Haggai Ben-Shammai was born in Tel-Aviv in 1939, grew up in Jerusalem and has lived to this day in this city. He served in the army in a Nahal unit and stayed on a Kibbutz for a few years afterwards. He is married to Bitya, who was for many years the editor and director of the RAMBI project. Haggai and Bitya have four children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Ben-Shammai studied at the Hebrew University in the departments of Arabic Language and Literature, history of the Islamic countries and Semitic languages for the degrees of B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. (1962-1977). He is one of the world’s leading scholars of Karaism and Judeo-Arabic culture. His interests include also Judaeo-Arabic Bible exegesis and philosophy, history of Jewish communities in Islamic countries, and Islamic theology. He has published critical editions, commentaries, and articles on works by the most important Judeo-Arabic and Karaite thinkers including Saadia Gaon, Judah ha-Levi, Yefet ben Eli and Maimonides and has trained a generation of scholars working in the field of Judeao-Arabic studies.
Ben-Shammai is Professor Emeritus of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University. He has served as co-director of the Center for the Study of Judaeo-Arabic Culture and Literature (Ben-Zvi Institute, since 1995); President of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies (1997-2013); co-director of the Jewish Studies program at St. Petersburg State University (2000-2006); academic co-director of the Friedberg Genizah Project (since 2003); and Academic Director of the National Library of Israel (October 2009-September 2015).
Ben-Shammai served as visiting professor and research fellow in several universities in England and the U.S.A. (Cambridge, London, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Yeshiva U). He was involved in the founding and academic management of projects aimed at enhancing Jewish studies in Russia, and in organizations active in research and diffusion of Jewish studies, such as the Ben Zvi Institute for the study of Jewish Communities in the East, the Center for the Study of Judaeo-Arabic Culture and Literature and the Friedberg Geniza Project.