History of responsa in Judaism spans a period of 1,700 years. Responsa constitute a special class of rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...

, differing in form, but not necessarily in content, from Rabbinic commentaries devoted to the exegesis of the Bible

Tanakh

The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...

, the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

, the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

, and halakha

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 (the codes of Jewish religious law

Religious law

In some religions, law can be thought of as the ordering principle of reality; knowledge as revealed by a God defining and governing all human affairs. Law, in the religious sense, also includes codes of ethics and morality which are upheld and required by the God...

). The codes themselves contain the rules for ordinary incidents of life. The responsa literature covers all these topics and more. The mode, style and subject matter have changed as a function of the travels of the Jewish people and of the development of other halakhic literature, particularly the codes.

Talmudic era

The responsa

Responsa

Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...

 of the first five centuries are not contained in special works; they are scattered through the writings of both Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

s (the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud

Jerusalem Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...

). Works devoted especially to responsa first appear in the post-Talmudic period. Many responsa have been lost, but those extant number hundreds of thousands, in almost a thousand known collections.

Pre-Mishnaic era

No responsa are known to exist from before the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

 (200

200

Year 200 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus...

 CE); it is doubtful whether any were written before this period. A tradition held that no halakha (law) should be written down (see Oral Torah

Oral Torah

The Oral Torah comprises the legal and interpretative traditions that, according to tradition, were transmitted orally from Mount Sinai, and were not written in the Torah...

). Even when reluctance to write down rulings became obsolete, letters of a legal nature might be written only in cases where laws might likewise be reduced to writing. While the rule prevailed that no laws should be written, no communications of legal content were made by means of letters. Questions were usually communicated orally, or proposed to the academy by a teacher, who transmitted the answer and decision by word of mouth. The rarity of letters on legal problems in the Tannaitic era (the period the Mishnah covers) may be seen from a passage in the Tosefta

Tosefta

The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...

 (Ter. ii. 13), which states that Rabbi Gamliel secretly dispatched a messenger with an answer to a question; for if he desired to keep his decision secret, he would probably have sent a letter had such replies been customary at that time.

Mishnaic era

In the Tannaitic

Tannaim

The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...

 period (100 BCE to 200 CE) statements, publications, contributions concerning the calendar, and notifications were the only documents regularly committed to writing. On the other hand, it can not positively be asserted that no ruling at all had been given in writing before the completion of the Mishnah: certain exceptions were doubtless made.

In the Talmud

Immediately after the completion of the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

, when the prohibition or reluctance against writing halakhot had in great part disappeared, the responsa literature began to appear, traces being preserved in the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

. Often questions were settled by a single letter, as was later the case with the Geonim, who exchanged a series of responsa. The replies were signed by pupils and colleagues, so that, strictly speaking, the responsa were issued by a board.

With the beginning of the third century of the common era, responsa begin to frequently appear in letters from Babylonia to Israel. By the end of the third century the correspondence between Israel and Babylonia had become more active, and the responsa from the one to the other had become far more numerous. These rulings from rabbis in Israel seem to have been regarded as authoritative and demanding obedience; and the threat was made to Rabbi Judah ben Ezekiel, head of the Academy of Pumbedita

Pumbedita

Pumbedita was the name of a city in ancient Babylonia close to the modern-day city of Fallujah....

, that a letter would be brought from Jerusalem to annul his decision (Talmud, tractate Bava Batra 41b). Another teacher likewise protested against R. Judah's ruling, and warned him that he also would produce a letter from Jerusalem to refute him (Talmud, Shebu. 48b), the same experience befalling Mar Ukba (Talmud, Sanhedrin 29a).

Geonim

During the Geonic

Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...

 period (650

650

Year 650 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 650 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Khazars conquer the Great Bulgarian Empire...

-1250 CE), the Babylon

Babylon

Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

ian schools were the chief centers of Jewish learning; the Geonim, the heads of these schools, were recognized as the highest authorities in Jewish law

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

. Despite difficulties that hampered the irregular communications of the period, Jews who lived even in most distant countries sent their inquiries concerning religion and law to these officials in Babylonia. In the latter centuries of the geonic period, from the middle of the tenth to the middle of the eleventh, their supremacy suffered, as the study of the Talmud received care in other lands. The inhabitants of these regions gradually began to submit their questions to the heads of the schools of their own countries. Eventually they virtually ceased sending their questions to Babylonian Geonim.

Characteristics

• Geonic responsa are written in three languages, Hebrew
  Hebrew language
  Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
  
  , Aramaic
  Aramaic language
  Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
  
  , and Arabic
  Arabic language
  Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
  
  . In the earliest period Aramaic, the language of the Gemara
  Gemara
  The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
  
  , prevailed exclusively, but in the middle of the ninth century Hebrew began to appear in the responsa side by side with it. This innovation was due, on the one hand, to the study of Hebrew, which spread through rabbinical circles as a result of the Karaite movement, and, on the other, to the fact that the rulings of the Geonim were sent to distant lands, where the inhabitants were unfamiliar with Aramaic; it thus became necessary to write to them in Hebrew, the dialect of the Mishnah
  Mishnah
  The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
  
  . When Arabic became the prevailing language of the Jews, questions were frequently addressed to the Geonim in that tongue, whereupon the scholars of the academies used the same language in reply.

• Some of the responsa that have survived are in their original form, while others are extant only in extracts. The first collection appeared, together with brief geonic rulings, at Constantinople
  Constantinople
  Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
  
   in 1516 under the title Halakot Pesukot min ha-Geonim ("Brief Rulings of the Geonim"), and in 1575 another corpus, entitled She'elot u-Teshubot me ha-Geonim, was published in the same city. At Salonica in 1792 Nissim ben Hayyim edited a collection of geonic responsa under the title Shaare Tzedek ("Gates of Justice"), which contains 533 responsa arranged according to subject, and an index by the editor. For the majority of these responsa the name of the author is cited, and many of them are reproduced in their original form with their Talmudic proofs and disquisitions.

• The responsa are characterized by a more developed literary style than in the Talmudic era. The Talmud
  Talmud
  The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
  
   had been completed and was recognized as authoritative, and was accessible to scholars. With an accurate knowledge of the Talmud, scholars might deduce for themselves rulings for any case that might present itself. Even in instances where the questioner was not versed in the Talmud and the responsum was required to give only a brief decision on the case under consideration, the ruling was usually not a mere "yes" or "no," "permitted" or "forbidden," but rather it was generally the custom for the scholars who prepared responsa to cite a passage from the Talmud in support or proof of their decisions, or to controvert any possible opposition by an anticipated refutation. Many of these questions have little practical use, but are concerned with the correct explanation of passages of the Talmud.

Earlier Geonim

In the days of the earliest geonim the majority of the questions asked them were sent only from Babylonia and the neighboring lands, where the inhabitants were more or less acquainted with the Talmud and could visit the academies in the Kallah months to hear Talmudic explanations by leading scholars. The questions, which were submitted in writing, were accordingly limited to one or more specific cases, while the responsum to such a query gave in brief form the required ruling and a concise reason for it, together with a citation of an analogous Talmudic instance, and a refutation of any possible objection.

Later Geonim

More discursive were the responsa of the later geonim after the first half of the ninth century, when questions began to be sent from more distant regions, where the inhabitants were less familiar with the Talmud, even if they possessed it, and were less able to visit the Babylonian academies, the only seats of Talmudic learning. Talmudic difficulties were often the subject of these inquiries.

The later geonim did not restrict themselves to the Mishnah and Talmud, but used the decisions and responsa of their predecessors, whose sayings and traditions were generally regarded as authoritative. These responsa of the later geonim were often essays on Talmudic themes, and since a single letter often answered many questions, it frequently became book-length in size. The letters of the Geonim, which, for the most part, contained replies to many problems, assumed a definite and official form. They began with the statement that the questions had been correctly received, read, and considered, and that the corresponding answers had been given in the presence of the gaon and with his approval.

Rishonim

With the decline of the gaonate in the first half of the eleventh century, the Jews of various countries lost the central spiritual authorities who had hitherto given their decisions in doubtful problems. Thenceforth the appeal in religious and legal questions was to be made to the rabbinical authorities

Posek

Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....

 of one's own or a neighboring country, so that inquiries sent during this period to Babylonia were rare and exceptional.

Characteristics

• The questions were by no means restricted to practical problems, but many of them, in case the interpretation of a halakic
  Halakha
  Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
  
   or haggadic
  Aggadah
  Aggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...
  
   passage in the Talmud was the subject of inquiry, were theoretical in nature. In their discussion of theoretical problems the responsa of the Spanish scholars are noteworthy for the untrammeled scientific spirit that permeates them far more than those of the French school. Even in responsa that are practical in bearing, a distinction may be drawn between the two schools.

• The responsa of the epoch came from various countries, and from schools having different tendencies, thus showing the position and the type of spiritual life in general and of Talmudic learning in particular, since all these factors prevailed in the different countries at the time. Especially noteworthy is the divergence between the French and the Spanish school in the twelfth century, the second half of this period. For the most part the rulings of this period receive their basis or their confirmation from a passage in the Talmud
  Talmud
  The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
  
  , and in this motivation the difference between the French and the Spanish exegesis of the Talmud is clearly shown. The Spanish school was the more logical, and strove for brevity and lucidity in the deduction of its rulings from the Talmud, while the French school was more dialectic, and frequently gave full play to casuistry at the expense of clearness.

Eleventh century

• The chief representative of the French school in the eleventh century was Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi
  Rashi
  Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
  
  ), and many of his responsa have been preserved in the "Pardes" and in the Mahzor Vitry. His decisions are written in Hebrew, without formulas either of introduction or of conclusion, although an interesting phrase that is peculiar to him, and was apparently invented by him occurs once: "I, the undersigned, was asked whether . . . thus have I heard from my teachers, and thus is my own opinion likewise inclined,..." the ruling being followed by the signature "Solomon b. Isaac," without any concluding formula (Vitry Mahzor, pp. 434–435).

• The leader of the Spanish school in the same century was Isaac Alfasi
  Isaac Alfasi
  for other Al-Fasi's see Al-Fasi disambiguationIsaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif , was a Talmudist and posek...
  
  , who left many responsa, an entire collection being printed at Leghorn in 1780, under the title "She'elot u-Teshubot ha-RIF" (Rabbi Isaac Alfasi). These decisions were written in Arabic, and were translated into Hebrew at an early date, being extant only in this version.

Twelfth century

• The chief representatives of the French school of the twelfth century were Jacob Tam, Abraham ben David of Posquières
  Abraham ben David
  Rabbeinu Abraham ben David was a Provençal rabbi, a great commentator on the Talmud, Sefer Halachot of Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi and Mishne Torah of Maimonides, and is regarded as a father of Kabbalah and one of the key and important links in the chain of Jewish mystics...
  
  , and Eliezer ben Nathan of Mayence
  Eliezer ben Nathan
  Eliezer ben Nathan of Mainz , Ra'aven , was a halakist and liturgical poet. As an early Rishon, he was a contemporary of the Rashbam and Rabbeinu Tam, and one of the earliest of the Tosafists. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Eliakim b. Joseph of Mainz, a fellow student of Rashi...
  
  .
  • The responsa of Rabbi Tam are contained in his "Sefer ha-Yashar" as well as in the works of other authorities, such as Meir of Rothenburg
    Meir of Rothenburg
    Meir of Rothenburg was a German Rabbi and poet, a major author of the tosafot on Rashi's commentary on the Talmud...
    
     and Mordechai ben Hillel, "the Mordecai".
  • The responsa of Eliezer ben Nathan, contained in his "Even ha-Ezer," are partly exegetic in character and partly devoted to practical decisions.
  • The responsa of Abraham ben David are included in the collection entitled "Tummat Yesharim" or "Temim De'im" (Venice, 1622). Particularly noteworthy is his injunction that Jewish law obligates Jews to follow the laws of the land, i.e., to follow the laws of the secular government in which a Jewish community found itself living. This ruling is based on the Talmudic saying: "The law of the land is valid" (ib. responsum No. 50).

• The chief representatives of the Spanish school in the twelfth century were Joseph ibn Migash
  Joseph ibn Migash
  Joseph ben Meir ibn Megas or Megas was a Rabbi, Posek, and Rosh Yeshiva in Lucena. He is also known as Ri Megas , the Hebrew acronym for "Rabbi Joseph Megas".-Biography:...
  
   and Maimonides
  Maimonides
  Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
  
  . The responsa of ibn Migash include both practical decisions and explanations of difficult passages in the Mishnah
  Mishnah
  The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
  
   and the Talmud
  Talmud
  The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
  
  , the first group being written in Arabic
  Arabic language
  Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
  
   and later translated into Hebrew
  Hebrew language
  Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
  
  , while the greater portion of the second category was composed by the author himself in the Talmud
  Talmud
  The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
  
  ic Hebrew idiom.

Thirteenth century

In this period the difference between the Spanish and the Franco-German forms of responsa vanished. On the one hand, the scientific spirit of the Spanish school partially entered the academies of southern France, and, on the other hand, the dialecticism of the French rabbis steadily increased in influence in Spain.

• The chief representatives of the Spanish responsa in the thirteenth century were Nahmanides
  Nahmanides
  Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...
  
   (Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman), Rabbi Solomon ben Adret, and Rabbi Nissim ben Reuben.
  • Very few responsa by Nahmanides have been preserved. Those that exist are contained in a work entitled "She'elot u-Teshubot" in which are included in great part the responsa of Solomon ben Adret. To him came questions from the most distant communities. His responsa number about three thousand, and in content are partly practical and partly devoted to exegesis, ethics, and religious philosophy. The exegetic rulings interpreted difficult passages of the bible, the Talmud, and the works of older authors, while the practical responsa comprised decisions as to the ritual, civil and marital law, communal relations, and the contemporary political affairs of the Jews.
  • The responsa of Solomon ben Adret fall into five parts. The first part (Bologna, 1539) contains 1,255 responsa; part two, entitled "Sefer Toledot Olam" (Leghorn, 1654), contains 405; part three (ib. 1778) contains 445; part four (Salonica, 1803) contains 330; and part five (Leghorn, 1805) contains 298. Other responsa by him are included in the "She'elot u-Teshuvot." A few examples of his decisions may be given. When asked concerning many discrepancies between the books of Chronicles and the other books of the Bible, he replied as follows (i., No. 12): "A change in phraseology without an alteration of meaning is not surprising. Even in the Pentateuch apparent discrepancies of this kind are found, so that one of the sons of Simeon is called Zohar in Gen. xlvi. 10 and Ex. vi. 15, and Zerah in Num. xxvi. 13, but since both names signify 'magnificent,' the double nomenclature is explained." In responsum No. 395 he describes his abolition of several superstitious customs, one of which was to kill an old cock, and to hang its head at the door on the occasion of the birth of a boy. Particularly noteworthy is responsum No. 548, in which he gives a decision regarding a marvelous child at Avila, who had originally been idiotic, but later frequently fell into trances during which he composed works whose contents he declared had been communicated to him by an angel.

• The chief representative of the German school in the thirteenth century was Rabbi Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg. Many of his responsa have been preserved, the oldest collection being the "She'elot u-Teshubot" (Cremona, 1557) with 315 responsa, while another corpus, which contained 1,022 responsa, appeared under the same title at Prague in 1608. A collection of unedited responsa was issued at Lemberg in 1860, and in 1891 Moses Bloch published at Berlin a new corpus of unedited responsa of Meïr of Rothenburg under the title "Sefer Sha'are Teshubot Maharam." Maharam, famously, rules that a man may not hit his wife :he:%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A8 %D7%91%D7%9F %D7%91%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9A %D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%98%D7%A0%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%92, "since,he may not hit another man, despite not owing him honour, whereas he owes her honour...". The special interest of Meïr's responsa is the picture they give of the condition of the German Jews of his time, and of their sufferings from the caprice of princes and from heavy taxation. The collections of the responsa of Meïr of Rothenburg contain also the rulings of other older and contemporary rabbis of the Franco-German school.

Fourteenth century

The principal representatives of the fourteenth century were Asher ben Jehiel

Asher ben Jehiel

Asher ben Jehiel- Ashkenazi was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew acronym for this title, the ROSH...

 (RoSH) and Isaac ben Sheshet Barfat

Isaac ben Sheshet

Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet was a Spanish Talmudic authority, also known by his acronym, Rivash . He was born at Valencia and settled early in life at Barcelona, where he studied under Perez ha-Kohen, under Hasdai ben Judah, and especially under R...

.

• The responsa of the RoSH first appeared at Constantinople
  Constantinople
  Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
  
   in 1517 under the title "She'elot u-Teshubot," while an enlarged edition was published at Venice
  Venice
  Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
  
   in 1607. This collection of responsa is arranged according to 108 subjects, each of which has a special chapter, called "kelal," while at the head of every rubric stands a résumé of its contents and a numerical list of the responsa treating of each subject. This arrangement, however, was not the work of Asher himself, but was made probably by one of his pupils, possibly by his son Rabbi Judah. From the responsa of Rabbi Asher may be gleaned many curious customs of the Spanish communities. To a question addressed to him from Burgos, Asher responded (No. 68, 10) that according to Talmudic law no arrests could be made for debt, even in cases where the debtor had pledged his own person, although, on the other hand, he noted that it was the custom of the communities in Spain to imprison one who had failed to pay his quota of the royal tax until he should discharge his debt.

• The 518 responsa of Isaac ben Sheshet
  Isaac ben Sheshet
  Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet was a Spanish Talmudic authority, also known by his acronym, Rivash . He was born at Valencia and settled early in life at Barcelona, where he studied under Perez ha-Kohen, under Hasdai ben Judah, and especially under R...
  
   were published at Constantinople in 1546-47 as "She'elot u-Teshuvot". These responsa contain many disquisitions illustrative of the conditions of the times, including rulings on marriage and marital relations in the case of Jews who had been forcibly baptized, as well as other decisions relating to those who had been compelled to accept Christianity (e.g., Nos. 1, 4, 6, 11, 12, 43). Especially interesting are responsa that describe prevailing customs and regulations of the communities of the period, as in No. 158, which contains a noteworthy account of the seven days of mourning after the death of a kinsman.

Acharonim

This section covers responsa written during fifteenth to the eighteenth century, and includes responsa of Italian, Turkish, German, and Polish rabbis. This period is the richest in the responsa literature. It would therefore be impossible to enumerate all the collections; this section presents a survey of the chief representatives of each century and country.

Characteristics

These rulings are different from those of the previous periods in the nature of the problems presented, in the method of treatment, and in the arrangement of subject-matter.

• Since the respondents now belonged to the Acharonim
  Acharonim
  Acharonim is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
  
  (later rabbinic authorities) and no longer enjoyed the independence of the Rishonim
  Rishonim
  "Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...
  
  (earlier rabbinic authorities) they sought to base their decisions on the older authorities. The field had already been thoroughly worked, and the respondent was consequently obliged to have studied it in all its aspects, and to have made a careful search for the question propounded to him or one analogous to it.

• In former times the questions had been devoted to many departments of knowledge, both sacred and profane, being concerned with halakic and exegetic themes as well as with ethical and philosophical problems, so that there was scarcely a subject of human activity or thought on which the responsa might not expatiate. In this period, on the other hand, the responsa were restricted almost entirely to legal regulations. Since the pronouncement of judgment was regarded as a religious duty, and since in most countries the Jews were unwilling to submit to a non-Jewish court, legal questions formed a large part of the responsa.

• In the older rulings systematic
  Systematic
  Systematic is an American hard rock band from Oakland, California. They were one of the first signings to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich's record label, The Music Company, via Elektra Records. The band released two studio albums before disbanding in 2004....
  
   sequence was almost entirely lacking, but the responsa of the new period had as models the "Arba'ah Turim
  Arba'ah Turim
  Arba'ah Turim , often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakhic code, composed by Yaakov ben Asher...
  
  " of Jacob ben Asher
  Jacob ben Asher
  Jacob ben Asher, also known as Ba'al ha-Turimas well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash , was likely born in Cologne, Germany c.1269 and likely died in Toledo, Spain c.1343....
  
   and, after the sixteenth century, the Shulkhan Arukh of Joseph Caro, so that many of the responsa were arranged according to these two works, while among the later scholars this practice became the rule.

• While the decisions of the earlier epochs had been so lucid that the reader could easily follow them, the responsa of this period had changed completely, for the pilpul
  Pilpul
  Pilpul refers to a method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis in attempts to either explain conceptual differences between various halakhic rulings or to reconcile any apparent contradictions presented from various readings of different texts.Pilpul has entered English as a...
  
  istic methods, which had been in vogue since the middle of the fifteenth century in the study of the Talmud. The halakic works forced their way into responsa literature as well. The responsa are remarkable for the hair-splitting dialectic
  Dialectic
  Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to Indic and European philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues...
  
  s that characterizes them, and often robs them of lucidity.

Fifteenth century

• The most important German respondents of the fifteenth century were Israel Isserlein
  Israel Isserlein
  Rabbi Israel Isserlein ben Petachia, also Israel Isserlin, Israel of Neustadt, Israel of Marpurk was a Talmudist, and Halakhist, best known for his Terumat HaDeshen, which served as one source for HaMapah, the component of the Shulkhan Arukh by Moses Isserles.- Biography :Even though...
  
   and Israel Bruna
  Israel Bruna
  Israel Bruna was a German rabbi and Posek . He is also known as Mahari Bruna, the Hebrew acronym for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Israel Bruna". Rabbi Bruna is best known as one of the primary Ashkenazi authorities quoted by Moses Isserles in the Shulkhan Arukh.-Biography:Rabbi Bruna was born in Brno...
  
  .
  • The collection of the responsa of Israel Isserlein
    Israel Isserlein
    Rabbi Israel Isserlein ben Petachia, also Israel Isserlin, Israel of Neustadt, Israel of Marpurk was a Talmudist, and Halakhist, best known for his Terumat HaDeshen, which served as one source for HaMapah, the component of the Shulkhan Arukh by Moses Isserles.- Biography :Even though...
    
    , "Terumat ha-Deshen," comprises 354 decisions, which are important as describing many characteristic features of the time. Several of them (Nos. 341-346) discuss the apportionment of the taxes and the assessments, while others are concerned with the attitude to be observed toward a repentant apostate (No. 198). Particularly interesting is the responsum (No. 197) devoted to the problem whether Jews might so disguise themselves as to escape recognition in countries where they were absolutely forbidden to reside. He was lenient in cases of widows who lacked a divorce document (agunah
    Agunah
    Agunah ; literally 'anchored or chained') is a halachic term for a Jewish woman who is "chained" to her marriage. The classic case of this, is a man who has left on a journey, and has not returned, or has gone into battle and is MIA...
    
    ).
  • The responsa of Israel Bruna
    Israel Bruna
    Israel Bruna was a German rabbi and Posek . He is also known as Mahari Bruna, the Hebrew acronym for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Israel Bruna". Rabbi Bruna is best known as one of the primary Ashkenazi authorities quoted by Moses Isserles in the Shulkhan Arukh.-Biography:Rabbi Bruna was born in Brno...
    
    , entitled "She'elot u-Teshuvot" (Stettin, 1860), likewise contain many interesting allusions to contemporary conditions, as in the case of No. 71, which discusses the problem whether the Jews might attend races.

• In Italy
  Italy
  Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
  
   the chief representatives of the fifteenth century were Joseph Colon and Judah Minz.

• Especially important in the responsal literature of this century were the Turkish rabbis, among whom the chief were Jacob Berab
  Jacob Berab
  Jacob Berab, also spelled Yakov Berav or Bei Rav, was an influential rabbi and talmudist, born at Moqueda near Toledo, Castilian Spain, in 1474; died at Safed, Ottoman Palestine April 3, 1546.-Chosen rabbi at eighteen:Berab was a pupil of Isaac Aboab...
  
  , Levi ben Chabib, Elijah Mizrachi
  Elijah Mizrachi
  Elijah Mizrachi was a Talmudist and posek, an authority on Halakha. He is best known for his Sefer ha-Mizrachi, a supercommentary on Rashi's commentary on the Torah...
  
  , and Moses Alashkar. The responsa of Moses Alashkar
  Moses Alashkar
  Moses ben Isaac Alashkar was a rabbi who lived in Egypt, but subsequently resided in Jerusalem.Moses Alashkar was prominent among contemporaneous rabbis, and his opinions were held in esteem throughout the Levant, and even in Italy...
  
   (printed at Sabbionetta in 1554) discuss whether a converted Jew may be compelled by the provincial court to give his Jewish wife a bill of divorce
  Get (divorce document)
  A is a divorce document, which according to Jewish Law, must be presented by a husband to his wife to effect their divorce. The essential text of the is quite short: "You are hereby permitted to all men," i.e., the wife is no longer a married woman, and the laws of adultery no longer apply...
  
   according to Jewish procedure (No. 75, pp. 136b-137a), and the question of the covering of the head and the concealment of the hair in the case of a married woman (No. 35, pp. 94 et seq.).

Sixteenth century

• The chief Polish representatives of the sixteenth century were Moses Isserles
  Moses Isserles
  Moses Isserles, also spelled Moshe Isserlis, , was an eminent Ashkenazic rabbi, talmudist, and posek, renowned for his fundamental work of Halakha , entitled ha-Mapah , an inline commentary on the Shulkhan Aruch...
  
  , Solomon Luria
  Solomon Luria
  Solomon Luria was one of the great Ashkenazic poskim and teachers of his time. He is known for his work of Halakha, Yam Shel Shlomo, and his Talmudic commentary Chochmat Shlomo...
  
  , and Meir Lublin
  Meir Lublin
  Meir Lublin or Meir ben Gedalia was a Polish rabbi, Talmudist and Posek . He is well known for his commentary on the Talmud, Meir Einai Chachamim. He is also referred to as Maharam .-Biography:Maharam was born in Lublin, Poland...
  
  ; the responsa of these scholars throw a flood of light on the condition of the Jews of the period, who evidently took high rank in Poland and were not unfamiliar with military arts, since they offered their services to the duke or to the prince on the outbreak of a war (comp. responsum. No. 43 of Meïr Lublin).

• The chief Turkish respondents of this period were Joseph Caro, Joseph ibn Leb, Samuel of Modena, and David abi Zimra. Of the responsa of the last-named, which are contained in several collections and are characterized by lucidity and strict logic. One (iv. 92) may be noted as especially interesting in that it discusses the problem whether a Jew may abjure his religion and accept Islam
  Islam
  Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
  
   when threatened with death. Abi Zimra considers the question in detail, and determines the cases in which a Jew may thus save his life and the contingencies in which he should rather choose death.

• The only important Italian
  Italy
  Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
  
   respondent of the sixteenth century was Menahem Azariah da Fano
  Menahem Azariah da Fano
  Menahem Azariah da Fano was an Italian rabbi, Talmudist, and Kabbalist.-Life:...
  
  , whose responsa were edited at Dyhernfurth in 1788.

Seventeenth century

In the seventeenth century rabbis of various countries prepared responsa, but the Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 scholars were in the great majority.

• The chief German
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
   representative of responsal literature was Yair Hayyim Bacharach.
• Among the Italian respondents the most important was Samuel Aboab
  Samuel Aboab
  Samuel Aboab , son of Abraham Aboab, was a very prominent rabbi of the seventeenth century.He was born at Venice, and began the study of rabbinical literature at an early age. When thirteen years old, he became the pupil of David Franco. From him Aboab received the intellectual tendency which he...
  
  , whose decisions appeared at Venice in 1702 under the title "Debar Shemu'el".
• Of the Turkish authorities the most prominent were Joseph ben Moses di Trani (MaHaRIT) and Jacob Alfandari.
• The principal Polish rabbis of the seventeenth century who wrote responsa were Aaron Samuel Kaidanover
  Aaron Samuel Kaidanover
  Aaron Samuel ben Israel Kaidanover was a Polish-Lithuanian rabbi...
  
   and Menahem Mendel Krochmal. The decisions of the former, which were published at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1683 under the title "Emunat Shemu'el," afford a glimpse of the plight of the German Jews of the time. The responsa of Menahem Mendel Krochmal appeared posthumously; the most noteworthy of his rulings is one (No. 2) in which he decided in favor of universal suffrage in the community, making no distinction between rich and poor, taxed and untaxed, learned and ignorant, but giving all an equal share in the choice of the rabbi, the dayan, and the president.

Eighteenth century

In the eighteenth century the rabbis of various countries contributed to responsa literature, but the most important were still the Polish scholars.

• The chief representative of Germany was Jacob Emden
  Jacob Emden
  Jacob Emden also known as Ya'avetz, , was a leading German rabbi and talmudist who championed Orthodox Judaism in the face of the growing influence of the Sabbatean movement...
  
  , whose responsa form the collection entitled "She'elot Ya'abetz" (Lemberg, 1884).

• Among the many noteworthy Polish scholars are Meir Eisenstadt
  Meir Eisenstadt
  Meir ben Izsak Eisenstadt was the author of responsa and other works of rabbinic literature. An authority on Halakha, he was consulted by rabbis from Turkey, Germany and Italy. He is known as the Panim Me'irot after his major work called Shu"t Panim Me'irot...
  
   and Ezekiel Landau.
  • The Responsa of Meir Eisenstadt, entitled "Panim Me'irot" contains one (ii., No. 152) "particularly interesting" ruling, in which he stigmatizes as presumptuous arrogance the practice of ostentatiously wearing white garments in the fashion of the Kabbalists
    Kabbalah
    Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
    
    , while the general custom was to wear black clothing.
  • The collection of responsa by Ezekiel Landau, known as "Noda' bi-Yehudah," was esteemed by rabbis and scholars, as distinguished both for its logical discussion and for its independence with regard to the rulings of later authorities as contrasted with its adherence to the writings of earlier scholars.

Nineteenth century to early twentieth century

In this period, many responsa deal with problems taken from modern experience. Responsa have been inspired or necessitated by economic growth, social movements, and advances in technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

, which wrought sweeping changes in the lives and living conditions of the Jews in different countries, as well as within Judaic streams; e.g., those of Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

 and Zionism

Zionism

Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

.

The movements for the reform of Judaism evoked many responsa in reply to questions concerning the location of the bimah

Bimah

A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...

, organ accompaniments, the covering of the head in the synagogue, the seating of men and women together, and prayers in the vernacular.

Jewish settlement in Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

 had occasioned many responsa on questions connected with agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

 in the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

, including the problems of the cessation of all labor in the fields during the Sabbatical year

Sabbatical year

Sabbatical or a sabbatical is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year. The concept of sabbatical has a source in shmita, described several places in the Bible...

 and the use of etrog

Balady citron

Balady Citron , is a variety of citron, or etrog, grown in Israel for Jewish ritual purposes. Balady is Arabic for "native." Local Arab farmers began using this name in the mid-19th century to distinguish this variety from the Greek citron, which was cultivated along the Jaffa seashore.The Balady...

s from Israel.

Following are representative examples:

• In a responsum ("Hatam Sofer, Orah; Hayyim,"No. 28) Moses Sofer
  Moses Sofer
  Moses Schreiber, known to his own community and Jewish posterity as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chasam Sofer, , , was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century...
  
   discussed the problem of whether the "bimah
  Bimah
  A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...
  
  " might be removed from the center and placed near the Ark, as is now the case in all Reform and even in many Orthodox synagogues, but was then interdicted as an innovation. In another responsum (ib. "Yoreh De'ah," No. 128) he debated whether a Jewish sculptor was permitted by his religion to carve human figures.

• In a responsum Joseph Saul Nathanson
  Joseph Saul Nathanson
  Joseph Saul Nathanson was a Polish rabbi and posek, and a leading rabbinical authority of his day.-Biography:...
  
   discussed the problem of the transfer of a corpse from one place of burial to another ("Sho'el u-Meshib," i., No. 231). In another responsum (ib. iii., No. 373) he replied in the affirmative to a question sent him from New York asking whether a Protestant church might be changed into a synagogue. He was one of the first to permit the use of machinery in baking Matzah http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Passover/TO_Pesach_History/Modern_176/Machine_552.htm.

• Isaac Schmelkes passed judgment ("Bet-Yitzchak," i., Przemysl, 1901, No. 29) on the question of civil marriage, which is permitted by the laws of Hungary between Jews and non-Jews, and he debated also (ib. ii., Przemysl, 1895, No. 31) whether electric light
  Electric light
  Electric lights are a convenient and economic form of artificial lighting which provide increased comfort, safety and efficiency. Most electric lighting is powered by centrally-generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems...
  
  s may be used for Hanukkah
  Hanukkah
  Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
  
  , and (ib. No. 58) whether the telephone
  Telephone
  The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
  
   or the phonograph may be used on the Sabbath
  Shabbat
  Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
  
  .

Responsa of Orthodox Judaism

In contemporary Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

, responsa remain a primary channel whereby halakhic

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 decisions and policies are formulated and communicated. Notable collections of Responsa published in the 20th Century include those by Moshe Feinstein

Moshe Feinstein

Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme halakhic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America during his lifetime...

, Ovadia Yosef

Ovadia Yosef

Ovadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...

, Eliezer Waldenberg

Eliezer Waldenberg

Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg was known as the Tzitz Eliezer after his monumental halachic treatise Tzitz Eliezer that covers a wide breadth of halacha, including Jewish medical ethics, as well as ritual halachic issues from Shabbat to kashrut...

 and Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg

Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg

Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg was a noted European Orthodox rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva. He is best known as author of the work of responsa Seridei Eish....

.

Contemporary responsa deal with both traditional questions and phenomena associated with modern social, religious, medical and technological developments. For example, Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon

Ilan Ramon

Ilan Ramon was a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and later the first Israeli astronaut....

 noted that, while orbiting the earth, the space shuttle experiences a day/night cycle approximately every ninety minutes. Thus, Ramon asked whether he should keep the Sabbath according to Earth time, or mark it once every seven day/night cycles (ten and a half hours). And if according to Earth time, then what location on Earth should this be based upon? The rabbis concluded that he was to celebrate the Sabbath in accordance with Earth time, based on the place of his departure – Cape Canaveral.

Conservative and Masorti responsa

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

 holds that Orthodoxy has deviated from historical Judaism through excessive concern with recent codifications of Jewish law. Conservative rabbis make a conscious effort to use historical sources to determine what kind of changes occurred, how and why they occurred, and in what historical context. With this information they believe that can better understand a proper way for rabbis to interpret and apply Jewish law to our conditions today. Like Orthodoxy, there is no one legal body that speaks for all Jewish in their religious community.

When defined narrowly as the Conservative movement, Conservative Judaism has two law committees: In the USA there is the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards

Committee on Jewish Law and Standards

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. Within the movement it is known as the CJLS...

 of the Rabbinical Assembly

Rabbinical Assembly

The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...

, and in the State of Israel there is the Vaad Halakhah of the Masorti

Masorti

The Masorti Movement is the name given to Conservative Judaism in Israel and other countries outside Canada and U.S. Masorti means "traditional" in Hebrew...

movement.

External links

• The Bar Ilan Responsa project
• "Sages of Ashkenaz" Responsa collection
• Orthodox Responsa Index
• The Responsa of Professor Louis Ginzberg (OLD copy, from web.archive.org, since apparently the original is no longer on the web, at the same URL).
• Masorti and Conservative Jewish responsa
• Topical index of non-binding Reform Jewish responsa