Saadia Gaon

Saadia Gaon (Rasag) was a philosopher, posek, biblical commentator, polemicist, grammarian and preeminent Jewish leader of Mesopotamian Jewry. He was born and educated in Cairo, Egypt. In 928 he was appointed gaon (head) of the academy of Sura, and subsequently, his influence spread throughout the Jewish world. Most of his works have been lost over time, but his best-known work, Emunot VeDeot — the first systematic work of Jewish philosophy — is still extant and studied to this day. His groundbreaking work in Hebrew grammar, now lost, was part of his polemic against Karaism. Parts of his commentaries on the Torah and the Talmud have been preserved in books written by other geonim, some of which have recently been published.