Responsa (plural of Latin responsum, 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars in historic religious law.
A particularly well-known and highly influential example of such responsa was the Digesta (or Digests), in 90 books, the principal work of the prominent second century jurist Salvius Julianus. This was a systematic treatise on civil and law, consisting of responsa on real and hypothetical cases, cited by many later Roman legal writers."Salvius Iulianus" in Adolf Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, American Philosophical Society, 1953, p. 552
Some responsa are given in Notitiae, the official journal of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW). The responsa given in Notitiae are, according to the CDW, to be considered only as private responses unless they are published in official legal records of the Holy See.
Judaism's responsa constitute a special class of rabbinic literature, to be distinguished from the commentaries ( meforshim)—devoted to the exegesis of the Tanakh, the Mishnah, the Talmud—and from the codes of law which delineate the rules for ordinary incidents of life.
The responsa literature covers a period of 1,700 years—the mode, style, and subject matter have changed as a function of the travels of the Jewish people and of the development of other halakhic literature, particularly the codes.
Responsa play a particularly important role in Halakha. The questions forwarded are usually practical, and often concerned with new contingencies for which no provision has been made in the codes of law, and the responsa thus supplement the codes. They, therefore, function as a source of law, in a manner similar to stare decisis, in that they are consulted by later decisors (posek) in their rulings; they are also, in turn, incorporated into subsequent codes.
In addition to requests for halakhic rulings, many of the questions addressed were theoretical in character, particularly among the earlier responsa. The responsa thus contain rulings on ethics, business ethics, the philosophy of religion, astronomy, mathematics, history, geography, as well as interpretations of passages in the Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Midrash. Thus, while early Jewish literature has few historical works, many notes on the Jewish history have been introduced into the responsa.
Responsa thus contain valuable information about the culture of the Jews and the people among whom they lived. Information may also be gleaned about the moral and social relations of the times, occupations, the household, minhag, expressions of joy and of sorrow, and recreations, and even games. Older responsa are also important for readings and emendations of the Mishnah and the Talmud.
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