Gaon (Hebrew:גאון,gā'ōn,lit. 'pride', pluralgeonim,גְּאוֹנִים,gĕ'ōnīm) was originally a formal title for theGeonim, heads of Talmudic academies in the 6th–11th century. Since therishonic period, many great rabbis,[1] whether or not they head academies, are often lauded with thishonorific as a mark of respect; for example, one may refer toOvadia Yosef as "HaGaon Ovadia Yosef".[citation needed]Modern Hebrew reuses the word as an equivalent for "genius" based on phonetic similarity.
It may have originated as a shortened version of "Rosh Yeshivat Ge'on Ya'akov", although there are alternative explanations.[2][3] InAncient Hebrew, it referred to arrogance and haughty pride (Amos 6:8 – "I abhor the pride ofJacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.") and, according to another explanation, it later became known as a general term for pride, and the title was used as "Pride [of]".
One of theGeonim during the period 589–1040. Prominent Geonim include:
A honorific title given to a few leading rabbis of other countries in the same period, such as:
Specificrabbis of later periods, called "gaon", include:
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