(c. 990-1050). Biblical and talmudic scholar.Hananel was born in Kairouan, Egypt. It would appear that his only real teacher was his father, but he learned a great deal from correspondence with R. Hai Gaon. As a result, some Tosafists mistakenly believed that he had studied with Hai. After his father's death, he and then Nissim Ben Jacob Ibn Shahin became the heads of the yeshivah in Kairouan. Hananel had a business of his own and was very wealthy. When he died he left his nine daughters the sizable sum of ten thousand gold pieces.
Hananel was well known throughout Egypt. Having numerous ancient manuscripts of the Talmud at his disposal, he labored to produce an accurate version. His contribution in establishing the text was immense. Hananel also worked to revive the study of the Jerusalem Talmud, which had largely been supplanted by the more recent Babylonian Talmud. As can be seen from his talmudic commentary, he knew both Arabic and Greek. His works include a commentary on the Torah in which he vehemently attacked the views of the Karaites (a powerful community in Egypt at the time); various Responsa; decisions on ritual law; and a siddur (Prayer Book), setting forth the proper order of prayer.
