December 10 921 – 6 Tevet 4682
Rav Saadia Gaon cautioned the Jews of Egypt against following Rabbi Aaron ben Meir, head of the yeshiva in Ramleh, in the land of Israel, by accepting his calculation of the Hebrew calendar, especially the date of Rosh Hashana. Saadiah’s view triumphed in the ensuing power struggle between the rabbinates in Babylonia and the Holy Land, preventing a split between the two communities. Ramleh was also a center of Karaite Judaism at this time, and Saadia Gaon wrote extensively against the community’s literal interpretations of Jewish law and especially against their leader, Aaron ben Asher, declaring that they were not to be considered Jews. In the long term, however, this was one dispute that Rabbi Saadia didn’t win.
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