Sefer ha-Qabbalah

Sefer ha-Qabbalah (ספר הקבלה) was written by Abraham ibn Daud around 1160–1161. The book is a response to Karaite attacks against the historical legitimacy of Rabbinic Judaism and contains, among other items, the controversial tale of the kidnapping by pirates of four great rabbinic scholars from Babylonian academies, whose subsequent ransoming by Jewish communities around the Mediterranean accounts for the transmission of scholarly legitimacy to the rabbis of Jewish centers in North Africa and Christian Spain.

In terms of chronology, Sefer ha-Qabbalah continues where the Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon leaves off, adding invaluable historical anecdotes not found elsewhere. The Sefer ha-Qabbalah puts the compilation of the Mishnah by Judah HaNasi in year 500 of the Seleucid Era, corresponding to 189 CE.

At the time, the term qabbalah simply meant "tradition". It had not yet assumed the mythical and esoteric connotations for which it is now known.

Story of the Four Captives
"According to this story[, ...] a Muslim sea raider from Cordoba, Spain (probably Ibn Rumahis, 974) captured a ship which had set sail from Bari in southern Italy. On it were four rabbis who were on a mission (it is conjectured on behalf of the Babylonian academy) to raise funds for the dowries of poor brides. These rabbis were redeemed by Jewish communities: R. *Shemariah b. Elhanan in Alexandria, Egypt; R. *Ḥushi'el was sold in "Africa" (i.e., Tunisia) and became the leader of the Kairouan rabbis; R. *Moses b. Ḥanokh and his son *Hanokh were redeemed in Cordoba. The identity of the fourth captive and the place where he was redeemed was not stated."

The story is not true, although the named individuals are well-known; for example, "Elḥanan b. Shemarya is thoroughly familiar to all Geniza scholars as a Jewish communal leader in Fustat who appears repeatedly in the early eleventh-century Geniza record."

Influence
Although Sefer ha-Qabbalah had enormous influence as an authority on the history of Spanish Jewry, modern scholarship no longer considers it to be objective history. Nonetheless, it is valuable as a source of information on the life and thought of 12th century Spain.