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Solomon ben Hasdai was the son of Hasdai ben Hezekiah. He was the tenth Karaite exilarch of the house of Anan ben David, and the last of Anan's descendants to be regarded by the Karaites as their nasi. During his reign, many Karaite communities were destroyed by the Seljuks and Karaism as a rival to rabbinical Judaism declined sharply. [1]
The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian Mesopotamia during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258 CE, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing political developments. The exilarch was regarded by the Jewish community as the royal heir of the House of David and held a place of prominence as both a rabbinical authority and as a noble within the Persian court. Within the Sasanian Empire, the exilarch was the political equivalent of the Catholicos of the Christian Church of the East, and was thus responsible for community-specific organizational tasks such as running the rabbinical courts, collecting taxes from Jewish communities, supervising and providing financing for the Talmudic academies in Babylonia, and the charitable re-distribution and financial assistance to needy members of the exile community. The position of exilarch was hereditary, held in continuity by a family that traced its patrilineal descent from antiquity stemming from king David.
Anan Ben David is widely considered to be a major founder of the Karaite movement of Judaism. His followers were called Ananites and, like modern Karaites, did not believe the Rabbinic Jewish oral law to be authoritative.
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish religious movement characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme authority in halakha and theology. Karaites believe that all of the divine commandments which were handed down to Moses by God were recorded in the written Torah without any additional Oral Law or explanation. Unlike mainstream Rabbinic Judaism, which regards the Oral Torah, codified in the Talmud and subsequent works, as authoritative interpretations of the Torah, Karaite Jews do not treat the written collections of the oral tradition in the Midrash or the Talmud as binding.
Benjamin Nahawandi or Benjamin ben Moses Nahawendi was a prominent Persian Jewish scholar of Karaite Judaism. He was claimed to be one of the greatest of the Karaite scholars of the early Middle Ages. The Karaite historian Solomon ben Jeroham regarded him as greater even than Anan ben David. His name indicates that he is originally from Nahawand, a town in Iran (Persia).
Bostanai, also transliterated as Bustenai or Bustnay, was the first Exilarch under Arab rule. He lived in the early-to-middle of the 7th century, and died about 660 CE. The name is Aramaized from the Persian bustan or bostan, meaning "Garden". Bostanai is the only Dark Age Babylonian Exilarch of whom anything more than a footnote is known. He is frequently made the subject of Jewish legends.
Jacob Qirqisani was a Karaite dogmatist and exegete who flourished in the first half of the tenth century. His origins are unknown. His patronym "Isaac" and teknonym "Joseph" reflect no more than the genealogy of the biblical patriarchs, while his surname has been taken as referring to either ancient Circesium in eastern Syria, or Karkasān, near Baghdad, though no Karaite community is known in either place. He seems to have traveled throughout the Middle East, visiting the centers of Islamic learning, in which he was well-versed.
David ben Boaz was a Karaite Jewish scholar who flourished in the tenth century CE. He is reported to have been the fifth in the line of descent from Anan ben David, the founder of Karaism He was thus considered resh galuta or exilarch of the Karaite community within the Abbasid Caliphate, in opposition to the rabbinical claimant
Saul ben Anan was a Karaite Jewish leader of the eighth century CE. He was the son and successor of Anan ben David. He is styled by the later Karaites nasi (prince) and Rosh ha-golah (exilarch). Saul's activity was unimportant relative to his more famous father and descendants. He is mentioned by Solomon ben Jeroham in his commentary on the Decalogue as having also written a commentary thereon. He is particularly quoted for his opinion with regard to the sixth commandment; namely, that adultery includes connection with any woman not one's own wife or concubine, and is not confined, as in rabbinical law, to connection with another man's wife. Saul was one of the followers of Gnai Baruch, who is supposed as head of Ezra's bet din to have ordained the reading of the Torah on Shabbatot and holy days, beginning in the month of Tishri and terminating with the end of the year.
Jehoshaphat ben Josiah was the son of Josiah ben Saul, the great-grandson of Anan ben David, a Nasi, and a Rosh Yeshivah, during the early ninth century. He lived in Israel where he was head of the Palestinian Yeshiva. Jehoshaphat was nasi and resh galuta of the nascent Karaite movement of Judaism, though it is likely that he was a Rabbanite himself due to his affiliation with the Palestinian Yeshiva. He was the father of Boaz ben Jehoshaphat. His brother Semah was head of the Palestinian Gaonate after him.
Boaz ben Jehoshaphat was the son of Jehoshaphat ben Josiah and the great-great-grandson of Anan ben David. He lived in Iraq during the mid ninth century. As the direct lineal heir of Anan, Boaz was nasi and resh galuta of the Karaite Jews. He was the father of David ben Boaz.
Hezekiah ben Solomon was the son of Solomon ben David and thus was the eighth Karaite exilarch of the line of Anan ben David. He lived in Iraq during the eleventh century. He was the father of Hasdai ben Hezekiah.
Hasdai ben Hezekiah was the son of Hezekiah ben Solomon and thus was the ninth Karaite exilarch of the line of Anan ben David. He lived in Iraq during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He was the father of Solomon ben Hasdai.
Dodai ben Nahman was a Babylonian-Jewish scholar of the 8th century and gaon of the Talmudic academy at Pumbedita (761–764). Little is known of his life. He was a brother of the famed Judah ben Nahman, gaon at Sura (759–762), and with him was instrumental in preventing the eventual founder of Karaism, Anan ben David from succeeding to the exilarchate made vacant by the death of Solomon ben Hasdai and Isaac Iskoy ben Solomon, Anan's kinsmen.
Mordecai ben Nissan the Elder was a Karaite Jewish scholar who lived at Krasny Ostrów, Poland in the second half of the 18th century.
Solomon the Exilarch ruled the Diaspora Jewish community as Exilarch from 730 to 761. He was the son of the exilarch Hasdai I. In consequence of a dearth of teachers, he installed a scholar from Pumbedita as head of the Academy of Sura a scholar from Pumbedita. This was contrary to traditional usage. According to Grätz, this scholar was Mar ben Samuel; according to Weiss, Mar Rab Judah ben Rab Naḥman. In the genealogical claim of Anan ben David, the founder of the Karaite sect, Solomon is omitted.
Solomon ben David was a Karaite leader of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries CE. He was the son of David ben Boaz. As a direct lineal descendant of Anan ben David, he was regarded as nasi and resh galuta of the Karaite community. He was succeeded by his son Hezekiah ben Solomon.
Josiah ben Saul was the grandson of Anan ben David and a Karaite Nasi. Some of his halakhic opinions are quoted by later Karaite scholars. He was the father of Jehoshaphat and Semah, who both functioned as leaders of the Palestinian Gaonate.
Hasdai is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Anan is both a given name and a surname.
Daniel Judah Lasker is an American-born Israeli scholar of Jewish philosophy. As of 2017, he is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Jewish thought at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
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