PERI EẒ-ḤAYYIM

PERI EẒ-ḤAYYIM
PERI EẒ-ḤAYYIM (Heb. פְּרִי עֵץ־חַיִּים; "fruit of the tree of life"), Hebrew periodical devoted to halakhic responsa and published in Amsterdam from 1691 to 1807. Peri Eẓ Ḥayyim, a forerunner of Hebrew periodical literature, was issued by the well-known yeshivah Eẓ Ḥayyim founded in 1616. In the 18th century the yeshivah became the largest and most important Torah center not only of Sephardi Jewry but of Ashkenazi Jewry as well. Accordingly, halakhic queries addressed to the yeshivah's outstanding talmudists reflect the entire spectrum of Jewish life in the 17th and 18th centuries and all aspects of halakhah. Decisions or advice were requested on such matter as inheritance laws, civil claims, social conflicts, shipping merchandise, piracy, the slave trade, the value of coinage and its fluctuations, Jewish housing difficulties in Holland, agunot, and marriages between those of greatly differing ages. Most of the decisions are dated and signed by the rabbis who gave them. The responsa indicate that, in the main, Dutch Jewry lived completely within the religious tradition, even though some of the inquirers, particularly among the women, no longer knew Hebrew. Halakhic inquiries came predominantly from Holland and its colonies, with some coming from the Mediterranean littoral and elsewhere. There are letters that reveal their writers to have been Marranos, whose problems are also clarified in these responsa. Although almost all the responsa are on halakhic matters, occasionally information about and reactions to other things are also recorded. Thus, there are praises for the art of printing and for science, accounts of the history of the Spanish Jews in Amsterdam, and the Hebrew poet david franco-mendes ' history of the yeshivah Eẓ Ḥayyim and of Peri Eẓ-Ḥayyim. Only a few copies of each responsa were published and as a result a complete set is no longer extant. Of the 952 responsa, 948 have been preserved and these are housed in different libraries throughout the world (e.g., the Ets Ḥayyim library in Amsterdam, the Rosenthal collection of the Amsterdam University   Library, the National Library in Jerusalem, and the library of J.L. Maimon in Jerusalem). In 1936 Max Hirsch Menko published, with an introduction and indexes, a German synopsis of all the extant responsa. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Y. Raphael, Rishonim va-Aḥaronim (1957), 323–7; Y. Toury, in: Benjamin De Vries Memorial Volume (1968), 319–20. (Getzel Kressel)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hayyim ben Joseph Vital — (Calabria, 1543[1] – Damascus, 23 April 1620[2]) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremost disciple of Isaac Luria. He recorded much of his master s teachings. After Vital s death his writings spread having a powerful impact on various circles… …   Wikipedia

  • VITAL, ḤAYYIM BEN JOSEPH — (1542–1620), one of the greatest kabbalists. Vital was born in Ereẓ Israel, apparently in Safed. His father, Joseph Vital Calabrese, whose name indicates his origin from Calabria, South Italy, was a well known scribe in Safed (see responsa of… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • HOROWITZ, SAUL ḤAYYIM BEN ABRAHAM HA-LEVI — (1828–1915), Jerusalem rabbi. Horowitz was born in Vilna where his father was rabbi. He married the daughter of David Tevele b. Nathan of Minsk. From 1865 he was rabbi of Dubrovno, whence the name the Dubrovno rabbi, by which he was known. He… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • LEEUW, JACOB BEN ḤAYYIM (Heymann) DE — (1811–1883), Dutch talmudist. De Leeuw was born in Leiden, but also resided for some time in s Hertogenbosch. In 1874 he went to Amsterdam, where he taught in the bet midrash Eẓ Ḥayyim. He was the author of expositions and novellae on various… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ATTAR, ḤAYYIM BEN MOSES (IBN) — (1696–1743), rabbi and kabbalist. Born in Salé, Morocco, he received his early education from his grandfather, Ḥayyim Atar . Attar settled in Meknes after the death of his great uncle Shem Tov in order to manage his business in partnership with… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • MODAI, ḤAYYIM — (d. 1794), Safed scholar. In 1749 Modai journeyed to Europe as an emissary of the Safed community. Passing through Egypt, he came across a manuscript of geonic responsa which he published 43 years later under the title Sha arei Ẓedek (Salonika,… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ABRAHAM ḤAYYIM BEN GEDALIAH — (1750–1816), Galician rabbi. Abraham studied under his father Gedaliah b. Benjamin Wolf, who was av bet din in Zloczow. He was a disciple of dov baer the Maggid of Mezhirech, jacob joseph of Polonnoye, and jehiel michel of zloczow . He was also a …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • HELLER, ḤAYYIM — (1878–1960), rabbinical and biblical scholar. Heller was born in Bialystok. From 1910 Heller served as rabbi in Lomza, Poland. In 1917 he settled in Berlin, where in 1922 he established a new type of yeshivah (Bet ha Midrash ha Elyon) for… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • DEUTSCH, ELIEZER ḤAYYIM BEN ABRAHAM — (1850–1916), Hungarian talmudist and author. Deutsch was born in Petra, near Kaschau. He studied under Menahem Eisenstadt of Ungvar, Judah Aszód, and solomon ganzfried . In 1876 he was appointed rabbi of Hunfalu, and, in 1897, of the important… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • AḤARONIM — (Heb. אַחֲרוֹנִים; lit. the later (authorities), a term used to designate the later rabbinic authorities, in contrast to the rishonim , the earlier authorities. Although scholars differ as to the exact chronological dividing line between the two …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”