Yom Tov ben Moshe Tzahalon, , also known as the Maharitatz, (ca. 1559, Safed

Safed

Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...

, Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

 - 1638), was a student of Moses di Trani

Moses ben Joseph di Trani (the Elder)

Moses ben Joseph di Trani known by his acronym Mabit was a 16th-century rabbi in Safed....

 and Moshe Alshich

Moshe Alshich

Moshe Alshich, also spelled Alshech, , known as the Alshich Hakadosh , was a prominent rabbi, preacher, and biblical commentator in the latter part of the 16th century....

, and published a collection of responsa

Responsa

Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...

.

At the early age of twenty-five Tzahalon was requested by Samuel Yafeh, a rabbi of Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, to decide a difficult and complicated problem which had been referred to himself and he corresponded with most of the authorities of his time, one of his chief antagonists being Moses Galante (the Elder)

Moses Galante (the Elder)

Moses ben Mordecai Galante , was a 16th-century rabbi. He was a disciple of Joseph Caro, and was ordained by him when but twenty-two years of age. He wrote sermons for a wedding, for Passover, and for a thanksgiving service, printed with the younger Obadiah Bertinoro's commentary on the Book of...

. Although a Sephardi, Tzahalon rendered a decision in favor of an Ashkenazic congregation in a controversy which arose between the Sephardim and Ashkenazim at Jerusalem, and in his love of truth he did not spare even his teacher, Joseph Caro, declaring that the Shulchan Aruch

Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...

was written for children and laymen. Tzahalon was the author of a commentary on the Book of Esther

Book of Esther

The Book of Esther is a book in the Ketuvim , the third section of the Jewish Tanakh and is part of the Christian Old Testament. The Book of Esther or the Megillah is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim...

, entitled Lekach Tov (Safed, 1577). He was the author of responsa and novellæ which were published with a preface by his grandson Yom-Tov (Venice, 1694), and he mentions also a second part, of which nothing more is known (Machon Yerushalayim has published more of his responsa in 1979).. He likewise wrote a commentary on the Abot de-Rabbi Natan, entitled Magen Avot, which is still extant in manuscript. In his preface to this latter work Tzahalon terms himself Yom-Tov ben Moses ha-Sefardi, whence it is clear that the family came originally from Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, although it is not known when it emigrated or where Tzahalon was born.