Cases Or Cazes:

By: A. Rhine , Isaac Broydé , Israel Berlin , Louis Ginzberg

Jewish Italian family that included among its members rabbis, physicians, and scholars. The more numerous branch of the family lived in Mantua; some lived in Ferrara; some emigrated to Turkey and Palestine (see Zunz, in Benjacob's edition of Dei Rossi's "Meor 'Enayim," iv. 30). Benjamin Cazes, a contemporary of Azulai, was rabbi of Safed and author of a commentary on Moses of Coucy's "Codex SeMaG," with the title "Megillat Sefer" (Constantinople, 1750). Of the Mantuan branch the following are the most distinguished:

Aaron b. Joseph Baruch Cazes:

Scholar and physician; took his degree on Aug. 3, 1751; died 1767.

A. R. Israel Gedaliah (Claudio) Cazes:

Rabbi at Mantua; born there June 19, 1794; died there Jan. 1, 1841. Like his father and grandfather, he attained proficiency both in rabbinical literature and in medicine. In 1834 he succeeded his father in the rabbinate, which was transmitted from father to son in the Cazes family. In addition to the duties of the rabbinate, Cazes practised medicine with great success.

I. Br. Israel Gedaliah ben Joseph Baruch Cazes:

Italian physician and chief rabbi at Mantua; died Jan. 21, 1793. He enjoyed a threefold reputation as physician, as an acute Talmudist of wide reading, andas preacher. He wrote "Tefillot Libene Yisrael Ḳ. Ḳ. Mantova" (Prayers of the Israelites of the Holy Congregation of Mantua), being prayers for the victory of King Joseph II.'s army, written in Hebrew and translated into Italian (Mantua, 1788). He is said to have been a disciple of the abbé Canini, Whose methods of medical treatment he successfully applied after having taken his degree in 1754.

I. Ber. Jacob b. Israel Cases Gedaliah I.:

Physician, eighteenth to nineteenth century (Mortara, "Indice Alfabetico," p. 10).

A. R. Joseph Baruch ben Moses Cazes:

Italian Talmudist, rabbi, and physician; died between 1716 and 1726 at Mantua, his native place. He was famous both as physician and as Talmudist. His responsa, which Nepi declares brilliant, are quoted in the works of his contemporaries, among others in Isaac Lampronti's "Paḥad Yiẓḥaḳ" (letter א, fol. 79g, 102a; ב, fol. 60b; נ, fol. 63g et seq. ; ק, fol. 127a). His Talmudic method of teaching is entirely logical. He was averse to useless discussions (letter ב, fol. 60b). Although he believed in the strict observance of all the Talmudic precepts, he advocated departures from the Law in certain cases, in order that religion might not become a burden to the people (letter א, fol. 79g; letter נ, fol. 63g and 66b); or when the welfare of individuals was endangered (letter א; fol. 103g).

I. Ber. Joseph Samuel b. Israel Gedaliah I. Cases:

Scholar and physician; died 1775 (Mortara, "Indice Alfabetico," p. 10).

Luliane (Lelio) Shalom b. Samuel Cases:

Seventeenth century; physician and scholar; took his degree Jan. 12, 1622. He is the author of "Derek Yesharah" (The Straight Path); a treatise on communal conduct in order to avoid dissensions. Zunz called this work "the swan-song of the Mantuan press." It was published in 1626 by Judah Samuel Perugia & Son.

A. R. Moses ben Samuel Cazes:

Italian Talmudist and physician; took his degree on Jan. 11, 1586; lived in the second half of the sixteenth century and the first quarter of the seventeenth at Mantua, where he was rabbi and director of a yeshibah. He was a pupil of the celebrated cabalist Menahem Azariah di Fano. Cazes enjoyed a more than ordinary reputation among his contemporaries; a gifted writer uttering the following opinion of him: "In the synagogues and schoolhouses of our time there is no one to equal him in wisdom and understanding, in counsel and courage, in knowledge and piety" (Abraham de Portaleone, "Shilṭe ha-Gibborim," p. 24d). Cazes was the author of the following works: (1) "Notes on Alfasi"; (2) Commentary on the Fifth and Sixth Orders of the Mishnah; (3) "Contributions to the Hermeneutics of the Talmud." They were never published.

I. Ber. Samuel b. Moses Cases:

Scholar of the sixteenth century. He edited Samuel Ẓarẓa's's "Meḳor Ḥayyim" ( ), Mantua, 1559; and is mentioned by Azariah dei Rossi ("Meor 'Enayim," i. 80; ii. 221) as a possessor of a manuscript of the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel (Zunz, in Benjacob's edition of De Rossi's "Meor 'Enayim," iii, 29-30).

The following two belonged to the Ferrara branch of the Cases family:

Hananiah b. Menahem Cases:

Physician and rabbi of Florence; lived at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. Author of (1) "Ḳin'at Soferim" (Zeal of Writers), written in defense of the "Sefer ha-Miẓwot" of Maimonides against the attacks of Naḥmanides (Leghorn, 1740, reprinted in the Warsaw edition of the "Sefer ha-Miẓwot"); (2) an epistle (Iggeret) to R. Nehemiah b. Baruch concerning musical harmony in the chanting of the priestly benediction ("Birkat Kohanim") which is included in R. Nehemiah's "Meẓiẓ u-Meliẓ" ( ), Venice, 1715; and (3) "Ḥoḳ le Yisrael" (Statute unto Israel), glosses and notes on Hezekiah di Silva's "Peri Ḥadash" on the "Yoreh De'ah" (Leghorn, 1740). Responsa of Cases may be found in the works of his contemporaries, among others in I. Lampronti's "Paḥad Yiẓḥak," letter א, fol. 102b, and ח, fol. 109b).

A. R. Menahem ben Elhanan Cazes:

Italian Talmudist; born about the beginning of the seventeenth century; died after 1664. He was rabbi at Modena (1642) and Ferrara (1655). Azulai saw two of his manuscript works: (1) "Shelom ha-Bayit" (The Peace of the House), a commentary on Solomon ibn Aderet's "Torat ha-Bayit" and Aaron ha-Levi's "Bedeḳ ha-Bayit"; (2) and "Ḥiddushim" (novellæ) on the treatise "Shabbat." Ghirondi had in his possession a manuscript of Cazes containing halakic decisions. A responsum by Cazes, which shows his wide range of Talmudic learning, has been published in Samuel Aboab's "Debar Shemuel" (Venice, 1702, No. 79).

L. G. I. Ber.