רב אחאי גאון

Rav Acha of Shabcha (c. 4440/680–c. 4520/760), known also as Rav Achai, was among the chachamim of Pumbedita in Bavel and the author of the She’iltot — the first sefer known to us composed after the close of the Talmud. When the gaon of Pumbedita was niftar, Rav Acha was held the worthiest to succeed him, but a personal grievance moved the Reish Galuta, Shlomo bar Chisdai, to pass him over and to appoint instead a man who had been under him, Rav Natronai. Aggrieved at the slight, Rav Acha left Bavel and went up to Eretz Yisrael, around the year 4512/752, where he remained until his passing. Because he never in fact sat as gaon, the title attached to his name is not exact.

The She’iltot is a collection of derashot on halachah and mussar, arranged on the parshiyot of the Torah and drawn from the mitzvot of the Torah. Rav Sherira Gaon writes that he was a man of uncommon wisdom, and that the sefer was examined by all who came after him without a single error being found in it. It has remained in learning from his day to ours.