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Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (Hungary 1804 to 1886) is best known as the author of the work of Halakha (Jewish law), the Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh (lit. "Condensation of the Shulkhan Arukh").
Biography
Ganzfried was born in Uzhhorod (Ungvar) in the Carpathian region of the Hapsburg Empire. He lost his father when he was eight. Ganzfried was a child prodigy and Ungvar's chief rabbi and Rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Heller assumed legal guardianship; Heller was known as "Hershele the Sharp-witted" for his piercing insights into the Talmud. Heller later moved to the city of Boniad, and Ganzfried, then fifteen, followed him. He remained in Heller's yeshiva for almost a decade until his ordination and marriage. After his marriage he worked briefly as a wine-merchant.
In 1843 he abandoned commerce and accepted the position of rabbi of Brezevitz. In 1849, he returned to Ungvar as a dayan, a judge in the religious court.
At that time Ungvar's spiritual head, Rabbi Meir Ash, was active in the orthodox camp, in opposition to the Neologs. Through serving with Ash, Ganzfried realised that in order to remain committed to orthodoxy, "the average Jew required an underpinning of a knowledge of practical halakha". It was to this end that Ganzfried composed the Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh; it is not polemical in nature and was clearly intended to inform, rather than to argue.
Works
Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh
The Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh in effect summarises the Shulkhan Arukh of Joseph Karo with reference to all subsequent commentaries (see also Chayei Adam) and incorporating Hungarian customs of the 19th century. The title page of the first edition is instructive. The book "is written for G-d-fearing Jews who are not in a position to study and comprehend the Shulkhan Arukh and its commentaries, and is composed in a Hebrew that can be easily understood." The Kitzur states without ambiguity what is permitted and what forbidden.
To determine a ruling, Ganzfried based his decsions on three halakhic authorities: Rabbi Jacob of Lissa; Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first rebbe of Lubavitch, author of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav; and Rabbi Abraham Danzig, author of Chayei Adam. In cases of disagreement he adopted the majority view. This closely mirrors the method Karo used in composing his Shulkhan Arukh; his three main decisors were Rabbi Isaac Alfasi, Maimonides and Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel.
This work was explicitly written as a popular text and as such does not follow the structure of the Shulkhan Arukh; it is thus not considered binding in the same way. It became immensely popular after its publication due to its simplicity. It is still popular within Orthodox Judaism, as a framework for study, if not always for practice. Because of this popularity it is often printed with cross-references to other works of halakha, the Mishnah Berurah and the Shulchan Aruch HaRav. Many editions include as an appendix the laws pertaining to the Land of Israel by the Chazon Ish (Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz). A recent commentary is Shaarim Metzuyanim be-Halakhah, by Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Braun, which examines contemporary problems in the light of the work.
Other works
Ganzfried published his first book, Kesset HaSofer, a halakhic primer for scribes in 1835. He composed this while he was still engaged in business.
Ganzfried also wrote Pnei Shlomo, an elucidation of portions of the Talmud and Torat Zevach, a halakhic handbook for practitioners of shechita, ritual slaughter.
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