Overview
Keter Shem Tob is among the most systematic attempts by a dayyan to compare the differences between the ritual practices and customs of the principal Jewish ngedot throughout history. It was Rabbi Gaguine’s magnum opus, the remarkable product of more than 20 years of meticulous research and dozens of trips around the Jewish world. Because he visited many communities that did not survive beyond the 1960s, worshiping in their synagogues and interviewing their lay and rabbinic leaders, the book is a gem of ethnographic information that can be found in no other work. More than just an anthology of traditions, it is a penetrating and copiously sourced halakhic treasure that traces the development of Jewish rites and ceremonies across more than 1700 years of Jewish textual records.
Scope
The subtitle of Keter Shem Tob helps demarcate the area of Jewish law that piqued Rabbi Gaguine’s interest. In English, it reads: 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. In other words, the driving force of the work is the ritual behavior and customs of Jews, particularly when not all groups do or say the same thing.
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Terminology
A brief account of Rabbi Gaguine’s operational definitions will help the reader understand how he subdivided the Jewish community in his treatment of this material. Throughout the work, he uses terms like "The Jews of London and Amsterdam" or "The Jews of Syria, Egypt, and Togarmah," which mean much more than their literal translations would suggest.
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Order and Format
The overall order of Keter Shem Tob mirrors the order of events of the observances under study. The material pertaining to weekdays begins at sunrise and ends at sunset, while the discussion of holidays starts with the preparations beforehand and continues through Ngarbit of the final day. Each section bears a rhymed heading (e.g. "amarti asaperah, minhagei ngaliyat haTorah") with the amount of its sengifim. Since the simanim are not tallied, citations of Keter Shem Tob are given by volume and page number.
The top of each page is a gloss that describes the practice under discussion or explains what information will appear in the commentary. Beneath this is the main text, which analyzes the upper material in painstaking, carefully footnoted detail.
The top of each page is a gloss that describes the practice under discussion or explains what information will appear in the commentary. Beneath this is the main text, which analyzes the upper material in painstaking, carefully footnoted detail.
Publication and Content by Volume
Due to Rabbi Gaguine’s numerous professional duties, a persistent lack of funding, and his somewhat early death, 47 years passed between the publication of the first and last volumes of Keter Shem Tob. This contributed to a slow dissemination of the work, which was not available for purchase as a complete set for decades. Yet in spite of these setbacks, it remains a classic of halakhic and minhagic literature, with a great deal of interesting content that can be found in no other book.
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Citations
Keter Shem Tob quotes a vast array of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in exploring the origins and development of thousands of halakhot and minhagim. The type of sources on which Rabbi Gaguine most frequently relied were determined to a marked degree by his focus on rituals and customs:
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Criticism and Praise
Every book contains at least some flaws, and Keter Shem Tob is no exception. But despite its legitimate criticism, the glowing haskamot attached to the first volume attest to the deep approbation with which Keter Shem Tob was received by the rabbinic leaders of its time, both Ashkenazi and Sephardi.
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