- Zemah ben Hayyim
Zemah ben Hayyim (
Hebrew : צמח בן חיים) wasGaon ofSura from 889 to 895. He was the stepbrother and successor ofNahshon ben Zadok , and has become known especially through the reply which he made to the inquiry of theKairwanites regardingEldad ha-Dani . This responsum, which appeared in part in the first edition of the "Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah " (Venice, 1480), was republished as completely as possible byA. Epstein in Vienna in his "Eldad ha-Dani." It embraces nine points and concludes with an apology for Eldad's forgetfulness. According to Epstein, only one other responsum by Ẓemaḥ has been published; it is given in the Constantinople edition of the "Pardes", and ends with the same words as does the first-mentioned responsum: לנטות ימין ושמאל.I.H. Weiss , however, ascribes to this gaon also the authorship of responsa in "Sha'are Ẓedeḳ" (iv., No. 14) and in the compilation "Ḥemdah Genuzah" (Nos. 58-61, 111-131). Nothing is known of the gaon's personal career.Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
*
A. Epstein , Eldad ha-Dani, pp. 6-10, Presburg, 1891;
*Reifmann, in Ha-Karmel, viii., No. 32;
*Monatsschrift, 1874, p. 553;
*Z. Frankel , ib. 1878, p. 423;
*Grätz, Gesch. v. 243-245;
*Weiss, Dor , iv. 124, 264.External links
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=99&letter=Z Jewish Encyclopedia article for Zemah ben Hayyim] , by
Joseph Jacobs andSchulim Ochser .
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