In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “one of the last geonim”. Today it says “head of the talmudic academy of pumbedita during the era of the abbasid caliphate”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “one of the last geonim”. Today it says “head of the talmudic academy of pumbedita during the era of the abbasid caliphate”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Hai Gaon ( 969 - 1038 ) was one of the last geonim (rabbinic authorities of the early Middle Ages ). He was the head of the academy at Pumbedita , Babylonia . He authored both a commentary on the Talmud as well as a collection of responsa , plus several other smaller works on focused topics. His father, Rav Sherira Gaon , was his teacher and predecessor as head of the academy. His students included Rabbeinu Chananel and Rav Nissim , the head of the academy at Kairouan .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16455760.
The opening as it stood in 2010 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Hai Gaon was the head of the Talmudic Academy of Pumbedita during the era of the Abbasid Caliphate , where the modern city of Fallujah , Iraq is located.Hai ben Sherira , better known as Hai Gaon , was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century.He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038.He received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina , and in early life acted as his assistant in teaching.In his forty-fourth year he became associated with his father as " ab bet din ," and with him delivered many joint decisions.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 365138562.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Hai Gaon was the head of the Talmudic Academy of Pumbedita during the era of the Abbasid Caliphate , where the modern city of Fallujah , Iraq is located. Sherira (Gaon) , Hebrew : האי בר שרירא; better known as Hai Gaon , Hebrew : האיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina , and in early life acted as his assistant in teaching. In his forty-fourth year he became associated with his father as " ab bet din ," and with him delivered many joint decisions.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660726823.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Hai Gaon was the head of the Talmudic Academy of Pumbedita during the era of the Abbasid Caliphate , where the modern city of Fallujah , Iraq is located. Hai ben Sherira ( Hebrew : האי בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon ( Hebrew : האי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina , and in early life acted as his assistant in teaching. In his forty-fourth year he became associated with his father as " av bet din ," and with him delivered many joint decisions. According to Sefer HaKabbalah of Rabbi Abraham ben David (Ravad), he was the last of the Geonim .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963992583.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Gaon of Academy of Pumbedita Hai Gaon was the head of the Talmudic Academy of Pumbedita during the era of the Abbasid Caliphate , where the modern city of Fallujah , Iraq is located. Hai ben Sherira ( Hebrew : האיי בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon ( Hebrew : האיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina , and in early life acted as his assistant in teaching. In his forty-fourth year he became associated with his father as " av bet din ," and with him delivered many joint decisions. According to Sefer HaKabbalah of Rabbi Abraham ben David (Ravad), he was the last of the Geonim .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1173847659.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Gaon of Academy of Pumbedita Hai Gaon was the head of the Talmudic Academy of Pumbedita during the era of the Abbasid Caliphate , where the modern city of Fallujah , Iraq , is located. Hai ben Sherira ( Hebrew : האיי בר שרירא ), better known as Hai Gaon ( Hebrew : האיי גאון ), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina , and in early life acted as his assistant in teaching. In his forty-fourth year he became associated with his father as " av bet din ", and with him delivered many joint decisions. According to Sefer HaKabbalah of Rabbi Abraham ben David (Ravad), he was the last of the Geonim .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1279450650. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “one of the last geonim”. Today it says “head of the talmudic academy of pumbedita during the era of the abbasid caliphate”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2005 and 2025.
Then
one of the last geonim
Now
head of the talmudic academy of pumbedita during the era of the abbasid caliphate
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
