. 173 et seq.
★ Source
'Aaron ben Meïr' was a Palestinian nasi (prince) in the first half of the tenth century. His name was brought to light by several fragments discovered in various ''genizoth''. The fragments contain an account of a controversy on the calendar between Ben Meïr and the academies of Babylon.
Introducing a new rule in the fixation of the ''Molad'' of Tishri, Ben Meïr had decreed that, in the year 922, Passover and the other Jewish feasts should be celebrated two days before the date prescribed by the traditional calendar. Saadia, who was at that time staying at Baghdad, joined his protest to that of the Babylonian academies. Ben Meïr, however, refused to yield to their injunctions, denying them any authority in astronomical matters; and, owing to his own reputation and that of his family, won the confidence of Jews in many countries. A letter was then addressed by the exilarch David ben Zakkai and the Babylonian notables to Ben Meïr, imploring him not to cause a schism and showing him the fallacy of his calculations with regard to the calendar. Ben Meïr answered in an arrogant fashion, and was then excommunicated by David ben Zakkai and the academies. Circular letters were also sent to various parts of the world, warning the Jews against Ben Meïr's teachings. In this manner an end was made of this agitation.
The aim pursued by Ben Meïr in this agitation is obvious. He conceived the project of transferring the dignity of the exilarch from Babylonia back to Palestine, and he endeavored to deprive the exilarchate of one of its most important prerogatives, which was the calculation of the calendar. The moment chosen by Ben Meïr was very propitious. The exilarch David ben Zakkai had no authority, being neither a learned man nor a very scrupulous one; and of the two academies at Sura and Pumbedita, the former had no head, and the latter was directed by the ambitious Cohen Zedek.
Ben Meïr's failure was chiefly due to the intervention of Saadia, whose opinion on the subject of discussion, expounded in his "Sefer ha-Mo'adim" written for that occasion at the request of the exilarch, became authority. The exilarch later rewarded for the services rendered to him by Saadia by appointing the latter gaon at Sura, notwithstanding the disinterested advice to the contrary by Nissim Naharwani, who, knowing Saadia, foresaw the collisions.
| Contents |
| References |
| External link |
References
★ Harkavy, Zikaron b. Rishonim, v., part i., p. 212;
★ Adolf Neubauer, in Jew. Quart. Rev. ix. 36;
★ Poznanski, ib. x. 152
★ Israel Levi, in Revue Etudes Juives, xl. 261;
★ E. N. Adler, I. Broydé, and Israel Levi, ib. xli. 224;
★ Epstein, ib. xlii. 173 et seq.
External link
★ Source
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
