Complete Halachic Manuscript on the Talmud Handwritten by an Early Genius – Historical Revelation! – [Lithuania ...

Complete Halachic Manuscript on the Talmud Handwritten by an Early Genius – Historical Revelation! – [Lithuania, the Early 18th Century]
A handwritten composition on the tractates of the Talmud. A complete volume.
Nice, pearly Ashkenazic script. The early 18th century.
Most likely, the author's autograph.
An extraordinarily impressive volume!
On the Forsazt it is written: "The tractates that have been interpreted in this book are these: Yevamot, makot, Horayot, Sotah". The author's name is not mentioned. It turns out that this is a volume of a comprehensive composition of several volumes written by the author on the tractates of the Talmud. It is most likely that the volume before us is the only one that had survived of this important composition.
The volume contains 158 written pages.

The importance of the manuscript
Before us is a unique, extremely rare composition of Halachic rulings deriving from the Sugiyot of the Talmud. The author studies the Sugiya, presents the opinions of the Rishonim and the first Achronim and then summarizes the Halacha, sometimes with an addition of his own Halachic ruling ("and it seems to me").
As will be explained hereinafter, there is no doubt that the author was a prominent rabbi and the composition before us is the most updated one of his Halachic rulings.

Description of the manuscript
On some of the leaves, the author wrote the version of the Mishna in square script and the version of the Talmud and the Poskim in cursive script.
In several places, the author changed his mind and glued paper on what he had written, on which he wrote his revised opinion. He also wrote comments on the margins of the leaves. These comments were added (at least partially) by the writer at a later period of time. Sometimes, the author glued paper onto his comments on the margins and then wrote his new conclusion on the glued paper. It should be noted that at least in one of these instances, the writer used some used paper he had, writing his comments on its reverse side.
An ancient volume with 79 written leaves on both sides. 158 pp. High-quality paper.
Size: 16x20.5 cm.
Condition: Very Good. The manuscript is wonderfully preserved. The script is clear and readable. Original binding. Time stains on several leaves.

A study of the manuscript
In all the Sugiyot he presents, after the version of the Mishna and the conclusion of the Talmud, the writer presents the following Poskim: the Rif, Rashi, Maimonides, Ha'Rosh and the Tosfot. Then he presents the Tur and the Shukchan Aruch and their commentators.
In several places, he uses the first person. Thus for example, on leaf (10): "And it seem sto me that Maimonides assumed…" and on leaf (33): "And it seems to me the following". On leaf (57), he writes: "… but all my rabbis have written".
Many times, when he cites one of the Poskim, he notes his name in parentheses and then presents the quote. Often, he does not cite the Posek but rather summarizes his words. In many places, he ends his opinion on one of the Poskim with "requires study" (Tzarich Iyun).

The writer's identity
Ever since the editing of the Talmud, comprehensive compositions summarizing its Halachic conclusions were written.
These compositions were written by the most prominent rabbis who strived to write a Halachic summary for the whole Jewish people.
These historical enterprises had two formats. One included compositions that were edited according to their own internal order such as the Rambam, the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch. The second included compositions that were edited according to the order of the tractates of the Talmud.
The first of these writers was the Rif (Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi), who authored a Halachic book encompassing the 24 tractates of three Sedarim: Mo'ed, Nashim and Nezikim. The composition was later called 'Talmud Katan" (Small Talmud). He wrote his book according to the format of the Talmud, copying and summarizing only Halachic matters and omitting the negotiation and discussion of the Amoraim. Thus, he had created a Halachic summary of the Talmud, which made Halachic ruling easier.
In later generations, the book "Ha'Mordechai" was written according to the order of the tractates of the Talmud. It contained Halachic rulings (Piskei Halacha) of the Sugiyot of the Talmud and Halachic rulings from Ashkenazic responsa. During the same period of time, Ha'Rosh authored his book, which was based on the Rif and the Tosfot.
At the beginning of the period of the Achronim, much attention was given to the Maharshal's book 'Ha'Yam shel Shlomo', which was edited according to the order of the tractates of the Talmud.
The composition before us is of the same type of these earlier Halachic compositions which were edited according to the order of the Talmud by the most prominent rabbis.
Undoubtedly, the author of the manuscript before us is one of those prominent rabbis. We have been unable to identify him; yet his greatness is indicated by the content and format of the manuscript.
There is also no doubt that future scholars studying the manuscript will be able to discover the identity of its writer.
In the time we had, we noticed several interesting pieces of data which can give us a lead to solving the mystery:
When did the anonymous writer live? This question could be solved by examining the sources referred to by the manuscript and those that are not referred to. It is most likely that the latest source on which the manuscript is based is the 'Mishneh La'Melech' (novellae on Maimonides by Rabbi Yehuda Rosanis) which was printed in Constantinople in 1731. Thus, the writer most likely lived at the end of the 18th century. Indeed the form of the script is typical of the period three hundred years ago, at the end of the 18th century.
We know of early Halachic compositions which were written in this unique format by the most prominent rabbis yet were lost over the years. By identifying such lost manuscripts, the identity of the writer of the manuscript before us could be revealed.
Thus for example, Rabbi Moshe Rivkas, who was known for his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch titled 'Be'er Ha'Golah' and who was the grandfather of the Vilna Gaon, authored a book titled 'Ein Ha'Golah', whose objective was, as he himself described, "to finish the commentary on the complete Mishna … and which is an anthology of all commentaries".