Gaon (Hebrew)

Gaon (Hebrew: גאון, gā'ōn, lit. 'genius', plural geonim, גְּאוֹנִים‎, gĕ'ōnīm) may have originated as a shortened version of "Rosh Yeshivat Ge'on Ya'akov", although there are alternative explanations.^[1]^[2] In Ancient Hebrew, it referred to arrogance and haughty pride (Amos 6:8 – "I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.") and later became known as a general term for pride, both the positive and negative forms ('Pride [of]'; Late Medieval and Modern Hebrew for 'genius'). Today, it may refer to:

One of the Geonim during the period 589–1040. Prominent Geonim include:

Yehudai Gaon (Gaon 757–761)
Sar Shalom Ben Boaz (Gaon 838–848)
Natronai ben Hilai, Gaon of Sura (Gaon to 857)
Amram Gaon, Gaon of Sura (Gaon 857–875)
Saadia Gaon (882/892 – 942)
Zemah ben Hayyim (Gaon 889–895)
Sherira Gaon (906–1006)
Samuel ben Hofni (died 1034)
Hai Gaon (939–1038)

A honorific title given to a few leading rabbis of other countries in the same period, such as:

Achai Gaon (?-753-?)
Nissim Gaon (990–1062)

Specific rabbis of later periods, called "gaon":

The Vilna Gaon (1720–1797)
The Rogatchover Gaon (1858–1936)
The Steipler Gaon (1899–1985)

Many great rabbis,^[3] although not formally referred to as the "Gaon of ..." are often lauded with this honorific as both a mark of respect and a means to indicate their greatness in the field of Torah learning, for example, one may refer to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef as "HaGaon Rabbi Ovadia Yosef".^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Jehoshua Brand , Simha Assaf and David Derovan (2007). "Gaon". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 7 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
^ Jewish Virtual Library — Gaon
^ "ידיד נפשי המנוח הדגול, שייף עייל שייף נפיק, הגאון הגדול רבי יוסף קאפח זצ"ל." — Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in the Hebrew responsa book שו"ת הריב"ד קאפח, quoted in עלון אור ההליכות גליון חודש תמוז התשס"ט (page 3).

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