BRODA, ABRAHAM BEN SAUL

BRODA, ABRAHAM BEN SAUL (d. 1717), rabbi and halakhic authority. Broda was born in Bunzlau (Bohemia) and served as rabbi in Lichtenstadt and in Raudnitz. In 1693 he was appointed head of a yeshivah in Prague but left after a dispute with other rabbis of the city. In 1709 he was appointed rabbi of Metz, and in 1713 of Frankfurt, where he remained until his death. In these last two cities he established yeshivot which attracted many students. In his approbation to Eshel Avraham, Jonathan *Eybeschuetz paid tribute to Broda's contribution to education and teaching: "He was remarkably successful in learning, teaching, and disseminating Torah, and most contemporary scholars of renown were his disciples." Among his outstanding students were Nethanel *Weil, Jonah *Landsofer, and Samuel Helman of Metz. His novellae were noted by his students, who quoted them in their works, or published them together with their own works. Broda's most important work is Eshel Avraham (1747), novellae on the tractates Pesaḥim, Ḥullin, and Bava Batra. This reveals his erudition, keen intellect, and methodical treatment of the subject matter. The first part, Ḥiddushei Halakhot, summarizes each topic on the basis of the Talmud and its commentaries, and the second, Ḥiddushei Posekim, deals with halakhic rulings which derive from these sources. Other works by Broda are Ḥiddushei Ge'onim (Offenbach, 1723), on Bava Kamma, Bava Meẓia, and Sanhedrin; Ḥiddushei Hilkhot Gittin (Wandsbeck, 1731), published by his disciple, Jonathan b. Isaac ha-Levi; Shema'ta Ḥadta (Frankfurt, 1737), novellae and explanations on Ketubbot and the second chapter of Gittin, and Toledot Avraham (Fuerth, 1769), novellae to Kiddushin and Ketubbot (incomplete). Israel Isserl b. Isaac ha-Levi (beginning of 18^th century), a disciple of Broda, published Asefat Ḥakhamim (1722), which included novellae by Broda. In a takkanah of 1715, Broda deals with the question of modesty, warns against extravagant festivities, and pleads for abstention from extravagance and forbidden foods. His son, moses (1674–1741), served from 1704 as rabbi of Hanau, and from 1718 as rabbi of Bamberg, transferring to Worms in 1733. He prepared his father's Eshel Avraham for publication, adding to it his own glosses, entitled Ohel Moshe. The publication was completed by Moses' son Saul.

bibliography:

M. Horovitz, Frankfurter Rabbinen, 2 (1883), 79–82, 100 (no. 4427), 103–4; Cahen, in: rej, 8 (1884), 260–7; Kaufmann, ibid., 19 (1889), 120–9; A. Eckstein, Geschichte der Juden im ehemaligen Fuerstbistum Bamberg (1898), 169–70, no. 12; Loewenstein, in: jjlg, 14 (1921), 18–19; Jakobovits, in: jggjč, 5 (1933), 79–112, 127–8; N. Netter, Vingt siècles d'histoire d'une communauté juive (Metz) (1938), 90–93; A. Broda, Mishpaḥat Broda (1938), 27–28; Assaf, Mekorot, 4 (1942), 118–9; Shisha, in: Ha-Ohel, 1 (1955), 130–5.

[Yehoshua Horowitz]