Aaron ben Meir

Aaron ben Meir (possibly Aaron ben Moses Ben Meir) lived in Jerusalem in the early to mid-tenth century. Little is known about him beyond his role in the controversy in 921/2 between Palestinian and Babylonian rabbis over who held the authority to set the Jewish calendar. In having his son make a public declaration of when the holidays would occur in the fall of 922, Aaron precipitated the disagreement, as he contradicted the previously announced Babylonian dates. He also made several grandiose statements about his own status, probably exaggerated in the context of this heated battle, although it is possible that he held the office of gaon. A Karaite later reported that Aaron was excommunicated by the Babylonian faction, but it is highly unlikely that the Babylonians would have been able to carry this out.