Rabbeinu Hananel *

Rabbeinu (Our Rabbi) Hananel condensed the discussions of the Talmud, seeking legal conclusions, clarifying and summarizing each unit of the Talmud, and arriving at a synthesis of the material.  Sometimes he omitted the explanation of a certain section, contenting himself with writing "and this is simple," meaning that it needs no explanation  (The Essential Talmud, pp. 66-7).

Rabbi Hananel's treatment of the Talmud's discussion of the Seven Noahide Commandments is exceptional because of large omissions.  In his manuscript, he covers the preliminary discussion, Sanhedrin pages 56a and 56b.  Rabbi Hananel then left the remainder of his manuscript page blank.  At the end of this page, he writes:

These need an entire booklet.

However, we are not aware that Rabbi Hananel composed such a booklet.  Furthermore, his manuscript fails to discuss Tractate Sanhedrin from this point (the end of 56b) through 89a — the remainder of chapter 7, all of chapters 8 and 9, and most of chapter 10!

Rabbeinu (Our Rabbi) Hananel, the son of Rabbi Hushiel,* was one of the "Earliest Scholars" of the Talmud (Rishonim *) linking the end of the era of the Babylonian Torah academies with the newly emerging academies of North Africa, Spain, France, and Germany.

The spiritual decline of the Babylonian Jewish community was accompanied by the material decline of its Torah academies.  Since these academies constituted the Torah center of the entire world, they received funds from all Jewish communities of the diaspora, especially from Spain, West and North Africa, Egypt, and the Holy Land.  In view of their financial difficulties, the deans of the Babylonian academies sent four sages to these communities to collect donations and pledges.  One of these four sages was Rabbi Hushiel, the father of Rabbi Hananel.  On the high seas off the Italian coast, the four sages were captured by pirates.  Thanks to a gracious Providence, these sages were sold by the pirates in widely separate places, thus allowing Torah to be disseminated in many lands.  Rabbi Hushiel was sold in North Africa and redeemed in Kairou'an (today's Qairouan, Tunisia), the greatest fortified city of the Arab empire in North Africa at the time.  Here he rose to prominence as the dean of the local Torah academy.  (from Shemuel Hanagid, pp. 18-20)

Rabbi Hananel grew up in Kairou'an.  He was a disciple of his father Rabbi Hushiel, who in turn was a disciple of the last and most influential Babylonian dean, Rabbi Hai (III) Gaon * (died about 1037 ce).

Rabbi Hananel, a contemporary of Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon,* died around 1057 ce * – or as early as 1040.

Sources:

• The Essential Talmud, by Adin Steinsaltz, trans. Chaya Galai
  (New York: Bantam Books, 1976)

• Shemuel Hanagid, by Asher Lehmann, trans. Sheindel Weinbach
  (Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 1980)

• The Jewish Time Line Encyclopedia, by Mattis Kantor
  (Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, 1992)

• Codex Judaica: Chronological Index of Jewish History, by Rabbi Mattis Kantor
  New by the author of the The Jewish Time Line Encyclopedia
  "Covering 5,764 Years of Biblical, Talmudic & post-Talmudic History"
  (New York: Zichron Press, 2005)

• Sefer Tzemach Dovid, (Hebrew) by Rabbi David Ganz (1541-1613)
  (undated offset, Gross Brothers Printing)

Rabbeinu - rah BAY noo

Hananel - khah NAH nell

Hushiel - khoo SHEE ell

Rishonim - ree SHOH neem

Hai - HY

Gaon - GUH ohn;  Gaonim - plural, guh OH neem;  also spelled Geonim

Nissim - NEE sim

Translator's Notes:

Rishonim - Hebrew for 'first'.  These are the first group of scholars after the period of the Gaonim.  The Gaonim, Torah scholars in Babylonia, lived in the generations who followed the canonization of the Babylonian Talmud.  The Gaonim were the deans/masters of the Torah academies in Babylonia.  The period of the Gaonim lasted for about 448 years.

ce - Common Era or Christian Era;  used by Jews and others instead of ad, which is an abbreviation for the Latin words meaning 'year of the lord [Jesus]'.