Bidspirit auction | Discovery! Handwritten Glosses by Rabbi

Discovery! Handwritten Glosses by Rabbi Chaim Moda'i, Av Beis Din of Izmir, on Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat Amsterdam, 1749 * Hundreds of glosses and chiddushim, and thousands of references, in the handwriting of Rabbi Chaim Moda'i, appearing in the margins of Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat. The glosses contain various halachic rulings, with references to hundreds of sefarim of teshuvos in print and manuscript, as well as his own chiddushim. The work closely resembles the sefer Knesses HaGedolah and may be viewed as an extension of that sefer. Rabbi Chaim Moda'i had in his possession the manuscript of the teshuvos of the Sha'arei Tzedek (which he printed in Livorno in 1792), and in the present glosses he refers to them while they were still in manuscript form. He likewise possessed teshuvos from the author of Knesses HaGedolah, as well as the manuscript Zichronos Maharik by Rabbi Yitzchak HaKohen Rappaport, author of Batei Kehunah (this likely refers to the manuscript of Batei Kehunah upon which the glosses of Rabbi Chaim appear, listed in the Zaidy catalog, Auction 6, Item 33). He also cites his other chiddushim, mentioning his sefer Et Sofer and his sefer of drashos. An Important Discovery Rabbi Chaim Modai's glosses on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim and Yoreh Deah were printed in the sefer Berach Moshe (Livorno, 1809). His glosses in the margins of Shulchan Aruch Even HaEzer are in the archives of the Rebbe of Karlin shlita (some of which have been printed in the publications Beis Aharon and Yisrael). Now, we are privileged to present the final section on Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat, which has never been published. Rabbi Shlomo Chazan, Av Beis Din in Egypt, saw these glosses in the home of the son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim Moda'i, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Algazi. He describes them in his sefer Ma’alos L’Shlomo (entry Mem, section 12): ”And I, the young one, when I was in Egypt, saw in the possession of his son-in-law, the distinguished elder, Av Beis Din and Moreh Tzedek, the honorable Rabbi Yosef Moshe Algazi z”l, a Shulchan Aruch, the Four Turim, filled to the brim with glosses from the aforementioned Rabbi Chaim, written in his sacred handwriting, in an Ashuri script, exceedingly fine and delicate.” The reader of his glosses cannot but marvel at his extraordinary mastery of the literature of responsa. For example, in a single gloss (leaf 363b) regarding one who withholds another’s money while the latter pays interest, he references an astonishing range of sources: the Maharshdam, Knesses HaGedolah, Shu”t Rema, Shu”t Maharam of Lublin, Radbaz, Tashbetz, Panim Meiros, Mordechai, Mishpatim Yesharim, Magen Giborim (de Avila), Ein Mishpat (Malchi), and Shevus Yaakov. Rabbi Chaim Moda’i (c. 1720-1794) was a great Sephardic sage. Born in Tzfas, he journeyed across Europe as an emissary of the Tzfas Jewish community, eventually settling in Constantinople. When travelling through Prague, he met the Nodah B’Yehudah who praised him highly: “I was asked by the scholar and sage, our master Rabbi Chaim Moda’i… one of the sages of.... Constantinople, as he passed through on his sacred mission to support the holy community of Tzfas” (Noda B’Yehudah, siman 88). He also maintained a close friendship with the Chida, with whom he corresponded frequently, as the Chida notes in his teshuvos (Chaim Sha’al, Part II, siman 21). From 1775, he served as the Rav of Izmir. In his final years, he returned to Tzfas, where he passed away. He authored many teshuvos which were printed in the sefer Shu”t Chaim LeOlam, two volumes (Izmir 1879–1885), Tiv Gittin (Jerusalem 1875), and other chiddushim and teshuvos appear in the works of the sages from his era (see Yaari – Shluchei Eretz Yisrael page 452, note 214).  Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat with Be’er Heitev by Rabbi Moshe Frankfurter. Amsterdam, 1749. First edition. (See Sifrei Yesod #168.) Page count: 5-392 leaves. Size: 17.5 cm. Condition: Missing 8 leaves at the beginning and 4 leaves at the end – 393-396. Condition: Holes, many glosses cropped. ---------------------------------------- Any inquiries about this lot? We are also available on WhatsApp >>>