Letter to Shemariah ben Elḥanan

Ḥushiel ben Elḥanan, a native of Bari in southern Italy, migrated to Qayrawān, in what is now Tunisia, where he later headed the talmudic academy. The circumstances of Ḥushiel’s arrival in Qayrawān are legendary. According to Abraham ibn Dā’ūd (ca. 1110–ca. 1180), Ḥushiel was one of the “four captives” who established important centers of Jewish learning outside the Near East, heralding the decline of the Baghdad academies. Ḥushiel’s reputation spread widely during his lifetime, and he was the teacher of many leading figures, including Nissim Ibn Shāhīn (ca. 990–ca. 1062) and his own son Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel (ca. 990–ca. 1053).