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Moshe Chafetz (משה חפץ)

Moshe ben Gershom (1663-1711) (known as Moshe Chafetz or Moses Gentili), was a rabbinic scholar in Venice, Italy. Born in Trieste, raised in Venice, he lived as a private tutor teaching Talmud and Midrash. He wrote poetry, and dealt with philosophy, math, and natural sciences.

(Other spelling permutations: Moses ben Gershom, Chefetz, Hefez, Hefes, and many, many others.)

A member of the prominent Chafetz family (Gentili, in Italian) of Northern Italy, he was considered a child prodigy and studied under the renowned R. Solomon Nizza.

One of his poetic works, written at age 13, is in the Venice edition of the Bible (1675-78). The poet Yomtov Valcasson wrote a poem for Chafetz's wedding to Yvonah Karbonnah (Venice, 1682). Chafetz wrote a poem for Yehuda Volterra's wedding (1683).

• Hanukkat haBayit (lit. Dedication of the Temple), details the construction of the Second Temple (Venice, 1696).
• Melekhet Machashevet (Intentful Work), a homiletical-philosophical commentary on the Torah (Venice, 1710, with tables and a portrait of the author; second edition, Koenigsbuerg, 1859, with supercommentary, Machashevet Choshev, by Judah Leib Jaffe).

His portrait, in Melekhet Machashevet, was the first portrait ever published in a Hebrew book (first edition, 1710)

Date of His Death

There's a slight difference in dates out there:

• His death is cited as the 29th of Cheshvan, (Tuesday evening, November 10, 1711, per chabad.org) and The Jewish Voice (Nov. 5, 2010; p.35).
   
• His death is cited as Tuesday evening of the 30th of Cheshvan, in Toldot Gedolei Yisroel ("Annals of Great Minds of Israel in Italy" (Trieste, 1853, p. 239)
Cheshvan only rarely has 30 days, caused by Rosh Hashanah postponement rules.
 
• His death is also cited as the 1st of Kislev, per Chazaq.org.
   

The 30th of Cheshvan date seems most reliably documented. The other two dates are "normal dates" that occur each year, so both deviations are understandable. (It's like having a birthday on February 29th; when do you celebrate?)

Other Biographical Information

• Bio in Toldot Gedolei Yisroel
  Near-page biography in this "Annals of Great Minds of Israel in Italy" (Trieste, 1853). Page 239. The apparent origin of many sources' Chafetz bios.
   
• Tovushi-Light (The Light of Torah), the Kavkazi Jewish Youth Magazine provides a biography and book descriptions.

No Beard, No Kippah, No Problem

Contrary to modern expectations of 1700s Northern Italy, one could be accepted as a pious Jew, or even eminent rabbi, with a shaved face, long hair, and without a kippah.

• Mention in Kabbalah and the Beard article
   
  The Early Eighteenth Century Confronts the Beard: Kabbalah and Jewish Self-Fashioning mentions the seeming paradox of Chafetz's clean-shaven face in the book frontispiece.
   
• Citation in Toward Modernity: The European Jewish Model
   
  Mentioned in footnote 56 on page 219, cited from page 200 (which does not directly mention Chafetz or the book) which discusses Italian rabbis without beards or head-coverings.
   
• Chafetz's uncovered head, and the book's "age mistake"
   
  The article Yarmulke: A Historic Cover-up? mentions Chafetz (as Gentili) in his frontispiece at length, and mentions the age conundrum (page 230, p. 10 in this PDF file).

Some information repurposed from Encyclopedia Judaica

Moshe Chafetz
(inside cover, Melekhet Machashevet)

Got Information?

Any information about Moshe Chafetz or his books is greatly appreciated; in particular, any existing translations.

Contact me at djbrook@sbcglobal.net.