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The shaar blatt (page with the brief list of what's in the book) of my Shas (and this Shas) says that the Divrei Chamudos was originally called the Lechem Chamudos and the Maadanei Yom Tov was originally called the Maadanei Melech. Both were authored by the Tosfos Yom Tov, R' Yom Tov Lipmann Heller.

I am curious to know who changed the titles and why. Were they changed by the author himself, or by others?

For extra credit (brownie based, not reputation based), when did it happen?

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  • I heard a story that the local king got angry that he named it Melekh so he changed it. Something like that. Might have been some anti-his-group Jews who reported him.
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Oct 28, 2014 at 2:53
  • @DoubleAA Interesting. Heard it from a reliable source? (Doesn't really address the lechem chamudos, unless the king really hated bread)
    – Y     e     z
    Commented Oct 28, 2014 at 2:54
  • The Hebrew version of the WP page you linked to has a version of the same story
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Oct 28, 2014 at 3:04
  • Joseph Davis' biography of the Tosfos Yom Tov (Littman Library 2004) mentions this 'problem' regarding the titles of these works on pg 122, n. 22, and he appears to blame the editors, but he has no proofs, and that would seem strange considering that the change occurred in the author's lifetime. I thought of this again today because someone asked me who the Magen Avraham is quoting with the abbreviation ל"ח
    – הנער הזה
    Commented Nov 23, 2014 at 5:52

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Shalom. See this WikiYeshiva Page: פרשת ההלשנה לרגל מלחמת שלושים השנים הטילה הממשלה מסים כבדים על כל הקהילות. הוא היה בראש הועד לקביעת המסים, שהגיעו לסכום של ארבעים אלף טהאלר. מנהגו היה לחלק את המיסים באופן שהעשירים שלמו יותר, כל אחד לפי כוחו. נוהג זה קומם עליו עשירים בעלי השפעה, שבזמן המלחמה הלוו כספים לקיסר למימון המלחמה והמלך נותר להם בעל חוב. הם הלשינו עליו לפני הקיסר פרדינאנד כי הוא נושא פנים לעשירים ומעריכם פחות ממה שהם חייבים לשלם. גם הלשינו על ספריו "מעדני מלך" "ולחם חמודות" על הרא"ש כי בשמות האלה הוא פוגע במלך. במהדורה השניה הוסב שמם ל"מעדני יו"ט" ו"דברי חמודות".

It says that because the rich people informed him to the king that by the names of these books he disrespect the king - he changed the names. but no authoritative source for this things so... Hope it helps anyway :)

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  • Thanks - how was "lechem chamudos" disrespectful to the king? Did he have celiac disease?
    – Y     e     z
    Commented Oct 28, 2014 at 17:38
  • I'm gonna guess that the main 'case' was against the Maadanei Melech but once both works were under the spotlight he changed both names to throw everyone off his trail.
    – user6591
    Commented Oct 28, 2014 at 20:48
  • This rumor is mentioned by the Tosfos Yom Tov himself, and he says that it isn't true: hebrewbooks.org/… (hence the downvote by me)
    – הנער הזה
    Commented Nov 23, 2014 at 5:55
  • Interestingly, this version of Megillas Eivah (pg 41) writes: "משום מעשה שהיה הוסב שמו ״מעדני יום טוב ודברי חמודות״ פיורדא תק״ח" though the publishing of this alternative name comes 120 years after the edition published in the author's lifetime (Prague 1618-1628) so perhaps this מעשה שהיה was something similar that occurred to someone else...
    – הנער הזה
    Commented Nov 23, 2014 at 6:06

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