BACHARACH, YAIR CHAIM.

Giovanni di Gara

Venice

1593-4

(1638-1702, author of the Chavoth Yair). Karo, Joseph. Shulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law]. Choshen Mishpath. BOUND WITH: Yoreh De’ah. With glosses by Moses Isserliss (RaM”A). WITH EXTENSIVE AUTOGRAPH MARGINAL NOTES BY YAIR CHAIM BACHRACH. Mostly covering the first fifty five portions of Choshen Mishpath. He also refers to his teachers, see note on f.3.

Vinograd, Venice 789; Mehlman 781; Habermann, di Gara 142; Adams J-341

Yair Chaim Bacharach, (The “Chavoth Yair”), was one of the most outstanding German scholars with an extensive knowledge of the sciences and kabbalah. He is known for his systematic approach to Talmudic literature and Halacha based on his exhaustive knowledge of all branches of Jewish scholarship. His notes on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, were recently published by Machon Yerushalaim under the title Mekor Chaim (Jerusalem, 1982). The samples of his handwriting match the notes in the current work. An inscription on the front paste down, signed by Samuel ben Aaron Bacharach and dated 1614, states that he bought this volume in Frankfurt. For a most extensive treatment of the life and works of R. Yair Chaim Bacharach, see: David Kaufman, R. Jair Hayyim Bachrach und seine Ahren (Treves, 1894), German. An English version appears in JQR, Vol. 3 (1891) pp. 292-313, 485-536. For a Hebrew overview, see Moses Zafir, in the introduction to the recently republished Chut Ha’shani.