Chananel ben Chushiel or Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel (), an 11th-century

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661� ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ist, was in close contact with the last

Geonim ''Geonim'' (; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura Academy , Sura and Pumbedita Academy , Pumbedita, in t ...

. He is best known for his commentary on the

. Chananel is often referred to as Rabbeinu Chananel –

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

for "our teacher, Chananel" (in Hebrew, רבנו חננאל, or abbreviated, ר"ח).

Biography

Rabbeinu Chananel (c. 980–1055) was probably born in Southern Italy, likely

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, an important rabbinic center in the late geonic period. Around the year 1005, his father Chushiel travelled to North Africa with the intention of making his way to Egypt. While waiting for his son to join him, Chushiel settled instead in

(modern Tunisia), at the time under the rule of Zirid Emirs on behalf of the Fatimids. R. Chananel studied under his father, who became head of the Kairouan

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

, and through correspondence with

Hai Gaon 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 receiv ...

. He is closely associated with Nissim Ben Jacob in the capacity of rabbi and

Rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

of Kairouan. His most famous student is

Isaac Alfasi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (1013–1103) (, ), also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym, the Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of halakha, Jewish law). He is best known for his work of '' ...

. According to R. Abraham Ibn Daud, R. Chananel was also successful in business and was said to be very wealthy and had nine daughters.

Works

R. Chananel wrote the first extant systematic commentary on the

, today included in the Vilna edition Talmud page on certain tractates. The commentary, only parts of which survive, addresses sections of the Talmud relevant to legal practice at the time of writing: the orders

Moed Moed (, "Festivals") is the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the Oral Torah of the Jewish people (also the Tosefta and Talmud). Of the six orders of the Mishna, Moed is the third shortest. The order of Moed consists ...

Nashim __notoc__ Nashim ( "Women" or "Wives") is the third order of the Mishnah (also of the Tosefta and Talmud) containing family law. Of the six orders of the Mishnah, it is the shortest. Nashim consists of seven tractates: #'' Yevamot'' ( "Brothers ...

, and

Nezikin ''Nezikin'' ( ''Neziqin'', "Damages") or ''Seder Nezikin'' (, "The Order of Damages") is the fourth Order of the Mishna (also the Tosefta and Talmud). It deals largely with Jewish criminal and civil law and the Jewish court system. Nezikin co ...

. Some fragments have been recovered from the

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Judaism, Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra ...

h and are published in B. M. Levin's ''Otzar ha-Geonim'', though certain fragments may in fact represent geonic material from which R. Chananel copied,Ta-Shma, Israel Meir (1999). "הספרות הפרשנית לתלמוד". Vol. 1 in particular the work of

. R. Chananel's commentary presents a paraphrased summary and explanation of the main arguments in the

gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

, omitting most of the non-legal sections (

Aggada Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorpora ...

) as well as sections that R. Chananel considered too simple to warrant further explanation. A distinctive feature of the commentary is the presentation of the parallel passages from the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

. He is one of the most widely quoted commentaries by all the rishonim including

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot () are Middle Ages, medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The authors o ...

and the

Rif The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...

. His opinion is highly regarded in halacha and correct versions of the texts which is used as a basis for Maimonides and many other later halachic authorities. In places where we don't have his commentary, his opinion is usually known from other sources due to mass quotation from all the ''

Rishonim ''Rishonim'' (; ; sing. , ''Rishon'') were the leading rabbis and ''posek, poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' (, "Set Table", a common printed code of Jewis ...

''. An edition of the commentary published by Vagshal covers tractate Berachot and order Moed, which also includes the ''Sefer ha-Mafteaḥ'' of his colleague Nissim Gaon. R. Chananel also authored a commentary on the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

, cited by many later Biblical commentators, chiefly

Bahya ben Asher Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa (, 1255–1340) was a rabbi and scholar of Judaism, best known as a commentator on the Hebrew Bible. He is one of two scholars now referred to as Rabbeinu Behaye, the other being philosopher Bahya ibn Paquda. Biograp ...

. This commentary is to some extent directed against the Karaites. While no full copy of this work survives, we possess many fragments of it; it has recently been published by the ''Mosad Ha-Rav Kook'' as a separate work, as well as in the ''Torat Hayyim'' Torah edition with commentaries. Other works by Rabbeinu Chananel include

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

; a number of

attribute to him the anonymous "Sefer ha-Miktzo'ot," decisions on ritual law.

References

External links

Hananeel Ben Hushiel
''Jewish Encyclopedia''
Hananel Ben Hushiel
jewishhistory.org

Prof. Eliezer Segal
Podcast: R. Hananel
Podcast about Rabbi Hananel {{DEFAULTSORT:Chananel Ben Chushiel 990 births 1053 deaths 11th-century rabbis Jews from Ifriqiya Geonim People from Kairouan Maghrebi Jews 11th-century people from Ifriqiya 10th-century people from Ifriqiya Authors of books on Jewish law

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links