First Edition: Shu"t Ohalei Ya'akov, by the "Gadol HaDor" Rabbi Ya'akov Castro. Livorno, 1783

First Edition: Shu"t Ohalei Ya'akov, by the "Gadol HaDor" Rabbi Ya'akov Castro. Livorno, 1783

"He composed responsa and the sefer is called Ohalei Ya'akov and they are in manuscript, in my possession" (The Chid"a in Shem HaGedolim)

Sefer Ohalei Ya'akov, 133 responsa by Rabbeinu Ya'akov Castro - Maharika"sh, one of the leading Acharonim. His rulings were accepted in Egypt even when they opposed those of the Ramba"m and the Beit Yosef. He was known there as gadol hador and mara d'atra. [As the Ramba"m and the Radba"z were called before him.] Livorno, 1783. First edition. With the Chid"a's approbation.

The sefer was printed for the first time in Livorno in 1783, and in 1785, it was republished in a photocopy edition. Approbations the beginning of the sefer by Italian rabbis: Rabbi Yishmael HaKohen - author of Zera Emet,  Rabbi Chaim Avraham Yisrael, Rabbi Yisrael Bassan and more, and by the Chid"a. The manuscript was given to printers by the dayan R' Eliyahu HaKohen of Livorno, who received it from his uncle, R' Malachi HaKohen, author of Yad Malachi [and indeed, in Yad Malachi  there is a quote from Shu"t Ohalei Ya'akov in manuscript].

This sefer is found in manuscript in the possession of rabbis in Egypt and the Land of Israel who used it on occasion and even copied complete responsa from it, word-for-word. Sefarim by Egyptian rabbis who were active in the Maharika"sh's generation we found that they copied the Maharika"sh's responsa [in Shu"t R' Meir Gabizon and in Shu"t R' Chaim Kapusi - manuscript]. The Chid"a, too, had a beautiful manuscript, as written in Shem Gedolim in the entry on Rika"sh: "And he composed responsa and called the sefer Ohalei Ya'akov and they were in manuscript and I have them in my possession."

In siman 20 in the sefer the Maharika"sh [as was his way] writes strongly about Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of Shulchan Aruch: "In the sefer noted was written by the aforementioned rabbi at the end of his days. Due to his weakness, there are many matters there, as in those in the sefer noted, where in one place he did not preserve his words as in another place." There are those who consider this to be one of the reasons that the Maharika"sh wrote his glosses on the Shulchan Aruch.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of Rabbi Ya'akov Castro - Maharika"sh.

[10] 194 leaf. 20 cm. High-quality paper.

Fine condition. Minimal aging stains. Tear without lack in the title page.