The two rivals were equally distinguished for their piety and their character. There were consequently two parties--the one siding with the native, who was the representative of culture, the other with Moses' son. Meanwhile, before the strife had taken a serious turn, Chasdaï exerted his powerful influence in favor of Chanoch. The latter thus became rabbi of Cordova and the authority for the Jewish-Spanish communities. As long as the Jewish minister of Alhakem lived, Chanoch's right to the rabbinate remained unchallenged. Chasdaï Ibn-Shaprut died during the lifetime of the noble Caliph (970), and left behind him an illustrious name, and both Jews and Mahometans vied with each other in perpetuating it for posterity. CHAPTER VIII. THE RISE OF JEWISH-SPANISH CULTURE, AND THE DECAY OF THE GAONATE. The Gaon Sherira and his son Haï--Sherira's Historical Letter --The Jewish Congregations in Spain--Jewish Culture in Andalusia--The Disciples of Menachem and Dunash--Jehuda Chayuj--Contest between Chanoch and Ibn Abitur--Jacob Ibn Jau--The Jews of France--Nathan the Babylonian and Leontin --The Jews of Germany--Gershom and his Ordinances--The Emperor Henry II.--The Caliph Hakem--The Jewish Communities of Northern Africa--Chananel, the Son of Chushiel, and Nissim bar Jacob Ibn-Shahin--The Jerusalem Talmud--Haï Gaon--His Character and Importance--Samuel bar Chofni--Chiskiya, the last Gaon--Samuel Ibn-Nagrela--Jonah Ibn-Janach. 970-1050 C. E. When an institution of historic origin is doomed to sink into oblivion, the most strenuous exertions of men cannot save it; and though they succeed by generous sacrifices in deferring the time of its extinction, its continuance is at best like that of a man in a trance. So it happened to the Babylonian Gaonate, once so full of life. After the most cultured communities of Spain and Africa had withdrawn their support, and had made themselves independent of it, its fate was sealed. It was in vain that the two men who successively adorned the school of Pumbeditha by their virtue and knowledge, made a strenuous effort to give it new life. They only succeeded in staying the death of the Gaonate for somewhat more than half a century, but they were unable to restore its vitality. These two men--father and son, the last distinguished presidents of the school of Pumbeditha--were Sherira and Haï (Haaja), to whom later generations gave the name of "the fathers and teachers of Israel." Sherira, son of the Gaon Chanina (born 920, died 1000), was of distinguished parentage both on his father's and his mother's side, several members of both families having filled the office of Gaon. He boasted that he could trace his descent to the line of the Exilarchs before Bostanaï. The seal of the Sherira family bore the impress of a lion, which is said to have been the coat-of-arms of the Jewish kings.