Letter to Jacob ben Nissim of Qayrawān

Hayya Ga’on sent this letter, written in Hebrew, to Qayrawān, Tunisia, most likely to Jacob ben Nissim, head of the rabbinic academy in that city, whom he calls alluf, an honorific title granted to supporters or leading members of the geonic academies in Baghdad. The text itself survives in two separate Geniza fragments that were rejoined in the twentieth century. It is still very fragmentary, and only excerpts from it are presented here. The extant copy is not original but was made by Hayya’s frequent correspondent, Shemariah ben Elḥanan of Fustāt (d. 1011). Many geonic letters were intercepted and copied along their journeys. In the letter, Hayya urges the recipient to salvage a connection to the Andalusi Jews and to renew his support for the geonic academies. He also conveys his condolences on the death of the recipient’s son. The exchange of responsa in return for financial support is a common theme of such letters. Unbracketed ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.