14 Tammuz · Yahrzeit

Rabbi Yosef of Trani - Maharit

Rabbi Yosef ben Moshe of Trani - מהרי"ט - Maharit (1569-1639) was a Talmudist of the second half of the 16th century. Yahrzeit - 14 Tammuz Burial place - Tzfat Posek, Talmudist, Chief Rabbi of Constantinople (Turkey). Rabbi Yosef of Trani was the son of the well-known Rabbi Moshe of Trani ("the Mabit"); at the age of 8 he received a blessing from Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the "Shulchan Aruch". While in Tzfat, Rabbi Yosef studied under one of the great kabbalists of his time, Rabbi Shlomo Sagiz. Around 1600, the impoverished community of Tzfat sent him on a mission to Turkey to raise funds. He moved to Constantinople (Turkey), where he became a prominent posek and taught Torah. People came from far away to hear his profound Torah lessons. After living in Constantinople for 20 years, he became the chief rabbi of the Jewish community. He was the author of the "Responsa of the Maharit" and other books. He passed away in Istanbul in 1639, and his sons brought his remains to be buried in Tzfat. In 2008, his gravestone was discovered, and it is located next to the gravestone attributed to Rabbi Moshe Tzachalon, west of the cave of Rabbi Yaakov Beirav and the Holy Alshich. He was the author of "Sheelot u-Teshuvot", a work consisting of three parts: part I includes 152 responsa together with a general index (Constantinople, 1641); part II consists of 111 responsa arranged according to the order of the first three parts of the ritual code (Venice, 1645); part III contains responsa on the fourth part of the ritual code together with novellae on Tractate Kiddushin and supercommentaries on the commentaries of the Ran and the Alfasi on Tractates Ketubot and Kiddushin (ibid., 1645). Rabbi Yosef of Trani was well known for his tremendous support of the sick and the poor. May the merits of the tzadik Rabbi Yosef of Trani protect us all. https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/217-Rabbi-Yosef-of-Trani