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Four hundred responsa from the geonim, heads of the talmudic academies, mainly in Babylonia, in Sura and Pumbedita, in the period after the redaction of the Talmud. The ge’onim, undisputed halakhic authorities of the time, received many thousands of inquiries from throughout the Jewish world encompassing all aspects of Jewish life and learning. The title page has the ornate Prague frame with Moses holding the tablets of the Law at the top, cherubim on the either side of him, and along the sides two bearded figures above additional cherubim, a single Magen David on the right, and at the bottom two lions about the spread hands of the Kohen. On the verso is a preamble from R. Solomon ben Menahem Kabuli, and below that a two tailed crowned lion, the emblem of Bohemia. Next are the contents by subject, in two columns (6 f.), the text, and then verse in praise of the work, and, on the last page, epilogues from R. Menahem Aguzi and the editor, R. Ezekiel Moses ben Jacob. Only the last is original to this printing.
The text, in square letters in a single column, is unpaginated. Both queries and responses are concise, often simplifying a complex law in an epigrammatic manner. The names of the submitter, in contrast to later responsa, are omitted. The contents, by subject, are: tefilla and tefillin; Shabbat, Yom Tov and Pesah; the sanctity of the Kohen; first born and milah; honoring parents and proper conduct; laws related to dining; forbidden foods; usury; bans and lashes; gentile wine; oaths; illicit relations; betrothal; divorce and refusal of a minor; ketubbot; levirate marriage and halitzah; charity; judges and witnesses; ethics; injury; theft; deposits; sale; agency and partnership; borrowing and lending; deeds; inheritance and orphans; and mourning.
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