One of the very first printed teshuvos by an acharon!
Shu”t Binyamin Zev. Venice, 1539
Shailos, teshuvos and practical halachah by Rabbi Binyamin Zev ben Rabbi Mattisyahu of Arta.
This large 575-leaf volume encompasses 450 teshuvos! The sefer is complete and in beautiful condition.
Teshuvos Binyamin Zev was among the very first teshuvos works by an early acharon that was brought to print. The only sefer to precede this printing was Shu”t HaRadach, which was published one year earlier in Constantinople, 1538. Shu”t Binyamin Zev is likewise the very first responsa sefer printed by the author himself.
Rabbi Binyamin Zev ben Mattisyahu [circa 1450-1545] was one of the most prominent Rabbanim and halachic adjudicators of his time. He served as rabbi of Arta in northwest Greece and corresponded extensively with his contemporary Geodlim, particularly scholars in Italy and Salonika. His daughter married Rabbi Shmuel Kalai, author of Shu”t Mishpitei Shmuel (Venice, 1599).
Several teshuvos in this sefer stirred halachic polemics. The most controversial teshuvah in the sefer was Rabbi Binyamin Zev’s ruling regarding the agunah of Moshe Sisu which was printed in the first pages of the sefer. This provoked a strong dispute between him, the Radach and other Gedolim of his time.
The printing of this sefer was a long and arduous process, with several teshuvos omitted from the final sefer (see leaf 337a: “I omitted from it what was written in Ch. 255 and 254 in order [to pursue] the path of peace.”) Some of these teshuvos were ultimately printed in other copies, and even the preface to the sefer has certain variances between copies. In his preface, the author attests that he personally reviewed and proofread the sefer, and even after it was printed, inserted annotations in the margins of leaves 73b and 210b.
The present sefer features handwritten annotations, presumably in the author’s handwriting.
Venice, 1538-1539. First Edition. Page Count: 367, [2], 376-399, 399-575 leaves. Page Size: 21 cm. . Attractive white paper.
The title page notes the printing began 11 Tishrei, 5239 (1538), and was completed on 25 Adar I, 5239 (1539).
