Background
Sherira was born in 906, the descendant, both on his father's and his mother's side, of prominent families, several members of which had occupied the gaonate. His father was Hananiah ben R. Yehudai, also a gaon. Sherira claimed descent from Rabbah b. Abuha, who belonged to the family of the exilarch, thereby claiming descent from the Davidic line. Sherira stated that his genealogy could be traced back to the pre-Bostanaian branch of that family, which, he claimed, on account of the deterioration of the exilarchate had renounced its claims thereto, preferring instead the scholar's life. The seal of his family was a lion, which was said to have been the emblem of the Judean kings.
Education
Sherira officiated first as chief judge. While in that office, he refused to recognize the election of Nehemiah ben Kohen Tzedek as gaon in 960. On Nehemiah's death in 968, Sherira was elected gaon of the Academy of Pumbedita, soon after which he appointed his son, Hai, chief judge in his stead.
Career
Appointed goon of the academy of Pumbedita in 968, at the age of sixty-two, he held the position almost until his death, at the age of a hundred. He was considered the second to the last of the truly great gaonim, his son, Hai Gaon, being the last.
During the period before Sherira was appointed gaon, the Babylonian Jewish community was in decline because of the growth infertility of the region, and the resultant emigration of both its Arab and Jewish populations. Although the Jewish communities still maintained their old traditions, and continued their studies in the academies, the academies were in poor condition. There were few financial contributions, few queries, and few students.
Sherira managed to rejuvenate his community and reverse the trend for the period that he held office, raising funds, attracting students, and maintaining correspondence with Jewish communities all over the world. Most of the responsa directed to Sherira were about questions of religious practice and interpretation of the Talmud and Mislina. The most famous case in his career stemmed from ties with one of his more distant correspondents. The Jewish community in Kairouan, in north Africa, kept in constant touch with the academies of Babylonia, in effect creating one of the bridges across which the culture and traditions of the east reached European Jewry. At the end of the 10th century, Jacob ben Nissim from Kairouan wrote to Sherira on behalf of his fellow sages, asking him about the origins and evolution of the Mishna and the Talmud. They wished to know more about the individuals mentioned in various treatises, the dates when they were written, how academies used to be run, etc. Sherira was a prolific writer and his lengthy response, written in Aramaic, and held in great esteem as a chief source of Jewish history in the Talmudic and following periods, gives a great deal of information about the intellectual history of the Jews from 500 to 1000 CE.
When his son, Hai, joined Sherira thirty years after he had been appointed gaon, the volume of activity increased even more. Disciples came from all over the world, gifts of money were received, and innumerable questions were asked on matters of law. According to one source, the caliph was worried by the surge of activity and suspecting political intrigues and had Sherira and Hai arrested and throw into prison. They were soon released, but the experience was hard on Sherira who was already a very old man, and he died shortly afterward.
On the Sabbath after his death he was accorded the great honor of a special passage being read from the book of Numbers in which Moses asked God to “set a man over the congregation who may go out before them and may go in before them, who may lead them out and who may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.” His followers also read the chapter in 1 Kings about David’s last days and when they reached the verse: “And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father,” they substituted, “And Hai sat upon the throne of Sherira his father.”
