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• Responsa
  Responsa

  noun

  the branch of rabbinical literature comprised of authoritative replies in letter form made by noted rabbis or Jewish scholars to questions sent to them concerning Jewish law.
• responsa
  responsa

  noun

  the plural of responsum

Responsa

American  

[ri-spon-suh] / rɪˈspɒn sə /

noun

1. the branch of rabbinical literature comprised of authoritative replies in letter form made by noted rabbis or Jewish scholars to questions sent to them concerning Jewish law.

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responsa British  

/ rɪˈspɒnsə /

noun

1. the plural of responsum

2. that part of rabbinic literature concerned with written rulings in answer to questions

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Etymology

Origin of Responsa

1895–1900; < New Latin; plural of responsum

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Responsa responsa

These Responsa, “Answers to questions sent from many lands,” give valuable information as to social and religious conditions in the earlier part of the 15th century.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 "Dubner" to "Dyeing" by Various

His method of accrediting the Responsa Prudentum, by permitting only those who had his authorisation to exercise that profession, was an able stroke of policy.

From The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius by Cruttwell, Charles Thomas

The Responsa addressed by rabbinical authorities to individuals or to communities who had submitted difficult cases and questions to them for solution, constitute a special genus of post-Biblical literature.

From Rashi by Szold, Adele

The latter was a prolific writer of great influence, chiefly known for his Responsa, but also for his halakhic treatises, ḥiddūshīn and tōsaphōth.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various

Though his correspondents were not so widely scattered, the subjects touched upon by Rashi in his Responsa are very varied in character.

From Rashi by Szold, Adele

Thus we may find a callida iunctura between the thirteenth, fourteenth, and 451fifteenth stanzas, for Fides and Pax would fit in well with the responsa petunt of the fourteenth.

From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by Fowler, W. Warde

Then recourse was had to notes, comments, glosses, reports, responsa prudentum, learned readings: eagle stood against eagle: authority was set up against authority.

From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) by Burke, Edmund

It is highly esteemed throughout Islam, and is quoted even by the doctors of Mecca as the Futawa-i-hind, or the Indian responsa prudentum.

From International Weekly Miscellany - Volume 1, No. 9, August 26, 1850 by Various

As indicated above the so-called books of Śruti or Vedic literature are not consecutive treatises, but rather responsa prudentium, utterances respecting ritual and theology ascribed to poets, sacrificers and philosophers who were accepted as authorities.

From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2 by Eliot, Charles, Sir

The work from which it is taken is a collection of legal opinions, which had in their day the force of judicial decisions—of something equivalent to the "responsa prudentum" of Roman jurisprudence.

From International Weekly Miscellany - Volume 1, No. 9, August 26, 1850 by Various