“ASHER BEN YECHIEL” (RO”SH) (Pseudo). Besamim Rosh [responsa]

Saul Berlin maintained he had copied the 392 responsa recorded here from an Italian manuscript purported to be by the RO”SH, with Berlin only adding notes. However, the content was of a surprisingly liberal tendency bordering on antinomianism. The suspicion that the entire work was fictitious and Berlin’s purpose was merely to foment dissension was widely vocalized. A campaign seeking to brand Berlin an atheist was refuted by his father, R. Tzvi Hirsch Berlin, who attempted to vouchsafe the integrity of the manuscript.