The R. Nissim referred to as the author of the second discourse may be R. Nissim ben Jacob ben Nissim ibn Shahin (c. 990–1062) who, together with R. Hananel b. Hushi'el, was the outstanding leader and talmudist of North Africa. His father headed a bet ha-midrash in Kairouan and was the representative of the academies of Sura and Pumbedita for the whole of North Africa. Little is known of R. Nissim's personal history. It is known that he, too, was head of an academy in Kairouan and maintained close ties with the academy of Pumbedita. After the death or Hananel, he was appointed by the Babylonian academies Rosh bei-Rabbanan ("Head of the College") in his stead. There were close ties between R. Nissim and R. Samuel ha-Nagid. R. Samuel supported R. Nissim financially and R. Nissim served as the principal channel for R. Samuel's knowledge of Babylonian teachings, particularly those of Rav Hai Gaon. When one of R. Nissim's sons died in childhood, R. Samuel composed a poem in consolation for the bereaved father. R. Nissim's daughter married R. Joseph ha-Nagid, R. Samuel's son, and on that occasion R. Nissim visited Granada and taught there. According to R. Abraham ibn Daud, R. Solomon ibn Gabirol was among those who heard his lectures. R. Nissim's teachers were his father, R. Hushi'el, and possibly also the latter's son R. Hananel, whose teachings reveal a close affinity with that of R. Nissim. R. Nissim obtained a great part of his halakhic tradition from Hai Gaon, with whom he corresponded. Noteworthy among his pupils is R. Ibn Gasom, the author of a book on the laws of prayer (see Assaf. bibl.).