CHAIM SHABTHAI. (MaHaRCHa”SH). Torath Chaim [responsa]. Parts I, II and III (complete)

AUCTION 53 | Thursday, December 08th, 2011 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts Autograph Letters & Graphic Art

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Lot 59

(BRAZIL)

CHAIM SHABTHAI. (MaHaRCHa”SH). Torath Chaim [responsa]. Parts I, II and III (complete)

FIRST EDITIONS. Three parts bound in three volumes. Part I: ff. 5,148 * Part II: ff. 4, 128 * Part III: ff. 8, 192. Ex-library, scattered marginalia in a Sephardic hand, some staining, slight marginal repair on title of Part II, small hole on on first leaf of index of Part I. Later boards, loose. Folio Vinograd, Salonika 211-12 & 223

Salonika: 1713, 1715 and 1722

Est: $700 - $1,000

PRICE REALIZED $500

The earliest recorded responsa from the New World. Torath Chaim, Vol. III, Responsa no. 3, discusses the appropriate season to pray for rain. The inquiry was sent from the Jewish Community of Recife, Brazil to R. Chaim Shabthai, Chief Rabbi of Salonika, and one of the outstanding scholars of his time. The circumstances of living in the tropical climate of Brazil created questions regarding the traditional season to recite the Prayer for Rain. Thus making the New World’s first contribution to the Responsa Literature.” See M.A. Cohen, Sephardim in the Americas, American Jewish Archives vol. XLIV (1992) p. 218.