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Rabbi Jacob Sasportas and the Ets Haim Yesiba

Sun, December 14, 11:15am to 12:45pm, Hilton Baltimore, Holiday 3

Abstract

This paper will examine an episode in the history of the Ets Haim Yesiba recounted in a series of responsa included in Ohel Ya'akov (1737). Written by Moses Sasportas and Jacob Sasportas, they recount a student rebellion against Jacob Sasportas who had been serving as a teacher in the Yesiba. I examine these responsa with an eye toward two questions. The first has to do with the trajectory of Jacob Sasportas' rabbinic career. A number of the issues mentioned in these responsa including honor, lineage, and respect were leitmotivs of his writing and his life. The second has to do with the nature of the student rebellion. Although their complaints survive only in the form of the responses written by Jacob and Moses Sasportas, it may still be possible to reconstruct the nature of the rebellion.

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