Commentators:R. Chananel b. Chushiel/0/en

R. Chananel b. Chushiel

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R. Chananel

Name	R. Chananel b. Chushiel רבנו חננאל בן חושיאל, ר"ח
Dates	c. 965 – 1055
Location	Kairouan
Works	Commentaries on Talmud and Talmud
Exegetical Characteristics
Influenced by	His father R. Chushiel, R. Hai Gaon, R. Saadia Gaon
Impacted on	R. Nissim b. Yaakov, Rif, Rambam

Background

Life

• Name – Ḥananel (or "Chananel"); some historians believe that his given name was Elhanan, but at some point later in his life he became referred to by the name Ḥananel.¹
  • Hebrew name – חננאל בן חושיאל (or, possibly, אלחנן בן חושיאל) 
• Dates – c. 970-1057²
• Location – Kairouan (or "Qayrawan"), in modern-day Tunisia. Most historians believe that R. Hananel was born in Italy, likely Bari, and emigrated to Kairouan as an adult.³
• Occupation – Rabbinical judge and head of the local house of study⁴
• Family – R. Ḥananel's father, R. Ḥushiel b. Elhanan, was an Italian who became the rabbinic leader of Kairouan. A tradition states that R. Ḥananel had nine daughters but no sons.⁵
• Education – Some have thought that R. Ḥananel studied in the Geonic Yeshivot of Babylonia, but this is likely not the case.⁶
• Teachers – Throughout his commentary, R. Ḥananel constantly refers to "his teachers," who remain unnamed. It is likely that R. Ḥananel learned most of his Torah from his father, R. Ḥushiel b. Elhanan, who was the rabbinic leader of Kairouan.⁷
• Contemporaries – R. Hai Gaon,⁸ R. Nissim b. Yaakov, Shmuel haNagid
• Students – R. Nissim b. Yaakov
• Time period – R. Ḥananel is considered to be among the transitional figures between the era of the "Geonim" and the "Rishonim."⁹ 
• World outlook – R. Ḥananel refers to his act of writing down his explanations of the Gemara as מלאכת שמים, heavenly work.¹⁰ 

Works

• Biblical commentaries – Many of the Spanish commentators on the bible quote citations from R. Hananel's commentary on the Torah, though the complete work is lost.¹¹
• Rabbinics –  
  • Talmudic novellae – R. Hananel wrote a running commentary on the more commonly studied sections of Talmud Bavli: orders Mo'ed, Nashim (with the probable exceptions of Nedarim, Nazir, and most of Sotah), and Nezikin, as well as the tractates of Berachot, Hulin, and Niddah.¹²
  • Halakhic codes – Citations from halakhic works attributed to R. Hananel indicate that he wrote some smaller monographs on select halakhic topics.¹³
  • Responsa – Several responsa of R. Hananel are mentioned by medieval commentators, although a collection has not survived.¹⁴
• Misattributed works – Commentary on Horayot, Zevahim; Sefer Miktzo'ot¹⁵

Torah Commentary

Characteristics

• Verse by verse / Topical – 
• Genre – 
• Structure – 
• Language – 
• Peshat and derash – 

Methods

• – 

Themes

• – 

Textual Issues

• Manuscripts – 
• Printings – 
• Textual layers – 

Sources

Significant Influences

• Earlier Sources – The Talmudic commentary of R. Hananel relies heavily on both the commentaries and responsa of the Babylonian Geonim,¹⁶ on oral traditions that he heard from his teachers,¹⁷ and on the Talmud Yerushalmi.¹⁸ R. Hananel's Torah commentary is largely based upon the Torah commentaries of R. Saadia Gaon and R. Shmuel b. Hofni Gaon.¹⁹ 

Occasional Usage

• –

Possible Relationship

• –

Impact

Later exegetes

• Spanish commentators from the medieval era, such as Ramban²⁰ and R. Bachyei,²¹ often quote Rabbeinu Hananel. In the introduction to his work, Rabbeinu Bachyei calls attention to this fact, and refers to Rabbeinu Hananel as הפטיש החזק, the mighty hammer.
• Medieval aids to Talmud study and halakhic analysis - particularly, the "Sefer ha-Arukh" by R. Natan of Rome and the "Ohr Zarua" by R. Yitzhak of Vienna - quote extensively from Rabbeinu Hananel.
• R. Yitzhak Alfasi ("Rif") rarely quotes Rabbeinu Hananel by name, but in the vast majority of instances, anonymous quotations in his work can be attributed to Rabbeinu Hananel.²² 
• Rambam's halakhic decisions are often based upon R. Hananel's interpretations²³ or editions of the Gemara.²⁴

Supercommentaries

• –

¹

This is based upon the fact that a letter of R. Hushiel b. Elhanan, the father of R. Hananel, refers to his son "Elhanan," who also appears in documentary evidence as a judge in Kairouan at the exact same time period as R. Hananel, and there is no evidence that R. Hushiel had two sons who were both rabbinic scholars. Menahem Ben-Sasson, The Emergence of the Local Jewish Community in the Muslim World: Qayrawan, 800-1057 [Hebrew, צמיחת הקהילה היהודית בארצות האסלאם] (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1996), p. 225-229

² Paris manuscript Mosseri II 133, quoted in Jacob Mann, Texts and Studies (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1931), p. 246.

³ Rashbam to Bava Batra 86b refers to R. Hananel as איש רומי, "a man from Rome," (which is a general reference to Italian lands), and if R. Hananel is to be identified as the same "Elhanan" referred to in a letter by R. Hushiel b. Elhanan to R. Shmaryah of Egypt, then direct evidence exists for R. Hananel being born in Italy. This letter was published by Solomon Schechter, "Geniza Specimens. A Letter of Chushiel" The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1899:11, 643–650

⁴ Multiple documents attesting to these roles have been found in the Cairo Genizah. See Menachem Ben-Sasson, p. 225ff

⁵ R. Avraham ibn Daud, Sefer ha-Kabbalah (G. Cohen ed., Hebrew section p. 58)

⁶ R. Chaim Yosef David Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim entry on "Rabbeinu Hananel" quotes from the responsa of Maharam "ha-ketzarot" no. 91 who surmises that R. Hananel studies with R. Hai Gaon because the latter is quoted in the commentary, and this is also assumed by Rabbeinu Tam, Sefer ha-Yashar, Teshuvot no. 46). R. Azulai notes that this is not necessarily the case, and modern scholars have pointed out that whenever he quotes teachings from the Geonim, R. Hananel always cites what he "saw," indicating that his knowledge of Geonic teachings are sourced in written texts rather than his personal education. This is evident from a fragment of his commentary to Bava Batra 63a which survives as quoted by R. Zechariah Agamati's Sefer ha-Ner: כענין הזה פירוש מקצת הגאונים ומפני שהיא מלאכת שמים כתבנו [מה] שקיבלנו מרבותינו מפה לאוזן וכתבנו פירוש הגאונים שראינו

⁷ Sefer Tashbetz Part 1 72. The Sefer ha-'Arukh (page 166) refers to R Hananel on Bava Batra 40b who says ואמר דפרש לה אביו חושיאל ז”ל הכי להאי לישנא. Another instance of an author associating R. Hananel with his father's teaching is in Meiri Sanhedrin 27b.

⁸ In his commentary to Shabbat 115b, R. Hananel quotes an explanation from "Rabbeinu Hai the Gaon, light of Israel, may he live and prosper forever," indicating that he must have been alive at the time.

⁹ He is recognized as such by R. Avraham ibn Daud, Sefer ha-Kabbalah, R. Menachem Meiri in his introduction to Avot, and many others. He is often referred to as "Rabbi Hananel Gaon," or recognized as belonging both to the era of the Geonim and the Rishonim. For example, Rashba (She'eilot u-Teshuvot 4:118) writes כי רבינו חננאל ז”ל שהיה מן הגאונים ובקי בדברי הגאונים ז”ל שקדמוהו, and similarly after naming R. Hananel as one of the first three "Rabbanim" (in contrast with the Geonim), Meiri writes "ונשוב לדברינו והוא מהזמן הנז׳ והנה ר״ל מעת גאונות ר׳ חננאל", referring to R. Hananel as a Gaon. Cf. Meiri's comment to Gittin 21b, "כך היא סברת ראשוני הגאונים ורבינו חננאל בכללם"

¹⁰ R. Hananel's commentary to Shabbos 138b. This phrase appears in the Talmud Bavli (e.g. Eruvin 13a, Sukkah 26a) but may be a play on words from the verse in Yirmiyahu 44:19. Rambam, in his introduction to his Mishnah Torah, similarly writes that all writers who composed works to extract halakha from the Talmud are engaged in divine work: ועוד חיברו הלכות פסוקות בענין האסור והמותר והחייב והפטור בדברים שהשעה צריכה להן, כדי שיהיו קרובין למדע מי שאינו יכול לירד לעומקו של תלמוד. וזו היא מלאכת י״י שעשו בה כל גאוני ישראל מיום שחובר התלמוד ועד זמן זה

¹¹ Some have questioned whether the citations attributed to him are truly products of R. Hananel, because no contemporary source makes mention of R. Hananel having written a commentary on the Torah. See 

¹² Meiri, Introduction to Avot writes that R. Hananel wrote commentaries to שלשה סדרים, three orders.

¹³ Among those more recently published is a work on the laws of checking animals, in a collection titled Sefer "Shittah Mekubetzet," (Modiin Illit: Kiryat Sefer, 2012), and a monograph on the laws of tzitzit, edited by Shraga Abramson in Peirushei Rabbeinu Hananel al haTalmud (Jerusalem: Lev Sameach, 1994). 

¹⁴ For example, see Rashba to Gittin 85b: ובתשובה לרבנו חננאל ז״ל כגון אלו הדברים שאינן מפורשין אם יבא אדם לכתוב אלו הדברים שמא יפלו ביד אדם שאינו הגון וילמדו לשקר לפיכך אין לנו אלא מן הפה לאוזן לנאמנים. 

¹⁵ See Shraga Abramson, Perushei Rabbeinu Hananel la-Talmud (Jerusalem: Lev Sameach, 1994)

¹⁶ For example, in defining several of the activities listed in the Mishnah of Shabbat 74b, several (but not all) of R. Hananel's comments are nearly identical to those appearing in the commentary of R. Hai Gaon quoted in Otzar Hageonim there.

¹⁷ R. Hananel refers to these oral traditions as קבלות, "received matters." R. Hananel differentiated between interpretations or traditions he heard from his teachers and those of the Geonim; see for example his comment to Shabbat 123b: "ורבותינו הגאונים אמרו פי׳ אחר. ואנן כתבנו מה שקבלנו מרבותינו" and similarly to Eruvin 83b: "וכבר ראינו פי׳ לרבותינו הגאונים זולתי זה אבל אנו כתבנו הפי׳ שהיא קבלה בידינו"

¹⁸ This is evident from nearly every page of R. Hananel's Talmud commentary

¹⁹ See above

²⁰ Examples where Ramban quotes Rabbeinu Hananel's commentary to the Torah include Shemot 10:14, Vayikra 20:17, Bamidbar 20:8, among other instances. Most of these quotations appear to from additions which Rambam made later in his life; see https://alhatorah.org/Commentators:Ramban%27s_Updates 

²¹ Some significant examples include Rabbeinu Bahyei's commenatry to Bereshit 20:2, 31:19, 43:10, 50:10, Shemot 5:22, 12:2, 13:17, 19:16, 25:19, Vayikra 23:40, Devarim 7:26. In his commentary to the Torah, R. Bahyei will also quote from R. Hananel's commentary to the Talmud; see Shemot 22:17.

²² R. Shimon b. Zemah Duran (15th century Spain and Algeria) comments (Tashbetz, 2:272): ובכל מקום שכתוב בהלכות ואיכא מאן דאמר הוא ר״ח ז״ל

²³ For an example, compare Rambam's Hilkhot Megillah u-Chanukah 3:7 to Rabbeinu Hananel's commentary on Taanit 28b.

²⁴ This is noted, for example, by R. Meir Simcha of Dvinsk in his commentary, "Ohr Sameach" to Rambam's Hilkhot Shabbat Ch. 14 and 17. Rambam quotes Rabbeinu Hananel by name once in a letter, She'eilot u-Teshuvot ha-Rambam no. 251 (Blau ed., p. 459). However, the relationship between Rabbeinu Hananel and Rambam was well known in early modern times, as recorded by R. Yosef Caro in his spiritual diary Maggid Meisharim (Parashat Vayakhel): ומידע תנדע דכל דבעי הרמב"ם על הרוב אינון קושטא בגין דאיהו אדבק גרסאי קדמונאי כגון ר"ח ורבינו האי דגרסתהון ברירא