Tzemach Tzedek Shu"t Orach Chaim 2 Volumes

Published By: Kehot Publication Society
Format: 8½" x 11", 1124 pages (2 Volumes)
Language: Hebrew

R. Menachem Mendels responsa was first published after his passing, in 1871 and 1884, under the name "Tzemach Tzedek," which in Hebrew is the gematria of his name: (Tzemach (138)=Menachem, and Tzedek (194)=Mendel. From then on, the Rebbe himself was referred to by the name of his magnum opus "(the Rebbe) the Tzemach Tzedek." The complete printed work consists of six volumes (including Piskei Dinim and Chidushim leShas).

Penned over a period of 50 years, in response to halachic queries by leading rabbinical figures in White Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine, the responsa were renowned for their profundity, erudition and comprehensiveness.

In the 1946, the Rebbe edited and published the work again, adding an additional volume, footnotes and a short biography of the "Tzemach Tzedek." Additional editions of the series were published over the years, the last being in 1994 (when the entire work was typeset in a more readable, modern font, and with much original material collected over the years).

The current, newly revised edition, skillfully annotated and commentated by Rabbi Dovid Moishe Meisels and a team of scholars at Kehots Chabad Research Center, brings the responsa of the "Tzemach Tzedek" to life. Whereas the previous editions were perhaps daunting on the average student, the new edition guides the reader through the intricacies of the legal/halachic issue at hand by employing various explanatory techniques.

The two-volume set covers the responsa on the section of Orach Chayim, and comprises more than 1,000 pages. Work has already commenced on the enormous task of preparing the further sections for print. This includes comparing the printed material with the original manuscripts and weeding out any errors found in the previous editions; adding paragraphs and punctuation; adding explanatory notes, glosses and synopses. The completed set, covering the four sections of Shulchan Aruch, will comprise more than 20 volumes.