Philosopher, Outsider, Rabbi: The Many Lives of Baghdad’s Saadia Gaon

Saadia Gaon, (b. 892, d. 942), made the unlikely rise from Egyptian scholar to head the of the Babylonian Jewish Academy in Baghdad. In this class with Eliyahu Freedman, we will study Saadia Gaon’s contributions to Judaism as a philosopher, leader and activist. We will also explore the disagreements between Saadia Gaon and his chief rivals in the medieval Judeo-Arabic environment: the Karaites.