Joshua Boaz ben Simon Baruch (died 1557), also known as the Shiltei Giborim after a work he authored, was a prominent
Talmudist who lived at
Sabbioneta, and later at
Savigliano.[1] He was a descendant of an old Judæo-Spanish family, and probably settled in
Italy after the
banishment of the Jews from Spain.
When he was twenty-three years old, he began to publish useful works on the
Talmud, in which he displayed vast erudition.
Rulings
Among his rulings in
Jewish Law is the consent for women to wear
wigs. He argued that hairs which are not attached to the head are not subject to the prohibitions regarding
modesty which requires the
covering of a woman's hair. He claimed that the woman's duty to make herself attractive to her husband outweighed other objections. His ruling was later included in the great code of Jewish Law known as the
Shulchan Aruch.[2]
Works
Massoret haShas or Massoret haTalmud, (
trans. "Tradition of the Talmud"), marginal notes to the Talmud giving cross-references to parallel passages in the Talmud and the
halakhic Midrashim
Ein Mishpat, Ner Mitzvah, (
trans. "The Wellspring of Justice, the Lamp of the Precept"), further marginal notes, giving references to the relevant
Halakhot in
Maimonides' Yad ha-Chazakah,
Moses of Coucy's Sefer Mitzvot Gadol and the Arba'ah Turim and Shulchan Aruch (as these last two works have the same numbering system, the same references are valid for both)
Torah Ohr, (
trans. "The Torah is Light"), an index of the
Biblical passages mentioned in the Talmud. These three works were first published, together with the Talmud, at Venice, 1546–1551, and are still found in most Talmud editions
Siddur Mordechai VeSimanav, a compendium of
Mordechai ben Hillel's halakhic work arranged according to the order of the Yad ha-Chazakah. The same work was also published (Sabionetta, 1554) under the title Siddur Dinei Mordechai
Shiltei ha-Gibborim, (
trans. "Shields of Heroes"), a selection of critical notes on
Alfasi's compendium of the Talmud, and on the Mordechai. This work bears also the title Sefer haMachloket.