Bidspirit auction | ISSERLES, MOSHE (ReM’A).  Zoth Torath

ISSERLES, MOSHE (ReM’A).  Zoth Torath HaChatath [Rabbinic Code]. With: Hilchoth Nidah by R. Yoseph Karo, accompanied by glosses of the Rem’a. Second edition. ff. 84, 19. Browned and stained, several leaves with marginal repairs. Modern boards. 4to. Vinograd, Cracow 47; Mehlman 697. Cracow, Isaac Prostitz, 1577. The importance of the Torath HaChatath lies in the fact that it includes the customs of communities of East and Central Europe which in many cases differ from the Halachic rulings found in the 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 Viku’ach Mayim Chaim. Despite such opposition, the Rema’s decisions have become fully accepted by Ashkenazic authorities worldwide. According to the title-page, this second edition has the advantage of having been prepared from a copy of the work that was directly corrected by the Rem’a himself. Born in Cracow, R. Moshe Isserles (c. 1525-72), was regarded among his contemporaries as the “Maimonides of Polish Jewry.” He was consulted on a range of Halachic matters by such great rabbinic figures as R. Meir Katzenellenbogen (Mahara’m Padua), R. Yoseph Karo, R. Shlomo Luria (Maharsh’al) and the Rema’s brother-in-law, R. Yoseph Katz (author of She'erith Yosef).