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
American
[ri-spon-suh]
/ rɪˈspɒn sə /
noun
responsa
British
/ rɪˈspɒnsə /
noun
-
the plural of responsum
-
that part of rabbinic literature concerned with written rulings in answer to questions
Etymology
Origin of Responsa
1895–1900; < New Latin; plural of responsum
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He addressed Responsa to Rashi on questions of Talmudic jurisprudence.
From Rashi by Adele Szold
It is only when no reading satisfies him that he assumes an interpolation or an error, in this event frequently resorting to the Responsa of the Geonim.
From Rashi by Adele Szold
Besides Responsa, he left the "Halakot," or "Little Talmud," which Is a pruning down of the entire Talmud, so as to present only what is useful for establishing the norm, deduced by Alfasi himself.
From Rashi by Adele Szold
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 Adele Szold
Besides numerous and important Responsa he wrote Talmudic commentaries and a compendium of the Talmud bearing his name.
From Rashi by Adele Szold
Second, brief compilations of precepts, like the works of Hefez ben Yazliah and the responsa of some geonim.
From A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy by Isaac Husik
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
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
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 W. Warde Fowler
The "futwa," therefore, seems to correspond not so much with our English "decisions" or "precedents" as with the "responsa prudentum," that fertile source of doctrines in the Roman law.
From International Weekly Miscellany - Volume 1, No. 9, August 26, 1850 by Various
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