Rav Yehudai Gaon רב יהודאי גאון
the blind Gaon of Sura whose school first set halakha down as a book
A man of Pumbedita was called to head Sura—a rarity the Epistle of Rav Sherira notes expressly: the exilarch set Yehudai up for his greatness, though he was blind. He held the gaonate some three years, and is remembered longer than any neighbor on the list.
Under him and from his circle halakha first became a book: the Halakhot Pesukot gather the operative rulings—no debates, no rejected views, only what to do. The blind gaon dictated to his students; tradition assigns the book now to him, now to his school, and we do not decide for the sources.
To him tradition also credits the fight for Babylonian Talmudic rule over the Land of Israel—the letters of his age argue with the customs of the Land sharply and to the point.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Documents of the period
- The Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon — the blind Gaon of Sura from the men of Pumbedita; some three years
Scholarship
- The standard reference works and encyclopedias — the Halakhot Pesukot and Yehudai's school; the mid-eighth century
Basis: Talmud and midrash.