Gaon (Hebrew)

Gaon (gā'ōn) (Hebrew: גאון, lit. 'genius', plural גְּאוֹנִים geonim — gĕ'ōnīm) may have originated as a shortened version of "Rosh Yeshivat Ge'on Ya'akov", though there are alternative explanations.[1][2] In Ancient Hebrew, it referred to arrogance and haughty pride (Amos 6:8 - "I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.") and later became known as a general term for pride, both the positive and negative forms ('Pride [of]'; Late Medieval and Modern Hebrew for 'genius'). Today, it may refer to:

Many great Rabbis,[3] though not formally referred to as the "Gaon of ..." are often lauded with this honorific as both a mark of respect and a means to indicate their greatness in the field of Torah learning, for example, one may refer to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef as "HaGaon Rabbi Ovadia Yosef".

See also

References

  1. Jehoshua Brand , Simha Assaf and David Derovan (2007). "Gaon". In Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (ed.). Encyclopedia Judaica. 7 (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale. p. 380.
  2. Jewish Virtual Library — Gaon
  3. "ידיד נפשי המנוח הדגול, שייף עייל שייף נפיק, הגאון הגדול רבי יוסף קאפח זצ"ל." — Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in the Hebrew responsa book שו"ת הריב"ד קאפח, quoted in עלון אור ההליכות גליון חודש תמוז התשס"ט (page 3).


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