Physical Description

First edition. [1], 92, 115 ff., quarto, 190:150 mm., usual age staining, title and initial 5 ff from a shorter copy, wide margins. A good copy not bound.

Detail Description

Responsa from three generations of the distinguished Bacharach family, published by R. Jair Hayyim ben Moses Samson Bacharach. The title page, with a decorative frame comprised of several rows of florets, informs that the responsa included are also from R. Bacharach’s father, R. [Moses] Samson (1607–1670), Av Bet Din of Worms, and his grandfather, R. [Abraham] Samuel (1575-1615). The title page is undated, but the colophon has a date, on the day “that it was good” (Genesis 1:12) was said twice (Tuesday) and ten crowns were taken (1 Nissan ref. Shabbat 87b), “quietness and security השקט ובטח (439 = Tuesday March 14, 1679)” (Isaiah 32:17). In the introduction, on the verso of the title page, R. Bacharach writes that he had initially thought to entitle the combined responsa Hut ha-Mesulash המשולש, from “a threefold cord (hut ha-mesulash) is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12), because the responsa are from all three שלשה of them, but reconsidered as it would appear presumptuous to compare himself to them, so that he instead entitled it Hut ha-Shani “scarlet thread hut ha-shani השני” (Joshua 2:18) referring to only the two שנים of them.

There are ninety six responsa, ranging in length from a brief paragraph to several folios. Among the latter is the final responsum (101b-114a) dealing with the weights and measures mentioned in the Talmud and comparing them to current weights and measures. In this responsum R. Bacharach takes issue with R. Samuel ben David’s Nahalat Shivah (Amsterdam, 1677), offering seventeen arguments in refutation of positions taken by the author in that work. Also included are a small number of responsa from other leading rabbis, most notably R. Isaiah Horowitz (Shelah, c. 1565-1630).<p>R. Jair Hayyim ben Moses Samson Bacharach (1638–1702) reputation today rests on his monumental collection of responsa Havvat Yair (Frankfort a. Main, 1699). Among his other unpublished works are Ez Hayyim, a large multi-part compendium on the Jewish religion, and Mekor Hayyim on the Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayyim. This last work had received approbations from leading rabbis and was ready to be printed. However, the appearance of the Magen Avraham of R. Abraham Gombiner (c. 1637–1683) and the Turei Zahav of R. David ben Samuel Ha-Levi (Taz, 1586–1667) caused R. Bacharach to delay publication in order to annotate Mekor Hayyim, taking those works into consideration, with the result that it was never published.

Hebrew Description

(שאלות ותשובת), אשר הוציא לאור ... ר' יאיר חיים נר"ו בן ... ר' (משה) שמשון (בכרך) נ"ע אשר מצודתו היתה פרושה ואב"ד ור"מ בק"ק ווירמייזא (מכ"י זקיני ... ר' [אברהם] שמואל[ב"ר יצחק בכרך] ומכ"י א"א ... ר' [משה] שמשון זלה"ה ...  אשר השיבו לשואליהם ... גם איזה תשובות ממנו [צ"ל: ממני]) ...

מעבר לשער: הקדמה, מאת ר' יאיר חיים. 

כולל גם: תשובה בדין גט. מאת ר' ישעיה ב"ר אברהם סג"ל הורוויץ (סי' י), תשובה בדין עגונה, מאת ר' מנחם מענדיל [באס] ר' יצחק ר' אביגדורש מורנקפורט (סי' עד) ותשובה אחת בדין עגונה, מאת ר' נפתלי ב"ר יצחק כ"ץ (סי' צו). 

בסי' צז, תשובת ר' חיים יאיר (דף קז, ב): "והנה מקרוב הגיעני ספר אחד ... וכל דבריו אינם אלא תמה וטוב בעיני לבאר ... טוב [יז] השגת עליו". הדברים מכוונים נגד ספר נחלת שבעה לר' שמואל ב"ר דוד הלוי, אמשטרדם תכ"ז.

References

EJ; Freehof, Responsa Literature; JE; Vin Frankfort a. M. 44; ; Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 000115914; EJ