Chushiel ben Elchanan (also Ḥushiel) was president of the
bet ha-midrash
A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth kne ...
at
Kairouan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
toward the end of the 10th century. He was most probably born in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, but his origins and travels remain obscure, and his eventual arrival in Kairwan is the subject of a well-known story.
The Story of the Four Prisoners
According to the ''Sefer Ha-Kabbalah'' of
Abraham ibn Daud
Abraham ibn Daud ( he, אַבְרָהָם בֵּן דָּוִד הַלֵּוִי אִבְּן דָּאוּד; ar, ابراهيم بن داود) was a Spanish-Jewish astronomer, historian, and philosopher; born at Córdoba, Spain about 1110; die ...
, Chushiel was one of the four scholars who were captured by
Abd al-Rahman III
ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil () or ʿAbd al-Rahmān III (890 - 961), was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 92 ...
, an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
admiral, while voyaging from
Bari to
Sebaste to collect money "for the dowries of poor brides." Ḥushiel was sold as a slave in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, but he and the other three rabbis were ransomed by Jewish communities in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
,
Cordoba, and
Kairouan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...
. On being ransomed, Ḥushiel went to Kairouan, an ancient seat of
Talmudical
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
scholarship. There his Talmudical knowledge gained for him the position of president of the bet ha-midrash—probably after the death of
Jacob ben Nissim Jacob ben Nissim ibn Shahin was a Jewish philosopher and mathematician who lived at Kairouan, Tunisia in the 10th century; he was a younger contemporary of Saadia. At Jacob's request Sherira Gaon wrote a treatise entitled ''Iggeret,'' on the redac ...
.
However, an autograph letter from Ḥushiel discovered in the
Cairo Genizah
The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the '' genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, ...
, addressed to
Shemariah ben Elhanan, chief rabbi of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
(supposed by Ibn Daud to have been captured with Ḥushiel), tends to show that Ḥushiel merely went to visit his friends in
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
ern countries, and was retained by the community of Kairouan. It may therefore be the case that the story presented by ibn Daud is an
etiological myth
An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...
explaining the migration of Jewish centers of learning from
Babylonia to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
.
Origins
There is considerable difference of opinion in regard to Chushiel's nativity.
H. Grätz,
A. Harkavy
Abraham (Albert) Harkavy (, russian: Авраа́м Я́ковлевич Гарка́ви, translit=Avraám Yákovlevich Garkávi; 17 October 1835 – 15 March 1919) was a Russian historian and orientalist.
Biography
Harkavy was born in 1835 ...
, and
D. Kaufmann claim that he, with the other three scholars, came from
Babylonia, while
S.J. Rapoport,
I.H. Weiss
Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia.
After having received elementary instruction in Hebrew ...
, and
Isaac Halévy give
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
as his birthplace. This latter opinion is confirmed by the wording of the above-mentioned letter, in which Chushiel speaks of having come from the country of the "'arelim," meaning "Christian" countries. According to another but unreliable source, he came from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Two of Chushiel's pupils were his son
Hananeel and
Nissim ben Jacob. According to the genizah letter, Ḥushiel seems to have had another son, named Elhanan, if "Elhanan" and "Hananeel" are not identical.
Works
It is not known whether Ḥushiel wrote any book, but a few of his sayings have been transmitted by his pupils. Thus
Nissim ben Jacob reports that the story which the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
, without giving any particulars, mentions as having been related by
Rav Papa
Rav Pappa ( he, רַב פַּפָּא) (c. 300 – died 375) was a Babylonian rabbi, of the fifth generation of amoraim.
Biography
He was a student of Rava and Abaye. After the death of his teachers he founded a school at Naresh, a city near ...
was transmitted to him (Nissim) in full by Ḥushiel. Ḥushiel's son Hananeel quotes explanations in his father's name.
Ḥushiel was certainly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of the Talmudical teachers of the 10th century.
Samuel ha-Nagid
Samuel ibn Naghrillah (, ''Sh'muel HaLevi ben Yosef HaNagid''; ''ʾAbū ʾIsḥāq ʾIsmāʿīl bin an-Naghrīlah''), also known as Samuel HaNagid (, ''Shmuel HaNagid'', lit. ''Samuel the Prince'') and Isma’il ibn Naghrilla (born 993; died 1056 ...
, recognizing his importance and value, ordered that memorial services in his honor should be celebrated in
Granada,
Lucena
Lucena, officially the City of Lucena ( fil, Lungsod ng Lucena), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Calabarzon region of the Philippines. It is the capital city of the Provinces of the ...
, and
Córdoba. Samuel also wrote a letter of condolence to Ḥushiel's son Hananeel.
[This has been published by Firkovich in '']Ha-Karmel
''Ha-Karmel'' () was a Hebrew periodical, edited and published by Samuel Joseph Fuenn in Vilna from 1860 to 1880. It was one of the important forces of the Haskalah movement in the Russian Empire.
History
''Ha-Karmel'' was founded by Samuel Joseph ...
,'' viii. (''Ha-Sharon,'' No. 31, p. 245), and in Berliner's ''Magazin,'' v. 70 et seq. (''Oẓar Ṭob,'' p. 64), the German translation being by David Kaufmann
David Kaufmann (7 June 1852 – 6 July 1899) (Hebrew: דוד קויפמן) was a Jewish-Austrian scholar born at Kojetín, Moravia (now in the Czech Republic). From 1861 to 1867 he attended the gymnasium at Kroměříž, Moravia, where he studi ...
. The letter, ending with a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
poem in the
Hazaj meter
Hazaj meter is a quantitative verse meter frequently found in the epic poetry of the Middle East and western Asia. A musical rhythm of the same name is based on the literary meter.
Hazaj in Arabic poetry
Like the other meters of the ''al-ʿar ...
, and written in a very difficult style, praises Ḥushiel's knowledge and virtue, and compliments Hananeel.
Complete letter of Chushiel
Below is a scan of the complete letter of Chushiel, from
S. Schechter
Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...
(1899) in ''
Jewish Quarterly Review
''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of Pe ...
'' 11:644-650. Schechter there also provides a transcript of the portions that are legible, accompanied by a brief analysis of the grammar and contents. The shelfmark is T-S 28.1 (Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection, Cambridge University Library).
See also
*
History of the Jews in Kairouan
*
History of the Jews in Tunisia
The history of the Jews in Tunisia extended nearly two thousand years and goes back to the Punic era. The Jewish community in Tunisia is no doubt older and grew up following successive waves of immigration and proselytism before its develo ...
External links
*https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-TS-00028-00001/1
*https://geniza.princeton.edu/en/documents/17077/
*http://www.isfsp.org/sages/daud.html
*http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=111839
*http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/060831_Pirates.html
References
Its bibliography:
*
Abraham Berliner
Abraham (Adolf) Berliner (May 2, 1833 – April 21, 1915) (Hebrew: אברהם ברלינר) was a German theologian and historian, born in Obersitzko, in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia. He received his first education under his father, who ...
, in Migdal Ḥananel, pp. v. et seq., xxviii. et seq., Leipsic, 1876;
*
Heinrich Grätz
Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective.
Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielkop ...
, Gesch. v. 288, 289, note 21;
*Rabinowitz's Hebrew translation of Grätz, vol. iii., Index;
*Halberstam, in Berliner's Magazin, iii. 171;
*
Isaac Halévy, Dorot ha-Rishonim, iii., ch. 35 et seq.;
*
Adolf Neubauer
Adolf Neubauer (11 March 1831 in Bittse, Hungary – 6 April 1907, London) was at the Bodleian Library and reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University.
Biography
He was born in Bittse (Nagybiccse), Upper Hungary (now Bytča in Slovaki ...
, M. J. C. i. 67, 68, 73; ii. 225, 234;
*
S.J. Rapoport, in
Bikkure ha-'Ittim, xii. 11 et seq.;
*
S. Schechter
Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...
, in J. Q. R. xi. 643 et seq.;
*
Isaac Hirsch Weiss
Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia.
After having received elementary instruction in Hebrew ...
, Dor, iv. 265;
*Winter and Wünsche, Die Jüdische Litteratur, ii. 357;
*
Zunz, Ritus, p. 190.
{{Geonim
10th-century people of Ifriqiya
10th-century rabbis
Jews of Ifriqiya
Geonim
People from Kairouan
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown