Works by Rabbi Shemtob Gaguine

Below is a list of works by the author of the Keter Shem Tob.  It is incomplete at this stage, and we hope to augment it.  Sourced suggestions are welcome, and can be emailed to westernsephardim "at" gmail.com

Books

Keter Shem Tob: The Rites and Ceremonies and Liturgical Variants of the Sephardim of the East and West, and the Ashkenazim – Their Origin and Significance Based on the Talmud (Babylonian and Palestinian) and All Ancient and Modern Codes and Treatises.
Pirke Shira: Poetic Miscellany, Containing Prayers Composed for Various Occasions, Eulogies, Panegyrics, Elegies, Dirges and Epitaphs for Departed Friends, Moral Reflections, Proverbs, Etc.  Kedainiai: S. Movsoviciaus, 1937.  [Download from hebrewbooks.org]

The Jews of Cochin.  Brighton: A. Zeltzer & Sons, 1952.


Journals

Habazeleth: Mikhtav Iti Levet Yisrael.  Jerusalem: Habazeleth, 1863-1911 [Click the green links to download the articles].
  • "HaSafah VeDikdukah" [scholarly debate with Rabbi Aryeh Leib Gordon]. In Vol. 38–39:
Gordon:  Vol. 38, No. 23 (Apr 03, 1908), pp. 4, 5, 6;  No. 26 (Apr 10), pp. 2–3;  No. 28 (Apr 15), pp. 5, 6, 7
Gaguine:  No. 32 (May 01), pp. 4, 5, 6
Gordon:  No. 35 (May 08), pp. 5–6
Gaguine:  No. 44 (May 29), p. 5;  No. 49 (Jun 12), pp. 5–6;  No. 55 (Jun 26), pp. 5–6;  No. 58 (Jul 04), pp. 5–6
Gordon:  No. 61 (Jul 10), pp. 4–5
Gaguine:  No. 73 (Aug 07), p. 5
Gordon:  Vol. 39, No. 53 (Feb 05, 1909), pp. 2–3
  • "Kerubim." In Vol. 39, No. 99 (Jun 04, 1909), pp. 4, 5, 6
  • "Tekufah." In Vol. 40, No. 6 (Oct 15, 1909), pp. 3, 4, 5; No. 9 (Oct 22), pp. 6–7
  • "Mitsvot HaTeluyot BaArets" [with approbation from Rabbi Kook] In Vol. 40, No. 30 (Feb 7, 1910), pp. 2, 3, 4; No. 31 (Feb 14), pp. 2–3

The Jewish Chronicle. London: W. Brittain, 1841–present
  • "Extramarriage and Barmitzva." 80th year, No. 2708 (Feb 25, 1921), p. 25.

Yehudith: The Organ of the Judith Lady Montefiore Theological College, Ramsgate. London: I. Narodiczky, 1939-1943.  [Rabbi Gaguine was the editor of all four volumes.]
  • Vol. 1, No. 1 (Sep 1939)
“Hakdamah,” pp. 3-6.  Reflections on Jewish suffering, and introduction to the journal
“Shulhan HaZahab to Orah Hayyim 581-603," pp. 7-12.
“Sukkah BeBet HaKeneset,” pp. 13-15.
  • Vol. 1, No. 2 (Apr 1940)
“Zeman Herutenu,” pp. 3-8.
“Mitsvot HaTeluyot BaArets,” pp. 9-13.  Reprinting of an article from Habazeleth that appeared in Feb 1910.
“Shulhan HaZahab to Orah Hayyim 580," pp. 14-18.
  • Vol. 1, No. 3 (Sep 1940)
[Special English-only issue in which Rabbi Gaguine did not publish his own articles.]
  • Vol. 1, No. 4 (Apr 1943)
“Azharot LeRabbenu Sar Shalom bar David LeYom Rishon Shel Pesah.”  Whole issue covers all 201 stanzas, including Rabbi Gaguine’s original perushim, “Kanah Shem Tob” and “Tob Shem.”

Individual Responsa in Other Works

  • "Abakeshah... DeKhi Nishbang LeSheker..."  In Elyashar, Hayyim Moshe.  Moshe HaISH. Jerusalem: Shmuel Halevy Zuckermandl, 1921, pp. 171a-b.  [Download from hebrewbooks.org]  Rabbi Gaguine poses a question to Rabbi Elyashar in 1911.
  • "BeDin Get... SheNafelu Bo Tanguyot Rabot." In Cohen, Aharon Mendl. Yad Re'em – 3 Halakim. Tel Aviv: Chaim Naftali Weissblum, 1960, Vol. 2, Book 1 (She'elot UTshubot BeYoreh Dengah VeEben HaNgezer), pp. 124-125.  [Download from hebrewbooks.org]  The responsum is undated, but was likely written when Rabbi Gaguine lived in Egypt (1911-1919).



Unpublished Manuscripts

Mentioned in M. D. Gaon’s biography in Pirke Shirah:
  • Remarks and Illuminations on Midrash Rabba and Tanhuma
  • Responsa to the London community and its suburbs
  • Commentary on the Pentateuch
  • The Student Asks and the Rabbi Answers
  • 50 Homilies in the Spirit of the Time
  • Commentary on the book Piske Recanati
  • Girsa DeYanukta, novellae on various Talmudic tractates
  • Travel logs of Spain and France
Mentioned by the author himself in Pirke Shirah [snippets available in Yehudith]:
Just as God has merited me to see this book come to reality, may He soon grant me to bring to press a venerable book which I have titled “Shulhan HaZahab” on the “Shulhan Arukh” Orah Hayyim!  It contains alternate versions and my personal notations based on manuscript copies and old printings that were released during the life of Maran – the Author of blessed memory – and the total number of my notes and corrections has surpassed four thousand.  I flatter myself that no other man has engaged in this type of labor before me.  May the One Who gives strength to the weary assist me in completing the work on the sections Yore De’ah, Eben HaEzer, and Hoshen Mishpat.  Blessed be the Merciful One, Who assisted us from the outset until today!
Additional manuscripts mentioned in “The Gaguine Family – A Primary Secondary Source”
  • Imere Nongam, 80 Homilies for Various Occasions
  • A bibliography of Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi composed by Rabbi Gaguine’s ancestor, Rabbi Shalom Mizrahi Sharabi
  • Sho’el KeNginyan Umeshib KeHalakhah, responsa
  • Novellae to the book Ohel Monged, appended to his father’s Mikhseh LaOhel