Sefer HaYashar (, the ''Book of the Upright'') is a famous treatise on Jewish ritual authored by

Rabbeinu Tam Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam (), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading '' halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a grandson of Rashi. K ...

(Rabbi Jacob ben Meir, 1100–1171). The work, which survives in a somewhat incomplete and amended form, was printed in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1544 and reprinted in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1811. It is especially concerned with reconciling apparently contradictory decisions in different sections of the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and with preserving Talmud text unchanged against those who wanted to make clever emendations. This ''Sefer ha-Yashar'' was used a great deal by later Talmudists and introduced the form of literature called ''

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot () are Middle Ages, medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The authors o ...

'' 'Additional Notes'.

Editions

* ''Sefer ha-yashar'' (Vienna, 1811). * ''Sefer ha-yashar le-rabenu Tam'', ed. Simon Solomon Schlesinger (Jerusalem, 1959). Critical edition of first section (''novellae'' = Hebr. ''hiddushim''). * ''Sefer ha-yashar'', ed. Ferdinand Rosenthal (Berlin, 1898; repr. Jerusalem, 1975). Critical edition of second section (

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

References

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia: Jacob ben Meïr Tam: The "Sefer ha-Yashar."
12th-century books Rabbinic legal texts and responsa Jewish medieval literature Treatises {{Judaism-book-stub