Halachic Responsum Handwritten by Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro Av Beit Din of Egypt - the 15th Century

A complete leaf handwritten by Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro, Av Beit Din of Egypt and the friend of Rabbi Yosef Karo author of the 'Shulchan Aruch'.
A leaf written on both its sides with additionas and erasures handwritten by the author. Autograph. Oriental script, the 15th – 16th century.
Extremely rare!
Presented in a new binding with a golden impression.
The leaf is part of a halachic responsum from the book 'Ohalei Ya'akov Responsa' by Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro. The book contains 122 responses and it was printed for the first time in Livorno in 1783.
Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro
Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro was born in Egypt in 1525 to an honorable family of the exiles of Spain. He was the disciple of Rabbi Levi Ben Chavic and of the Radbaz. He was the rabbi of the Musta'arabi community of Cairo, Egypt and a Dayan. He also founded a yeshiva and served as its head.
In 1570, he visited the Land of Israel and stayed with Rabbi Yosef Karo in Safed. In his books, Rabbi Ya'akov often refers to the 'Beit Yosef'. He returned to Egypt, where he died in 1610.
His writings and Halachic rulings
Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro corresponded on Halachic matters with many Torah scholars of the Ottoman Empire, among them the Ralbach, the Radbaz, Rabbi Yosef Karo, the Mabit and more. His court rulings and responsa were written in strong and decisive language. The rabbis of Egypt of subsequent generations relied on his rulings and responsa. In Egypt he was called: "Mara De'Atra".
One of his most well-known Halachic rulings is the one determining that the Jews of Ethiopia are descendants of Dan and are therefore part of the Jewish nation.
Two of the leading Torah scholars who lived during the lifetime of Rabbi Yosef karo, saw fit to write the Halachot and Dinim that Rabbi Yosef Karo had omitted from the Shulchan Aruch. These were the Rama in Krakow and Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro in Egypt. Their intention was similar yet they disagreed on the customs. Both corresponded with Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro even met with him.
Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro's glosses are titled "Erech Ha'Lechem". In his glosses, he comments on the Shulchan Aruch, according to the corrections of Rabbi Yosef Karo himself, presented in his book "Bedek Ha'Bayit".
Rabbi Ya'akov De Castro was also a well-known Darshan and his sermons were gathered by him in a book titled "Kol Ya'akov", which was not printed. In 1865, novellae by him on the Beitza tractate was printed in the book "Toldot Ya'akov"
Condition: Fair. The manuscript is complete and readable. Moth signs with damage to a few words. Presented in a new binding with a golden impression.