The Pumbedita Academy or Pumbedita Yeshiva (Hebrew: ישיבת פומבדיתא; sometimes Pumbeditha, Pumpedita, Pumbedisa) was a Talmudic academy in Pumbedita, an unidentified location in modern Iraq, during the Amoraic and Geonic eras. It was founded by Judah bar Ezekiel (220–299 CE) and, with the Sura Academy founded in 225 by Abba Arika, retained dominant influence for about 800 years.
History
After Abba Arikha and Samuel of Nehardea died at the end of the first generation of the Amoraim, along with the designation of Rav Huna as dean Sura, Judah bar Ezekiel went to the city of Pumbedita and had established a new yeshiva there. Pumbedita Academy was active for about 800 years over the course of the eras of the Amoraim, Savoraim, and Geonim up until the days of Hai Gaon.
At the time, the academies of Pumbedita and Sura became the most influential and dominant yeshivas of the Jewish communities' world, and all Torah decrees and other religious rulings were issued from these Yeshivas to all the Jewish diaspora. Pumbedita Academy served as a field of growth to the greatest Jewish sages for generations to come, among them: Rabbah bar Nahmani ("Rabbah"), Rav Yosef b. Hiyya, Abaye and Amora sage Rava, Savora sages Rabbah Jose and Simuna, and Geonim Rab Rabbah Gaon and Paltoi ben Abbaye Gaon, as well as Sherira Gaon and his son, Hai Gaon. Pumbedita Academy was at its peak during the third and fourth generation of the Amoraim. During the days of the Amora sage Rava, Pumbedita Academy moved to Mahuza (מחוזא, modern al-Mada'in), but after his death, it returned to Pumbedita.
After with the sealing of the Talmud by Ravina II Sura, the era of the Savoraim began (499-589), in which most part of that period, proper studying on regular basis no longer took place in Sura, only in Pumbedita.
During the era of the Geonim, the two Talmudic academies were correspondingly active as well. One of Pumbedita's Gaons and dean of the Academy, Hai Gaon (approximately in years 988-990), moved the academy to Baghdad because the number of Jews making a living from agriculture was growing smaller and they were migrating to the big cities, mainly to Baghdad (apart from the phenomenon of Jewish emigration out of Babylonia). However, the academy's name remained "Pumbedita Academy" despite its relocation.
The last period of Pumbedita Academy growth took place during the days of Sherira Gaon and his son, Hai Gaon. Thousands of letters with halachic issues attached were received at Pumbedita, addressed to the heads of the Academy from all around the Jewish diaspora. The Geonim of the Academy worked hard to respond to their questions. Along with Hai Gaon's death (c. 1038), the era of the Geonim ended.
Hezekiah Gaon and Bostanai were appointed deans of Pumbedita Academy, the only men to be simultaneously a Gaon and Exilarch. Twenty years later, Hezekiah Gaon, by some accounts, was tortured to death by the Muslim Buyid dynasty and Pumbedita Academy closed.[1]
Sherira Gaon – 968–1006, Passed the torch to his son Hai Gaon, while he was still alive. The Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon ("[The] Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon") is accounted as an important historian source, especially to Jewish history.
Hai Gaon ben Sherira – 1004, died in 1038. His death is considered the conclusion of the era of the Geonim sages.
ExilarchHezekiah Gaon – 1038–1040 – was killed by a Muslim ruler of the Buyid dynasty, although there were accounts that he was freed from prison and reinstalled at the head of the academy.
^ abThe list dates are in accordance with the work of Prof. Moshe Gil, "Kingdom of Israel in the Gaonic era", 1997 (in Hebrew). Some of the information concerning the dates are based on factual sources, however, some are based on premises, in the absence of authoritative sources or due to contradiction between sources. There is a dispute among the scholars concerning some of the dates, and not all is agreed upon.
^ abcdefg"Jews in Islamic countries in the Middle Ages", Moshe Gil, p. 404 – A Chronological List of the Geonim of Sura and Pumbedita books.google.com
