Saadia Gaon

Rabbi Sa'adiah ben Yosef Gaon (Arabic: سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي‎ / סעיד בן יוסף אלפיומי Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi, Sa'id ibn Yusuf al-Dilasi, Saadia ben Yosef aluf, Sa'id ben Yusuf ra's al-Kull;Hebrew: רבי סעדיה בן יוסף אלפיומי גאון'‎ or in short: סעדיה גאון; alternative English Names: Saadia b. Joseph,Saadia ben Joseph or Saadia ben Joseph of Faym or Saadia ben Joseph Al-Fayyumi; b. Egypt 882/892, d. Baghdad 942) was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.

The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature. Known for his works on Hebrew linguistics, Halakha, and Jewish philosophy, he was one of the more sophisticated practitioners of the philosophical school known as the "Jewish Kalam" (Stroumsa 2003). In this capacity, his philosophical work Emunoth ve-Deoth represents the first systematic attempt to integrate Jewish theology with components of Greek philosophy. Saadia was also very active in opposition to Karaism, in defense of rabbinic Judaism.

Saadia (given name)

Saadia (Arabic: سعدية‎, Hebrew: סעדיה‎) is an Arabic and Hebrew given name. According to some classical rabbinical sources, the name derives from the Hebrew verb Sa'ad (Hebrew: סעד‎, support), and means "supported god". However, according to researchers at the Wissenschaft des Judentums, it is a form of artificially Arabic name Sa'id (Happy سعيد). It is indeed common that Saadia speaking countries are also known as Sa'id.

Saadia Gaon, which seems to be the first to bringing this prénom2, and is also often referred to by the mere mention of "Saadia," without further explanation, sign 'Sa'id ben Yosef "at the beginning of his career, but then designate by the name of "Saadyahou" (סעדיהו) in his Sefer haGalouï; Moses ibn Ezra also notes the Sa'adel form (סעדאל).

References

Saadia (film)

Saadia is a 1953 adventure film directed by Albert Lewin. Set in Morocco, and based on a novel by the French writer Francis D'Autheville, it tells of a love triangle.

Cast

Production

Filmed entirely in Morocco, this film is believed to have been the first Technicolor feature to have been filmed on location. The cinematographer Christopher Challis called it the most difficult production he had ever worked on. Lewin had pre-selected the sets on a pre-production tour of Morocco, however, unaware of the technical requirements of the large three-strip camera rig, interiors proved to be too small. Thus, there could be no long shots. Among his other eccentricities the film maker also had a horse transported more than a thousand miles to the set, but finding the tail too short, had fake ones made abroad and sent to the filming location.