She’elath Ya’avetz [“Ya’avetz" is an acronym of the Author: Ya’akov ben Tzvi]. Appended: “Asarah ha-Lechem": ten responsa to questions concerning Emden’s commentary to Mishnah, “Lechem Shamayim"

In his very revealing prologue, Jacob Emden writes that at the time of his birth, his parents were in a state of utter consternation due to the extreme melancholy afflicting his father the “Chacham Tzvi," which his doctors feared would prove fatal. Eventually, the father recovered from his illness, but, says Emden, he suspects that the melancholy that hung the entire household caused permanent damage to his own psychological well-being, resulting in a state of chronic depression