KIMCHI, JACOB BEN SAMUEL. Shailah Teshuvah [“A Responsum on the Subject of the Slaughtering of Cattle and the Examination of their Lungs in London”]

(ANGLO-JUDAICA)

Aaron ben Elijah Katz

Altona

1760

FIRST EDITION. Title within typographical border. The Danel Itzig Copy

Vinograd, Altona 66; Mehlman 1697

A passionate polemical responsum pertaining to the decade-long dispute concerning Shechita in London in the mid-18th century, which eventually led to a schism between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities. The author accused the shochtim of London of knowingly providing un-Kosher meat to the public. Kimchi unequivocally states that it is forbidden to eat any meat from animals slaughtered by these shochtim. “Whatever they slaughter is like pig meat in my eyes.” The author, Jacob Kimchi (ca. 1720-1800), was born in Constantinople and later emigrated to London. Although he was engaged in business, the Chid”a considered him “an acute and erudite scholar” (Ma’agal Tov Ha-Shalem, ed. A. Freimann, f. 31). (Further research concerning this volume provided upon request)