Vikuach Mayim Chaim.

Critical notes against the decisions of Torath HaChatath by the ReM”A, by R. Chaim of Prague, brother of the celebrated Mahara”l of Prague. R. Moses Isserles (the ReM”A) was born in Cracow c. 1525 and was regarded among his contemporaries to be the “Maimonides of Polish Jewry.” His first halachic work Torath HaChatath, is one of the most important Codes concerning dietary and menstrual laws. Its importance lies in the fact that it includes the customs of Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Moravia, Germany, etc. which in many situations differ from the rulings of R. Joseph Karo in his Shulchan Aruch. The ReM”A was frequently lenient in cases where personal hardship was involved and generally leaned toward Polish custom. This attitude irked many of his peers, especially the present author R. Chaim b. Betzalel, who studied alongside the ReM”A in the Yeshiva of R. Shachna and criticizes him severely in this work. Despite this, the decisions of the ReM”A are accepted by Ashkenazic authorities worldwide.