DECISORS (Heb. Pōsēqim, pl. of Pōsēq). - Talmudists who, on the basis of Talmudic and Talmudic-rabbinic literature, offer decisions in dogmatic, philosophical-religious and exegetical matters, but particularly, and this holds for the later period, in matters of religious practice in the field of law, morals, rite and ceremonial. Their decisions take the form of questions and answers (šē'ēlōth, tēšābhōth), of collections concerning a part or the whole of religious life, and sometimes also of compendia or commentaries on the Talmud, that is, deriving the decision for practice from the discussion.
The d. of the Gaonic period (v. GE'ONIM) are called "earlier" d. (pōsēqīm ri'šōnīm), those from the 15th to the 18th century "later" (p. 'abārōnīm).
During the Gaonic period (mid-7th century - mid-11th century), the responsa of the heads of the Babylonian academies, and to a lesser extent those of the Palestinian academies, are considered normative in every respect, even for the most distant communities of Europe and Africa. In the 8th century 'Abaj da Šabā' compiles the responsa he gave according to the order of the pericopes of the Pentateuch. A contemporary of his, Jēhūdḥaj Gā'ōn, makes the first attempt to arrange systematically the materials scattered through the Talmudic discussions for use and for practice. Another, Šim'ōn Qajārā, presents the 613 positive and negative precepts of the Pentateuch according to the Talmudic concept. The gā'ōn Sa'adhāh is the author of a series of monographs on questions concerning civil and ritual law; similarly does, as regards liturgy and matrimonial law, Šemū'el ben Ḥophnī (d. 1034); author of responsa and of works concerning Talmudic law is the Gaonite Haj (940-1038). Brief decisions in works of smaller size are written by: Nissīm ben Ja'aqōbh and Hanan'el ben Ḥušī'el (ca. 990-1050) in Qajravān (first half of the 11th century).
Later d. of the Hispano-Arab school: Samuel the Prince (993-1055); Isaac al-Fāsī (1013-1103), who in his work Ḥalākhāth presents a summary of the Talmudic discussion around the whole body of precepts still in force (thus omitting, for example, the sacrificial cult). Many responsa were given by his disciple Jōšēph ibn Migas (1077-1141). Of particular importance is Maimonides, especially for his great ritual code.
Among the contemporaries of Maimonides in southern France mention should be made of: Abraham of Isaac of Narbonne (1110-78); Isaac ben Abbā Mārī (b. ca. 1122, d. after 1193); Naḥmanides (1195-1270); his disciple Šemū'el Sardī. Of great authority was Solomon Adret. With questions concerning liturgy, festivals, and other subjects of religious life and law are occupied Aaron of Jacob hak-kōhēn of Lunel and the anonymous author of the work Kol bō'. After the death of the d. Jērōhām ben Mēšullām, David Abudraham (treats of prayers, readings of the Pentateuch, festival calendar, 1340) and Mēnāhēm of Aaron of Sērāh, great authority was held by Isaac of Šešeth (1336-1408) and Simon of Šemāh Duran (1361-1444).
The responsa of the German-French and Italian schools date from the 10th century onward. The most authoritative of the French school is R. Šelōmōh ben Jishā'ī called Rašī; besides 'Elī'ēzer of Nāthān (12th century), Bārūkh of Isaac of Worms (ca. 1200), Moses of Jacob of Coucy (beginning of the 13th century), Isaac of Joseph of Corbeil (2nd half of the 13th century) and 'Elī'ēzer of Joel Levi of Bonn (d. ca. 1235), famous was Isaac of Moses of Vienna (d. 1260).
In Italy there distinguished themselves as d.: Isaiah of Trani senior (13th century); Zedekiah of Abraham 'Ānāw; Mordēkhaj of Hillēl (d. 1327); and the distinguished 'Āšēr ben Jēhī'el (d. 1327); these last two disciples of R. Mē'ir of Rottenburg. In Italy Jōšēph Kolon also carried on his activity, of French origin, d. at Pavia in 1480.
Still worthy of mention are: Isaac of Dūren (d. 1320), Alexander Susslein Kōhēn of Cologne (d. 1349), Eisik Tyrnau, Abraham Klausner of Vienna (1380) and Jacob of Moses Mölln (d. 1427), who treats predominantly of ceremonial laws and makes known the life of the Jews in Germany during the Middle Ages.
Among the d. of the 16th-18th centuries: Jacob of 'Āšēr (d. 1343), who systematically expounds the preceptive (halakhic) material, insofar as it is still of practical importance. The celebrated Jōšēph Caro or Karo (1488-1575), author of the commentary on the work Arbō' jūrīm of Ja'aqōbh ben 'Āšēr, expounds all that is contained in rabbinic literature, ancient and later, thus offering a most important compendium for decisions; on the basis of this he drafted his very well-known Šulhān 'ārūkh ("Prepared Table"), a concise and clear, paragraphed exposition of the norms in force, according to the order of the aforementioned work of Ja'aqōbh ben 'Āšēr. Moses Isserles (1520-72) provides the "Table" with a "Tablecloth" (ham-mappāh), explanatory notes. The "Table" thus became the code par excellence.
Around this code worked: Joshua Falk (d. 1610), Šabbathaj of Mē'ir Kōhēn (1622-63), David of Samuel Levi (b. ca. 1600), Moses Lima (d. 1673), Samuel Uri (17th century), Abraham Abele Gombiner (d. 1682), Jōnāthān Eybeschütz. The work Lēbūšīm ("garments"), of a scientific character, by Mordēkhaj Jaffé (d. 1612), conferred greater authority on the "Table", while Solomon Luria (d. 1573) would wish the decision to be deduced from the Talmud without attributing too much importance to the compilers and later d.
Noteworthy are the responsa of the Talmud scholars of Poland of the 15th-18th centuries, among whom: Israel Isserlein (d. 1460), Jēhūdḥah Münz and Mē'ir Katzenellenbogen (both of German origin), Mē'ir Lublin (1538-1616), Aaron Samuel Kaidanower (d. 1696), Mēnāhēm Mendel Krochmal (d. 1661), Hākhām Zēbhī Aschkenasī (1658-1718), Mē'ir Eisenstadt (d. 1744) and Ezekiel Landau (1713-93). They carried on their activity in times close to our own: Abraham Danzig (d. 1820), Šnē'ōr Šalman (Zalman) and David Hoffmann (1843-1921).
Bibliography
Eugenio Zolli