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Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (Solomon ben Joseph Ganzfried; Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
, 1804 to 1886) was an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
 and posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 best known as author of the work of Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 (Jewish law), the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: ????? ????? ????, "The Abbreviated Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
"), by which title he is also known.

Biography
Ganzfried was born in Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod

Uzhhorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the Capital of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast....
 (Ungvar) in the Carpathia
Carpathia

Carpathia can refer to various things:*RMS Carpathia was a steamship, notable for its role in the rescue of survivors from the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912...
n region of the Habsburg
Habsburg

The House of Habsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known as supplying all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of Spanish Empire and the Austrian Empire....
 Empire (now Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
).






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Shlomo Ganzfried
Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (Solomon ben Joseph Ganzfried; Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
, 1804 to 1886) was an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
 and posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 best known as author of the work of Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 (Jewish law), the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: ????? ????? ????, "The Abbreviated Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
"), by which title he is also known.

Biography


Ganzfried was born in Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod

Uzhhorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the Capital of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast....
 (Ungvar) in the Carpathia
Carpathia

Carpathia can refer to various things:*RMS Carpathia was a steamship, notable for its role in the rescue of survivors from the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912...
n region of the Habsburg
Habsburg

The House of Habsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known as supplying all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of Spanish Empire and the Austrian Empire....
 Empire (now Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
). His father Joseph died when he was eight. Ganzfried was considered to be a child prodigy and Ungvar's chief rabbi and Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
, Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Heller assumed legal guardianship; Heller was known as "Hershele the Sharp-witted" for his piercing insights into the Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
. Heller later moved to the city of Bonyhád
Tolna (county)

Tolna is the name of an administrative county in present Hungary and in the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube....
, and Ganzfried, then fifteen, followed him. He remained in Heller's yeshiva
Yeshiva

Yeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and History of responsa....
 for almost a decade until his ordination
Semicha

Semicha , also semichut , or semicha lerabbanut is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism....
 and marriage. After his marriage he worked briefly as a wine-merchant.

In 1830, he abandoned commerce and accepted the position of rabbi of Brezovica
Brezovica Municipality, Slovenia

Brezovica pri Ljubljani is a municipality in Slovenia near Ljubljana, at the edge of the Julian Alps. It has approximately 9,300 inhabitants....
 (Brezevitz). In 1849, he returned to Ungvar as a dayan, a judge in the religious court. At that time Ungvar's spiritual head, Rabbi Meir Ash
Meir Eisenstaedter

Rabbi Meir Eisenstaedter or Meir Ash known as the Maharam Ash . was one of the greatest Talmudists of the nineteenth century. He is best known as author of "Imre Esh" - the collection of his responsa published by his son in 1864....
, was active in the Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 camp, in opposition to the Neologs. Through serving with Ash, Ganzfried realised that in order to remain committed to Orthodoxy, "the average Jew required an underpinning of a knowledge of practical halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 (Jewish law)". It was to this end that Ganzfried composed the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch; it is not polemical in nature and was clearly intended to inform, rather than to argue. This work became very popular, and was frequently reprinted in Hebrew and in Yiddish.

Rabbi Ganzfried remained in the office of Dayan until his death, July 30, 1886.

Works


Kitzur Shulchan Aruch

The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch in effect summarises the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
 of Joseph Karo with reference to all subsequent commentaries and incorporating Jewish Hungarian
History of the Jews in Hungary

History of the Jews in Hungary concerns the Jews of Hungary and of Hungarian origins. Jews have been a present community in Hungary since at least the 11th Century , struggling against discrimination throughout the Middle Ages....
 customs up to the 19th century. The title page of the first edition is instructive, "[the book] is written for God-fearing Jews who are not in a position to study and comprehend the (original full) Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries, and is composed in a Hebrew that can be easily understood." The Kitzur states what is permitted and what is forbidden without ambiguity.

To determine a ruling, Ganzfried based his decisions on three halakhic authorities
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
: Rabbi Jacob of Lissa; Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Chabad Lubavitch, author of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav
Shulchan Aruch HaRav

Shulchan Aruch HaRav is a Halakha#Codes_of_Jewish_law of halakha by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, known during his lifetime as HaRav and after his lifetime as the Alter Rebbe ....
; and Rabbi Abraham Danzig, author of Chayei Adam
Chayei Adam

Chayei Adam is a work of Halakha by Rabbi Avraham Danzig , dealing with the laws discussed in the Orach Chayim section of the Shulchan Aruch. It is divided into 224 sections - 69 dealing with daily conduct and prayer, and 155 with Shabbat and Jewish Holidays ....
 and Chochmat Adam. In cases of disagreement he adopted the majority view. This closely mirrors the method Karo used in composing his Shulchan Aruch; his three main decisors were Rabbi Isaac Alfasi
Isaac Alfasi

Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi - also Isaac HaCohen, Alfasi or the Rif - was a Talmudist and posek . He is best known for his work of halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot, considered the first fundamental work in Halakha#Codes of Jewish law....
, Maimonides
Maimonides

Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
 and Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel
Asher ben Jehiel

Asher ben Jehiel 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 language acronym for this title, the ROSH ....
.

This work was explicitly written as a popular text and as such does not include all the details of the Shulchan Aruch itself, while generally following its structure. It became immensely popular after its publication due to its simplicity. It is still popular within Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
, as a framework for study, if not always for practice. Today, thousands participate in the Kitzur Yomi ("daily Kitzur") study program.

Because of this popularity it is often printed with cross-references to other works of halakha, especially the Shulchan Aruch HaRav
Shulchan Aruch HaRav

Shulchan Aruch HaRav is a Halakha#Codes_of_Jewish_law of halakha by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, known during his lifetime as HaRav and after his lifetime as the Alter Rebbe ....
 and the Mishnah Berurah
Mishnah Berurah

Mishnah Berurah is a work of halakha by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, better known as The Yisrael Meir Kagan . It is a commentary on Orach Chayim, the first section of the Shulchan Aruch , summarizing the opinions of the Acharonim on that work....
; one popular edition also contains notes by former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu
Mordechai Eliyahu

Mordechai Eliyahu is a former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbi of Israel....
 cross-referring to leading Sephardi
Sephardic Judaism

Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
 authorities. Many editions include as an appendix the laws pertaining to the Land of Israel
Land of Israel

For other uses, see Israel The Land of Israel is the region which, according to the Hebrew Bible, was promised by God to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob, Abraham's grandson....
 by the Chazon Ish (Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz). A recent commentary is Shearim Metzuyanim be-Halakhah, by Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Braun, which examines contemporary problems in the light of the work. Ganzfried himself, however, stated that there should be no commentaries on his work, since its point, as indicated by its title, was that it should remain short - and that such commentaries should be appended to the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
 itself, rather than to the Kitzur.

The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch was later faithfully translated into English by Hyman E. Goldin, published in 1961, with an attempt to eliminate errors and improve upon previous translations, making it "more comprehensible to scholar and layman alike."

Other works

  • Kesses HaSofer, a halachic
    Halakha

    Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
     primer for scribes published in 1835. Ganzfried composed this while he was still engaged in business.
  • Pnei Shlomo, an elucidation of portions of the Talmud.
  • Toras Zevach, a halakhic handbook for practitioners of shechita
    Shechita

    Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Kashrut. The act is performed by cutting the animal's throat by drawing a very sharp knife horizontally across it and allowing the Exsanguination....
    , ritual slaughter.
  • Sefer Apiryon, a commentary on the Bible.
  • Lechem V'simlah on the laws of Niddah
    Niddah

    Niddah is a Hebrew term which literally means separation, and generally refers to separation from tumah; The term niddah is overwhelmingly used in Judaism to refer to the Halakhah concerning menstruation....
  • Ohalei Sheim
  • Sheim Yosef
  • "Sefer Galuy" A letter Written at the time of the Congress of 1869


See also

  • Similar works:
    • Chayei Adam
      Chayei Adam

      Chayei Adam is a work of Halakha by Rabbi Avraham Danzig , dealing with the laws discussed in the Orach Chayim section of the Shulchan Aruch. It is divided into 224 sections - 69 dealing with daily conduct and prayer, and 155 with Shabbat and Jewish Holidays ....
       and Chochmat Adam by Avraham Danzig (Poland, 1748-1820) similar Ashkenazi works.
    • Ben Ish Chai
      Ben Ish Chai

      Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
       by Yosef Chaim
      Yosef Chaim

      The name Yosef Chaim can refer to a few people:*Chacham Yosef Chaim of Baghdad , better known as the Ben Ish Chai *Yosef Chaim Brenner , a pioneer in Hebrew literature...
       (Baghdad, 1832 - 1909) a similar Sephardi work.
    • "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch", a similar Sephardi work by Rabbi Raphael Baruch Toledano.
    • "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Mekor Hayyim", a similar Sephardi work by Rabbi Hayim David HaLevi
      Hayim David HaLevi

      Rabbi Hayim David HaLevi , also written Haim David ha-Levi, etc. ,was Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. He was born in Jerusalem and studied under Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva....
      .
    • The volumes entitled "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch" from Yalkut Yosef
      Yalkut Yosef

      Yalkut Yosef is an authoritative, contemporary work of Halakha, providing a detailed explanation of the Shulchan Aruch as based on the posek of the former Chief_rabbi#Sephardi_2 Rav Ovadia Yosef....
      , a similar Sephardi work.
    • Das Vadin


External links and references


References
  • , Jack E. Friedman
  • , jewishencyclopedia.com
  • , faqs.org


Translations
  • Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. Metsudah Publications. Includes footnotes with Mishnah Berurah
    Mishnah Berurah

    Mishnah Berurah is a work of halakha by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, better known as The Yisrael Meir Kagan . It is a commentary on Orach Chayim, the first section of the Shulchan Aruch , summarizing the opinions of the Acharonim on that work....
    ; most commonly used English-Hebrew edition; two volumes.
  • Code of Jewish Law. Hebrew Publishing Co. (Transl. Hyman Goldin
    Hyman Goldin

    Hyman E. Goldin, , LL.B. translated the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, an abridged version of the Shulchan Aruch, and had it published in 1961....
     c. 1927.) ISBN 0-88482-779-8
  • Kitzur Schulchan Oruch. Moznaim Publishing Corp, 1991. ISBN 0-940118-63-7


Fulltext resources
  • , shofar.net (note: single, very large webpage)
  • , follows the international Kitzur Yomi (daily) schedule; fully searchable; viewable with or without nekudot (punctuation symbols)
  • Translation
    • , torah.org
    • , Yona Newman
    • (Russian
      Russian language

      Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
      ), chassidus.ru
    • (Russian
      Russian language

      Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
      ), Jewish.ru
    • (Dutch
      Dutch language

      Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
      ), hoor-Israel.org