Chaim Shabthai. (MaHaRCHa”SH). Torath Chaim [responsa]. Parts I, II and III (complete)
AUCTION 57 |
Thursday, January 31st,
2013 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art
Lot 7
(AMERICAN JUDAICA)
Chaim Shabthai. (MaHaRCHa”SH). Torath Chaim [responsa]. Parts I, II and III (complete)
Salonika: 1713, 1715 and 1722
Est: $2,000 - $2,500
PRICE REALIZED $1,600
<<The earliest recorded responsa from the New World.>>
Torath Chaim, Vol. III, responsa no. 3, discusses the appropriate season to pray for rain. This inquiry was sent from “a faraway land,” the Jewish Community of Recife, Brazil, to R. Chaim Shabthai, Chief Rabbi of Salonika and one of the outstanding rabbinic scholars of his time. The circumstances of living in the tropical climate of Brazil created questions regarding the traditional time to recite the Prayer for Rain. - Thus the New World’s first contribution to the lengthy Jewish tradition of Responsa Literature. See M.A. Cohen, Sephardim in the Americas, American Jewish Archives. Vol. XLIV (1992) p. 218.