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Сила Теилим

15 Tishrei · Yahrzeit

Gaon Nissim ben Yaakov

Gaon Nissim ben Yaakov (990–1062) was a rabbi, best known today for his commentary on the Talmud «Ha-Mafteach» (The Key). Yahrzeit - 15 Tishrei Burial place - Kairouan, Tunisia Rav Nissim Gaon studied at the Yeshiva of Kairouan, first under his father, Yaakov ben Nissim ("Rav Yaakov Gaon"), who had studied under Hai Gaon, and then under Chushiel bar Elchanan, whom he succeeded as head of the Yeshiva. Nissim himself later became head of the Yeshiva; in this capacity he was closely connected with Chananel, son of Chushiel. His most famous student was Isaac Alfasi ("the Rif"). Rav Nissim maintained an active correspondence with Hai Gaon and Shmuel HaNagid, whose son Yosef married Nissim's only daughter (1049 CE). Much of what he received from his teachers seems to have been augmented even further through his literary correspondence on halachic matters with Hai ben Sherira, Gaon of Sura (Harkavy, "Teshubot ha-Geonim," p. 361; Abraham ibn Daud, "Sefer ha-Kabbalah," in Neubauer, "M.J.C.," I, 73). Nissim served as an intermediary between Hai Gaon and Shmuel HaNagid of Granada, forwarding the former's halachic correspondence to Shmuel. Thus he deserves credit for helping to transfer Talmudic knowledge from Babylonia to Spain. Nissim, being a poor man, received considerable support from Shmuel HaNagid, whose son Yosef married Nissim's only daughter. The bride, according to Abraham ibn Daud, was very learned and pious, but physically unattractive. After her husband's tragic death in Granada (1066), she fled to Lucena, where the Jewish community supported her very generously. Nissim had his own method of studying the Talmud, making very extensive use of the Jerusalem Talmud, which until then had generally been neglected. This was probably due to the teaching of Chushiel ben Elchanan. He followed the method of Saadia Gaon in defending the anthropomorphisms of the Aggadah against the attacks of the Karaites. Without denying the reality of the miracles recounted in the Aggadah, he attempted to justify them, giving them symbolic interpretations, just as the Karaites themselves did. (Tzadikim.com)