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As the academies of Sura and Pumbedita were also invested with judicial authority, the gaon officiated at the same time as supreme judge. The organization of the Babylonian academies recalled the ancient sanhedrin. In many responsa of the Geonim, members of the schools are mentioned who belonged to the "great sanhedrin," and others who belonged to the "small sanhedrin." As may be gathered from the statements of Nathan ha-Babli (tenth century), and from various references in the geonic responsa, the following customs connected with the organization of the academies were observed in the two "kallah" months, Adar and Elul, during which (as in the time of the Amoraim) foreign students assembled in the academy for common study. In front of the presiding gaon and facing him were seated seventy members of the academy in seven rows of ten persons each, each person in the seat assigned to him, and the whole forming, with the gaon, the so-called "great sanhedrin." Gaon Amram calls them in a responsum ("Responsa der Geonim," ed. Lyck, No. 65) the "ordained scholars who take the place of the great sanhedrin." A regular ordination ("semikah") is of course not implied here; that did not exist in Babylonia, only a solemn nomination taking place. Gaon ema refers in a responsum (see "Jeschurun," v. 137) to "the ancient scholars of the first row, who take the place of the great sanhedrin." The masters, or "allufim" (i.e., the seven heads of the college of teachers ["resh kallah"]), and the "aberim," the three most prominent among the other members of the college, sat in the first of the seven rows. Nine sanhedrists were subordinated to each of the seven allufim, who probably supervised the instruction given during the entire year by their subordinates. Notwithstanding the assumption of Grtz ("Geschichte der Juden," v. 148, 480) and Halevy ("Dorot ha-Rishonim," iv. 217), it appears from the text of Nathan ha-Babli (ed. Neubauer, ii. 87), if read rightly, and from other sources, that only the seven kallah heads were called "allufim," and not all the 70 members of the college. The two geonim Amram and ema designate in their responsa, mentioned above, the resh kallah and the allufim. as heads of the college. A scholar by the name of Eleazar, who went from Lucena in Spain to Babylon in the ninth century, is designated both as "alluf" and as "resh kallah" (see Harkavy, "Resp. der Geonim," pp. 201, 376). A correspondent of Hai Gaon, Judah b. Joseph of Kairwan, is called on one occasion "alluf," on another "resh kallah," and on a third "resh sidra" (Harkavy, l.c. pp. 359, 383).

The members of the academy who were not ordained sat behind the seven rows of sanhedrists. During the first three weeks of the kallah month the scholars seated in the first row reported on the Talmud treatise assigned for study during the preceding months; in the fourth week the other scholars and also some of the pupils were called upon. Discussions followed, and difficult passages were laid before the gaon, who also took a prominent part in the debates, and freely reproved any member of the college who was not up to the standard of scholarship. At the end of the kallah month the gaon designated the Talmudic treatise which the members of the assembly were obliged to study in the months intervening till the next kallah should begin. The students who were not given seats were exempt from this task, being free to choose a subject for study according to their needs.

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During the kallah which took place in the month of Adar the gaon laid before the assembly every day a certain number of the questions that had been sent in during the year from all parts of the Diaspora. The requisite answers were discussed, and were finally recorded by the secretary of the academy according to the directions of the gaon. At the end of the kallah month the questions, together with the answers, were read to the assembly, and the answers were signed by the gaon. A large number of the geonic responsa originated in this way; but many of them were written by the respective geonim without consulting the kallah assemblies convened in the spring.

Nathan ha-Babli's account, from which the foregoing statements have been taken, refers only to thekallah months. The remaining months of the year passed more quietly at the academies. Many of the members, including those of the college designated as "sanhedrin," lived scattered in the different provinces, and appeared before the gaon only at the time of the kallah. Nathan designates the permanent students of the academy by the Talmudic term "bene be-rab" (sons of the schoolhouse), in contradistinction to the "other students" that gathered at the kallah. These two classes of students numbered together about 400 at the time when Nathan wrote his account (tenth century). When a resh kallah or any other member of the college died and left a son who was worthy to occupy his father's seat, the son inherited it. The students coming to the academy during the kallah months received support from a fund which was maintained by gifts sent to the academy during the year, and which was in charge of a trust-worthy man. The members sitting in the front rows seem to have drawn a salary.

Two courts were connected with each of the two Babylonian academies. The higher court ("bet din gadol") was presided over by the gaon (see Harkavy, l.c. p. 88). It appointed the judges for the districts within the jurisdiction of the respective academies (comp. the letter of appointment in Aramaic in Harkavy, l.c. p. 80), and was empowered to set aside the verdicts of the several judges and to render new ones. The other court belonging to the academy was under the direction of the ab bet din, and judged minor cases.

The geonim occasionally transcended the Talmudic laws and issued new decrees. At the time of the gaons Mar R. Huna at Sura and Mar R. Rabba at Pumbedita (c. 670), for instance, the measures taken in relation to a refractory wife were different from those prescribed in the Talmud (Ket. 62b). Toward 785 the geonim decreed that debts and the ketubah might be levied on the movable property of orphans. Decrees of this kind were issued jointly by both academies; and they also made common cause in the controversy with Ben Mer regarding a uniform Jewish calendar (see "R. E. J." xlii. 192, 201).

The gaon was generally elected by the academy, although he was occasionally appointed by the exilarch; the geonim Mar R. Samuel and R. Yehudai of Sura and R. Naroi Kahana of Pumbedita, for instance, were appointed by the exilarch Solomon b. isdai (eighth century). The exilarch David b. Judah appointed R. Isaac b. Hananiah gaon of Pumbedita in 833. But when the exilarch David b. Zakkai appointed R. Kohen ede gaon of Pumbedita, the academy itself elected Rab Mebasser. The schism arising thereby was finally adjusted peaceably, the geonim officiating together down to Mebasser's death (926), after which Kohen ede remained as the sole gaon of Pumbedita. David b. Zakkai also appointed a counter-gaon to Saadia at Sura, whom he himself had called to that office, this being a well-known incident in the history of the controversy between Saadia and David b. Zakkai. Sherira cites still other examples to show that two geonim officiated at the same time at Pumbedita. For instance, during the controversy between Daniel and the exilarch David b. Judah the ab bet din Joseph b. iyya was appointed gaon of Pumbedita side by side with the gaon Abraham b. Sherira; Joseph, however, recognized the superiority of Abraham. Once when both were present at Bagdad in the synagogue of Bar Nasla on the occasion of the kallah at which homage was paid to the gaon, the leader in prayer called out: "Listen to the opinion of the heads of the Academy of Pumbedita." The congregation thereupon began to weep because of the schism indicated by the plurality of heads, and Mar Joseph, deeply moved, rose and said: "I herewith voluntarily renounce the office of gaon, and resume that of ab bet din." Gaon Abraham then blessed him and said: "May God grant you to partake of His blessedness in the world to come" (Sherira, ed. Neubauer, i. 38). When Abraham died Joseph became his successor (828). Joseph b. iyya's son Menahem, who became gaon in 859, also had a counter-gaon in the person of R. Mattithiah, who succeeded to the office on Menahem's death a year and a half later.

The gaon was entirely independent of the exilarch, although the geonim of both academies, together with their prominent members, went every year to render homage to the exilarch (see Nathan ha-Babli, ed. Neubauer, ii. 78). The assembly at which this homage took place was called the "great kallah." In the controversy between the academies and Ben Mer the exilarch sided with the two geonim (see "R. E. J." xlii. 211). The signature and seal of the exilarch, together with the signatures of both the geonim, were affixed to certain especially important decrees (see "'Iur," ed. Lemberg, i. 44a). The Geonim were empowered to examine documents and decisions originating in the court of the exilarch (see Harkavy, l.c. p. 276).

The gaon of Sura ranked above the gaon of Pumbedita, and a sort of court etiquette was developed in which this fact found expression (see the account taken from the first edition of "Yuasin," in Neubauer, ii. 77 et seq.). The gaon of Sura sat at the right hand of the exilarch, while the gaon of Pumbedita sat at the left. When both were present at a banquet, the former pronounced the blessing before and after the meal. The gaon of Sura always had precedence, even if he was much younger than his colleague, and, in writing a letter to him, did not refer to him as gaon, but addressed merely "the Scholars of Pumbedita"; the gaon of Pumbedita, on the other hand, addressed his letters to "the Gaon and the Scholars of Sura." During the solemn installation of the exilarch the gaon of Sura read the Targum to the Pentateuch sections which had been read by the exilarch On the death of the exilarch the gaon of Sura had the exclusive claimto his official income until the election of a new exilarch. e24fc04721