Sar Shalom ben Abraham

Sar Shalom ben Abraham (Hebrew: שר שלום בן אברהם) was the head of the remnant of the Palestinian Gaonate in Damascus around the end of the 12th century.

Details

Sar Shalom was the son of Abraham ben Mazhir, the Gaon in Damascus. Sar Shalom first appears in a poem of Isaac Ibn Ezra (he) from 1142 dedicated to Sar Shalom's father that mentions his four children, including Sar Shalom.[1][2] When Benjamin of Tudela visited Damascus in around 1168 he found Sar Shalom as Av Beit Din and his brother Ezra as Gaon.[3]

A letter from the Iraqi Gaon Samuel ben Ali from 1191 mentions Sar Shalom as Av Beit Din.[4] Scholars debate how to interpret the letter. Assaf, the original publisher, and Fleischer both understood the letter as indicating that Sar Shalom was dead.[5][6] Mann disagreed and read the letter as saying Sar Shalom was alive as Av Beit Din under a nephew of his, a son of his brother Ezra.[7]

Sar Shalom is explicitly mentioned as Gaon in a copy of a commentary of the Karaite scholar Yefet ben Eli. A note on the manuscript states that the commentary was copied for the library of Sar Shalom.[8] It is noteworthy that the Rabbinate Sar Shalom was interested in a copy of a commentary written by a Karaite.

Sar Shalom should not be confused with his contemporary in Fustat, the Gaon Sar Shalom ben Moses.

Succession

The question of who succeeded Sar Shalom as Gaon is dependent on the scholarly debate quoted above. According to Assaf and Fleischer the Damascene Yeshiva in 1191 was headed by Sar Shalom's brother Mazhir, who for whatever reason did not assume the title Gaon and remained as "The Third" (the level below Av Beit Din in the Palestinian Yeshiva).[9] According to Mann's approach, the above letter does not give any direct information about who reigned after Sar Shalom. Instead, the only available evidence is from Judah al-Harizi that a man named Sadoq was dismissed from the post of Gaon and later regained his position after 1215.[10]

References

  1. ^ Schmelzer 1979, pp. 3–9.
  2. ^ The poem is available here, his name is mentioned on line six
  3. ^ Benjamin of Tudela 1907, p. 30.
  4. ^ Assaf 1930, p. 68.
  5. ^ Assaf 1930, pp. 14–15.
  6. ^ Fleischer 2002, p. 110, fn. 88.
  7. ^ Mann 1935, p. 252, fn. 14.
  8. ^ Ktiv 2023, FGP Catalogue record; notes.
  9. ^ Fleischer 2006, p. 104.
  10. ^ Fleischer 2002, pp. 105–108.

Bibliography

  • Assaf, Simcha (1930). קובץ של אגרות ר' שמואל בן עלי ובני דורו [Letters of R. Samuel ben Eli and his Contemporaries] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Benjamin of Tudela (1907). The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela. Translated by Adler, Marcus Nathan. London: Oxford University Press.
  • Fleischer, Ezra (2006). "Hebrew Secular Poetry from Late Twelfth-Century Syria". Kobez al Yad (in Hebrew). 19 (XXIX): 83–135.
  • Fleischer, Ezra (2002). "New Poems by Judah al-Harizi". Kobez al Yad (in Hebrew). 16 (XXVI): 85–139. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  • Mann, Jacob (1935). Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature. Vol. 1. Hebrew Press of the Jewish Publication Society of America.
  • Schmelzer, Menahem H. (1979). Poems of Isaac Ben Abraham Ibn Ezra (in Hebrew). New York: Jewish Theological Seminary.
  • "Targum u'Peirush Yefet ben Eli al haTorah". Ktiv (in Hebrew). National Library of Israel. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
Jewish titles
Preceded by Palestinian Gaon in Damascus
Sar Shalom ben Abraham
c. 1200 		Succeeded by
possibly Sadoq