Manuscript/Mixed Material Image 1 of [Responsa collected by Elijah b. Elkanah Capsali of Candia]

Title

• [Responsa collected by Elijah b. Elkanah Capsali of Candia]

Created / Published

• 16th century (approximately 1538-1545).

Headings

• -  Manuscripts, Hebrew--Washington (D.C.)

Notes

• -  Executed in: Candia.
• -  Byzantine semi-cursive scripts.
• -  Description based on finding aid
• -  Collection of responsa and decisions by several rabbis from 1538-1545 on two controversies in Candia, collected by Elijah b. Elkanah Capsali. The first controversy involved the validity of a marriage ceremony in which two brothers served as witnesses; the second concerned the marital status of a woman whose husband, Moses Kolfati, disappeared and, according to an unsolicited statement of a non-Jew, was murdered. Capsali and his opponent Judah Delmedigo held different opinions on both issues and Capsali collected decisions relating to both cases. The decisions bound in this volume include: F. 1v: A letter by Moses Alashkar to Elijah Capsali copied by Capsali. Ff. 2r-5v: Alashkar's responsum on the first case, printed as no. 99 in his responsa editions. It is not an autograph except for Alashkar's signature at the end. Ff. 6r-7v: His responsum on the second case printed as no. 111 in the editions. Ff. 8r-15r: David ibn Avi Zimra's responsum on the second case published, with variations, as no. 26 in Divrei David (Leghorn 1828). Capsali wrote in a note on f. 8r that it is an autograph: זה הטופס הוא כתב ידו של החכם...[ ו]ד יצ"ו., but he is wrong. Ff. 16r-20r: Tam ibn Yahya's responsum on the first case printed as no. 147 in Ohalei Tam, followed by Mattathias Tamar's rejoinder (ibid. no. 148). Ff. 20v-27v: Alashkar's rebuttals of both Tam's and Tamar's responsa, printed as nos. 112-133. Ff. 27v-28v: Jacob Berab's responsa on both cases (nos. 17 and 16 in the editions). Ff. 28v-29r: Endorsement by Isaac Garson of Fez, passing through Candia. Ff. 36r-75r: Capsali's rebuttals of the opinions of Tam and Tamar. Ff. 75v-76v: Samuel ha-Levi Hakan's responsa on both cases.
• -  Ff. 16r-29r may have been copied by Elijah Capsali and ff. 36r-53r by his pupil Eliezer Kohen who added at the end of the quire: נאם אליעזר כהן הכותב כמצווה מפי... מרי ורבי כמהר"ר אליהו קפשלי יצ"ו. The rest of the manuscript was copied by other pupils of Capsali. At the end, the scribe of the community of Candia, Abraham Sasson and Elijah b. Hayyim Malfati testified that the letters were faithfully and accurately copied: אני אברהם ששון כמו סופר לקהלתנו מעיד ומאמת שכל הפסקים הנ"ל הועתקו אות באות... and אני אליאו בלא"א כ"ר חיים מלפטי ז"ל... שהועתקו אות באות (f. 76r). Sasson copied f. 76v and signed his name.
• -  Owners: The manuscript was presented to Judah Bibas, a rabbi in Corfu and later in Hebron, according to an inscription on f. 1r: מתנתא... אל... כמוהר"ר יאודה ביבאס. Eleazar Gruenhut (d. 1913) was in possession of the manuscript and described it and published excerpts in ZfHB, vol. 10 (1906), pp. 190-191 and in Ha-Olam, vol. 1 (1907), pp. 76-77. A short responsum by Levi ibn Habib on a separate leaf mentioned by Gruenhut is no longer in the manuscript. Deinard, 1914. MMW.

Medium

• 76 ff. Paper. ;

Call Number/Physical Location

• LC Hebr. Ms 18
• Micro Orien. Hebr. 841/2

Repository

• Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu

Digital Id

• https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/amedscd.2018757635

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2018757635

Online Format

• pdf
• image

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2018757635

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• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record

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