Nissim ben Jacob
Nissim ben Jacob, also known as Nissim Gaon, was a rabbi and Gaon best known today for his Talmudic commentary ha-Mafteach, by which title he is also known.
Biography
Rav Nissim studied at the Kairouan Yeshiva, initially under his father, Jacob ben Nissim, who had studied under Hai ben Sherira and then Chushiel, who succeeded as head of the yeshiva. Nissim himself later became head of the yeshiva; in this capacity he is closely associated with Chananel ben Chushiel. His most famous student is probably Isaac Alfasi. Nissim maintained an active correspondence with Hai ben Sharira and with Samuel ibn Naghrillah, whose son Joseph married Nissim's only daughter in 1049.Works
The commentary Sefer mafteaḥ le-manʻ ūlei ha-talmūd is essentially a Talmudic cross-reference. In it Rav Nissim identifies the sources for Mishnaic quotes, identifying obscure allusions to other places in Talmudic literature. He quotes from the Tosefta, Mekhilta, Sifre, Sifra, and from the Jerusalem Talmud, the explanations of which he sometimes prefers to those of the Babylonian Talmud. Nissim did not confine himself to quoting references, he also discusses these in connection with the text; this work is thus also a commentary. The work was written on several tractates, and is printed, in many editions, on the page itself.He is also the author of the Judeo-Arabic narrative work al-Faraǧ baʿd al-Šidda, which in his words is "the entire history of the Jews 'with the exception of that included in the Scroll of Esther, the Scroll of the Hasmoneans, and the 24 books .'" It follows the structure of cyclical suffering and redemption seen by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi as typical of medieval historiography, relating damage done in Kairouan by the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in 1057. It includes Megillat Antiochus in addition to post-biblical material. An Arabic analog to his work in the "relief from adversity" genre is.
Nissim also wrote other works, some of which have been lost, but which are quoted by later sages:
- "Siddur Tefillah", a siddur
- A commentary on the Torah
- A "Sefer ha-Mitzvot" on the commandments
- "Hilkhot Lulav" a polemic against the Karaites
- "Megillat Setarim": a collection of notes concerning halakhic decisions, explanations, and midrashim, primarily a note-book for the author's private use, and published by his pupils probably not until after his death.
- A collection of tales, "Sefer Ma'asiyyot ha-Hakhamim wehu Ḥibbur Yafeh meha-Yeshu'ah": about sixty tales, based upon the Mishnah, Baraita, the two Talmuds, and the midrashic writings; and written at the request of Nissim's father-in-law, Dunash, on the loss of his son.