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

(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

Salonika

1713, 1715 and 1722

FIRST EDITIONS. Three parts bound in two volumes. Previous owners stamps and signatures including stamp of R. Eliahu Chaim Meisel, Rabbi of Lodz on title of Part I and R. Yehoshua Heschel Teomim Frankel son of the Baruch Taam, R. Baruch Teomim Frankel, on title of Part III

Vinograd, Salonika 211, 212 & 223

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 concerns regarding preserving 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