SA'ADYAH GAON was so multifaceted that it would be impossible for any one person to do him justice or to evaluate the full extent and variety of his life's work. Nevertheless, it is my hope that the reader will come to the end of this book with at least some understanding, however incomplete, of the man and his achievements. A number of factors undoubtedly combined to promote Sa'adyah's unique literary end eavour: his extraordinary intellect and forceful personality; his deep knowledge of Jewish traditions, Palestinian and Babylonian alike; and the crisis of the Babylonian academies, which made it possible for someone like him, having been raised far from geonic circles, to be appointed head of the Sura academy. We must also remember his sense of personal mission and his faith that the Creator had chosen him to lead and nurture the Jewish people in his generation. This feeling led him to redefine the role of the gaon, and the new conception powerfully affected the geonim who succeeded him.

Sa'adyah blazed many new literary trails. Some of these, such as his linguistic and halakhic works, represent a sharp departure from traditional Jewish activities in these fields. In other areas—for example, biblical exegesis, theology, and polemics—he brought new vigour and momentum to what had formerly been areas of modest activity. Even when working within ancient traditions like liturgical poetry he revolutionized the field. He wrote in genres cultivated by the Jews of North Africa, Palestine, and Babylonia, and in most, if not all, of these he was deeply influenced by the surrounding cultures, where Arabic was the spoken language and most of the leading thinkers were Christian or Muslim. Sa'adyah did not hesitate to adopt and adapt vital elements of the general culture, and a major part of his work stems from the challenge of integrating these elements into his Jewish heritage.

The geonic era was the last period in Jewish history, at least until the founding of the State of Israel, when the focus of power and creativity for the Jewish people resided in the Middle East, particularly in the two ancient centres of Palestine and Babylonia. The geonic era transmitted a new version of rabbinic Judaism to future generations.