(ReM”A). Zoth Torath HaChatath [Rabbinic Code]. With Hilchoth Nidah by Joseph Karo, accompanied by glosses of the ReM”A

ISSERLES, MOSES

Isaac Prostitz

Cracow

1591

Second edition. At end, Hebrew signatures of three generations of former owners: Yitzchak ben Alexander HaKohen of Dortmund, Moshe ben Yitzchak HaKohen of Hensburg and Samuel ben Moshe HaKohen of Hensburg

Vinograd, Cracow 47; Mehlman 697

RARE. This copy contains the rare final leaf of corrections lacking in the Mehlman copy. R. Moses Isserles, born in Cracow circa1525, was regarded among his contemporaries as the “Maimonides of Polish Jewry” and was consulted by the great rabbis of his time on all halachic matters. Among those who corresponded with him were Meir Katzenellenbogen, Joseph Karo, Solomon Luria and his brother-in-law, Joseph Katz. See EJ, IX cols. 1081-85. The importance of the Torath HaChatath lies in the fact that it includes the customs of Eastern and Central Europe which in many cases differ from the rulings of Joseph Karo in his Shulchan Aruch. The ReM”A generally leaned toward Polish custom, an attitude that irked many of his peers, especially R. Chaim b. Betzalel (brother of the Mahara"l of Prague), who criticized the ReM”A in his Vikuach Mayim Chaim. Despite such opposition, the ReM”A’s decisions are accepted worldwide by Ashkenazic authorities. According to the title, this second edition has the advantage of being printed from a copy of the work corrected by R. Moses Isserles himself