Asta Bidspirit | Discovery! ”Zivchei Tzedek” with the

Discovery! ”Zivchei Tzedek” with the Signature of ”Yechezkel Kachli” in the Hand of Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim of Baghdad - Significant historic and bibliographic discovery.  Zivchei Tzedek with an owner notation on the title page: יחזקאל כחלי (Yechezkel Kachli), in the hand of Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim of Baghdad. Background:  In 1973, the book  Shu”t Torah LiShma was printed with 524 responsa. The book was written in the hand of Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, and each responsa was signed, ”the young Yechezkel Kachli.” In the manuscript, Rabbi Yosef Chaim wrote ”so the copier says” that the manuscript miraculously reached him in an antiquated hand that was difficult to read, and he copied it. He mentions Rabbi Yechezkel Kachli who started writing the work in 1682.  The book was published by his grandson, Rabbi David son of Yaakov ben Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim. The book opens with the story of the manuscript. It states that Rabbi Ben Tzion Chazan z”l related that Rabbi Avraham Ades saw that in his Rav Pealim,  Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim mentions the T orah LiShma  by Rabbi Yechezkel HaKachli, who sent a number of questions to Baghdad to Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim, including some about the Torah LiShma. He received answers to all of his questions, other than the question about the work Torah Lishma . He writes that it became apparent to Rabbi Avraham Ades that  Torah LiShma was authored by Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim, who, for unknown reasons, didn't want to reveal that he wrote it. He also writes that ”Yechezkel Kachli” has the same gematria value as ”Yosef Chaim.” The author chose to hide his name, since there are those who believe that there are reasons for an author to hide his name. Since then, a number of editions of the book have been printed. In 2013, an edition was printed by ”Ahavat Shalom” with an introduction by Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Hillel, in which he includes strong, clear proofs that the author was indeed Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim and even brings kabbalistic reasons why the author chose this specific name. Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer brings a number of proofs in a few of his works that the author was the author of Ben Ish Chai . On the other hand, there were those who challenged this attribution, and believed that this work was copied from an early manuscript, as the Ben Ish Chai wrote. Over the years, many leading Torah scholars learned this work and a number of its responsa. Some believed that the responsa contained opinions that could not possibly have been written by the Ben Ish Chai, and some even found contradictions to the  Rav Pealim . As a result, there were those who disagreed with a number of the halachic rulings and wrote that it is unclear whether or not the Ben Ish Chai wrote the work. Others maintained that the Ben Ish Chai wrote the book in his youth, and therefore, the responsa do not always align with what he wrote in other locations. Rabbi Ovadya Yosef quotes this work dozens of times, however he never definitively writes that the author was the Ben Ish Chai. Rabbi Shalom Messas wrote that it doesn't seem that the author was the Ben Ish Chai. Rabbi Shalom Cohen wrote: We must check the issue to its source, it is possible that the issue requires intensive clarification and a decision by a sage. Unique features:  This book sheds lights on the polemic regarding the identity of the author of  Shu”t Torah LiShma and confirms the opinion of those who believe that it was the Ben Ish Chai. The form of the letters of the signature clearly indicate that it was written by the Ben Ish Chai, and proves that the Ben Ish Chai also signed his name ”Yechezkel Kachli” [יחזקאל כחלי] and that he himself used this nickname. Leaf 3 bears an additional signature that was crossed out.  Condition:  Fine. This lot includes a report written by an expert confirming that this signature was written by Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim of Iraq, author of  Ben Ish Chai . This signature can finally clarify a polemic that has stretched out over dozens of years. A lot of material about this subject is included.