Responsum: On the Theft of Books

Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel

First Half of the 11th Century

Illustration of four turbaned, haloed men in front of a bookshelf reading and discussing books and gesturing toward a fifth standing white-bearded man with a staff.
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This responsum addresses the theft of a Hebrew Bible, its resale to another Jewish community, and that community’s subsequent dedication of the text to its synagogue. The anonymous questioner asks whether the stolen object must be returned to the family that originally owned it. This Hebrew text reflects many of the social and cultural facets of Jewish life in the Islamic Mediterranean, especially the precarious state of families left behind when breadwinners traveled for business.

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Creator Bio

Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel

ca. 990–ca. 1053

Ḥananel (Elḥanan) ben Ḥushiel was a judge and leading rabbinic scholar in Qayrawān, in what is now Tunisia. Ḥananel was in contact with the leading figures of Iraqi Jewry, and the influence of the Babylonian geonim, particularly Hayya Ga’on (939–1038), can be seen throughout his writings. There is evidence that he was quite wealthy. Ḥananel wrote one of the earliest commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud, perhaps the first to be composed outside of Iraq. This work was influential and is still studied to this day. Several of Ḥananel’s responsa survive as well.

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