A new collection of religious poems by Rav Hai Gaon was published recently in Israel by Yisrael Yitzhak Hasida.
Rav Hai was the last of the Babylonian Gaonim, who for a period of about five hundred years served as spiritual leaders of Babylonian Jewry and were recognized as the highest rabbinical authorities by Jews all over the world who turned to them for advice and instruction.
He was a descendant of the royal house of David, a son of Rav Sherira, the Gaon of Pumbeditha and a son-in-law of Rav Shmuel ben Hofni, the Gaon of Sura. While his father was still alive, he succeeded him as Gaon of Pumbeditha and served in that post for forty years until his death in the year 1038 at the venerable age of ninety-nine.
He was revered throughout the Jewish world and students from many countries sat at his feet.
Shmuel HaNagid, the great Spanish-Jewish statesman, Talmudist and poet, corresponded with Rav Hai and supported liberally his Yeshiva. After the death of Hai he mourned him in a long elegy. Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, the great Hebrew poet, lamented Rav Hai’s death in several poems.
Rav Hai, who was also versed in Arabic literature, wrote numerous responsa, commentaries on the Talmud and legal treatises, but only part of these have survived.
He was also a poet. A long didactic poem of his, “Musar Haskel,” and a Piyut, which is recited by the Sefardim on Yom Kippur night, have been known for a long time. In our days more poems of his have been discovered and published.
Hasida’s recent book presents us with yet another new collection of Piyutim by Rav Hai.
In his introduction Hasida tells us of his discovery of these Piyutim.
Several years ago he was visited by an elderly couple. They were immigrants from Persia. They brought with them an old manuscript, which had been in the possession of the family for many generations. The family had originally lived in Bukhara and from there had moved to Persia.
“This book was one of our most precious possessions,” the man said. When he decided to leave for the Holy Land, he asked his aged mother to give him the book. He was afraid that because of the situation of the Jews in Persia, the book might get lost. After long entreaties the mother consented to entrust him with the manuscript. In Israel he took great care of the book, but now he was old, he did not know much about the contents of the manuscript, and his sons were not walking in his ways — so he and his wife decided to go to Jerusalem and give the volume to scholars in the Holy City. They would find in it Torah and wisdom and thus the efforts of the family to preserve the book would be rewarded.
Hasida examined the manuscript and at once realized that it was indeed very old. He sought to interest a Jerusalem institution in acquiring it but failed. Unwilling to let such an opportunity to go by, he borrowed money and bought the book.
He devoted himself to the study of the manuscript which contained two books: The Midrash on the Psalms and a collection of Midrashim, many of them hitherto unknown, and comments on the books of VaYikra, Bamidbar and Devarim. At the head of each Parsha was a poem praising G-d and alluding to the Parsha’s contents. The verses of each poem started with words whose first letters were respectively, Alf, Beth Gimel, Dalet, etc. The last four verses of each poem began with words whose first letters were, respectively, Hei Alef, Yud, Yud. These four letters formed the name Hai.
Hasida is convinced that the author of these poems was none other than Rav Hai Gaon.
The manuscript is now in the possession of the National and Hebrew University Library. While transferring the volume to this institution, Hasida reserved himself the right to publish the poems.
The book “Rav Hai Gaon Reshuyot Leparshiyot haTorah” is the result of his research. He has vocalized and annotated the piyutim. In the introduction he describes the manuscript, which was written in the year 1329 and discusses some aspects of the poems.
I have dealt somewhat with the discovery of the Piyutim, for it demonstrates once more what great literary treasures have been brought to Israel by immigrants from oriental countries, many of whom never realized the inestimable value of the books they inherited from their fathers. However it is also no secret that individuals as well as communities out of sheer ignorance have left behind in their countries of origin priceless volumes which are now lost to our people.
Yisrael Yitzhak Hasida is a well known Hebrew author, some of his books have been best sellers. These include a three volume encyclopedia on Halachic sayings, “The Figures of the Bible as seen through the eyes of our Sages” and a large collection of Hasidic comments on the Talmud.
Several years ago, he discovered hitherto unknown liturgical poems by Nahmanides. In the introduction to his new volume he states his belief that the Zechut of having published these poems as well as poems by other authors has helped him in the discovery of the Piyutim of Rav Hai Gaon.
The Jewish Press, Friday March 18 1977 p. 46