| Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, Practice Michael L. Satlow |
Discussion Questions:
1. Who were the geonim?
2. How did the geonim view the authority of the Rabbis who preceded them?
3. Why are the geonim important for understanding the development of rabbinic Judaism and
Jewish prayer?
4. Who were the Karaites? Why did the geonim oppose them?
5. How did the geonim draw upon surrounding Islamic culture?
6. What was Se'adyah Gaon's position on reason vs. revelation? If you can imagine him alive
today participating in contemporary discussions of teaching creationism (Intelligent Design) in the
schools, what do you think he would say?
Resources
On Jews in this period, see generally Reuven Firestone, “Jewish Culture in the Formative Period of
Islam,” in Biale, Cultures of the Jews, pp. 267–302, who deals more with Jews during the time of
Mohammad. The authoritative scholarly work on this period is Robert Brody, The Geonim of
Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998).
1. Who were the geonim?
2. How did the geonim view the authority of the Rabbis who preceded them?
3. Why are the geonim important for understanding the development of rabbinic Judaism and
Jewish prayer?
4. Who were the Karaites? Why did the geonim oppose them?
5. How did the geonim draw upon surrounding Islamic culture?
6. What was Se'adyah Gaon's position on reason vs. revelation? If you can imagine him alive
today participating in contemporary discussions of teaching creationism (Intelligent Design) in the
schools, what do you think he would say?
Resources
On Jews in this period, see generally Reuven Firestone, “Jewish Culture in the Formative Period of
Islam,” in Biale, Cultures of the Jews, pp. 267–302, who deals more with Jews during the time of
Mohammad. The authoritative scholarly work on this period is Robert Brody, The Geonim of
Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998).
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"The Rise of Reason" |
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