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Geonim

Geonim were the early medieval heads of the two great Talmudic academies in Babylonia, based in Sura and Pumbedita. The Geonic period spans roughly from the 6th to the 11th centuries, a time when these academies served as the central centers of Jewish learning and law for communities across the Jewish world, including Eretz Israel and the Mediterranean regions.

The Geonim acted as supreme legal authorities and teachers. They issued responsa in answer to questions about

Institutions and influence: The two academies at Sura and Pumbedita formed a coordinated scholarly system whose

Notable geonim include Rav Saadia Gaon, Rab Amram Gaon, and Hai Gaon, among others. The Geonic era

ritual
practice,
calendar,
marriage
and
divorce,
kashrut,
and
other
areas
of
Halakha.
Their
rulings
helped
standardize
interpretation
and
practice,
and
their
methods
of
analysis
influenced
later
rabbinic
authorities.
Beyond
legal
decisions,
they
supervised
the
transmission
and
explanation
of
Talmudic
study
and
maintained
a
network
of
scholars
and
students
throughout
the
diaspora.
leaders
corresponded
with
communities
far
and
wide.
The
Geonim
issued
letters,
compiled
codes
of
practice,
and
organized
curricula
that
shaped
Jewish
religious
life
for
generations,
often
serving
as
the
final
authority
on
difficult
questions
until
the
rise
of
new
centers
of
learning
in
the
medieval
period.
gradually
declined
in
the
11th
century
as
political
and
demographic
shifts
redirected
centers
of
Jewish
scholarship
to
other
regions.
The
Geonim
left
a
lasting
legacy
in
the
transmission
of
Halakha
and
the
shaping
of
the
medieval
rabbinic
tradition.