Letter handwritten and signed by Rabbi Akiva Eiger Av Beit Din of Posen (Poznań).
Letter handwritten and signed by one of the greatest Later Authorities, Rabbi Akiva Eiger Av Beit Din of Posen, to his son’s son-in-law and disciple Rabbi Naftali Hirsch Bleichrode, Av Beit Din of Kranik.
Rabbi Akiva Eiger (1760-1838) was an exceptional, amazing figure among our rabbis, the Later Authorities, and this is what the gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin writes about his father, the Netzi”v of Volozhin: “And I faithfully testify that the gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger was lofty and holy in my father’s eyes. Whenever he was mentioned, he would quiver from the sanctity of his Torah and righteousness. His book of responsa never left [my father’s] table and one word of Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s would decide for him several leaves of in-depth holy study.” The gaon Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin would also say of his father-in-law the gaon Rabbi Eliezer Gordon of Telz: “And the words of the greatest Later Authorities guided him in his study of the Torah, but everywhere he would criticize them and disagree with them except for the gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger – he was considered by him almost an Early Authority. ”
And there are the words of his grandson the ‘Ktav Sofer’ in his eulogy: “The greatness of his modesty and piety cannot be imagined … he would abstain from the pleasures of this world and yet would still be involved with others and would concern himself with increasing Torah and placing protective barriers and preventing disaster … and he was old yet sat in the yeshivah and had many disciples who were outstanding rabbis of their generation, righteous sages and accomplished people … he did not close his door to be secluded, he only disseminated Torah and sanctified G-d …” ( Derashot Ktav Sofer , 1988 edition, leaves 96-105).
The letter deals with monetary matters, how and in what manner to invest, “although one way or the other … cash them, as the money is a teacher’s assistant’s who gave it to me for safekeeping and he demands the money daily and it is not fair for me to delay him …”
Rabbi Naftali Hirsch Bleichrode was a close disciple of Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s and married his granddaughter, Rebbetzin Sheincha, daughter of Rabbi Avraham Eiger of Ravitch. He corresponded with him on halachic matters and several responsa in the Shu”t Rabbi Akiva Eiger are addressed to him. His grandfather-in-law and rabbi, Rabbi Akiva Eiger, loved him as a son and therefore used to call him “my son-in-law” although he was actually his grandfather-in-law, as he wrote at the beginning of this letter ‘To my friend and son-in-law the sharp and exalted rabbi our teacher Rabbi Hirsch …’ and at the end of the letter: ‘His friend and father-in-law who seeks his Torah well-being, the small one, Akiva’ [ Ateret Paz by Rabbi Mordechai Weitz p. 85 and the book Meoran shel Yisrael section II p. 277 – photocopies enclosed].
[1] leaf. Ink on paper. 17×8 cm. Isolated holes have been restored with paper. Paper reinforcement on the upper margins.
Letter by the gaon Rabbi Avraham Eiger of Ravitch, son of the gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger, to his daughter and son-in-law.
Letter handwritten by Rabbi Avraham Eiger of Ravitch, the eldest son of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, to his son-in-law Rabbi Naftali Hirsch Bleichrode Av Beit Din of Kranik, and to his daughter Mrs. Sheincha. The letter to his son-in-law is in Hebrew. In its margins, Rabbi Avraham added a private letter in Yiddish to his daughter.
The second half of the letter is a letter by Rabbi Ya’akov Litvier Av Beit Din of Vongravitch – another son-in-law of Rabbi Avraham’s, to his brother-in-law the aforementioned Rabbi Hirsch. The beginning and end of the letter contain greetings, yet most of it is Torah thoughts on tractate Gittin “Which I found difficult …”
The gaon Rabbi Avraham Eiger [1779-1854], eldest son of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, was a sharp and knowledgeable Torah scholar who received much Torah from his father yet refused to enjoy its crown, although certain sources refer to him as Rosh Av Beit Din of Ravitch or Av Beit Din of Rogasen. He regularly corresponded on halachic matters with his father, who respected and admired him. Although he was weak and often sick, he devoted himself entirely to publishing his father’s writings, copying and editing and preparing them for print. He even added some of his glosses [which begin with the Hebrew words: so said Avraham the author’s son]. At the end of his life, he moved to Rogasen, where he passed away. Yet according to his request, he was buried in the city of Poznan, alongside his father Rabbi Akiva Eiger. [ Meoran shel Yisrael section II pp. 272-274].
His son-in-law, the gaon Rabbi Ya’akov Litvier was a disciple of the gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger who corresponded with him on halachic matters, [see for example: Shu”t Rabbi Akiva Eiger , first edition siman 22, 41, second edition siman 110, 115], served as an adjudicator in Ravitch and as Av Beit Din of Vongravitch and at the end of his life, in the community of Inowroclaw. He passed away on the third of Tishrei 1865 [about him, see ibid. p. 276, KeGovah HaArazim , p. 233].
[1] leaf. Ink on paper. 18×16 cm. Tears with loss to text. The letter was artistically restored. On its other side, a letter in Yiddish – unidentified.
Letter by Rabbi Avraham Moshe Kalischer, Av Beit Din of Fila, to his brother-in-law Rabbi Avraham Eiger and a response from him . Rabbi Avraham Moshe Kalischer married Rebbetzin Mrs. Sarel, Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s daughter, and passed away in his youth in 1811. Later, she remarried, to the ‘Chatam Sofer.’
[1] leaf. Ink on paper. 17×18 cm. Tears with slight loss to text. The letter was artistically restored.
Three additional letters were found in the binding:
Letter to Rabbi Akiva Eiger by Pinchas Meizshel.
Letter in ancient German.
Commercial bill in ancient German with a wax seal.
Hagahot Rabbi Akiva Eiger on the Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah and Orach Chaim. Two sections. Berlin, 1862. Handwritten glosses.
Two editions of Hagahot Rabbi Akiva Eiger were printed on the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim in 1862. This edition was printed in Berlin by his grandson, Rabbi Avraham, as an independent work. The other edition was published by his son, Rabbi Itzik Leib, on the sheets of the Shulchan Aruch printed in Johannesburg. Both of these editions are the foundation for all later editions of this work. The Johannesburg edition was copied by Rabbi Itzik, son of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, from the pages of his father’s Shulchan Aruch. The Berlin edition was a more precise work, as described by his great-grandson in the foreword to this work: After Rabbi Avraham prepared the ledger of the work he sent it back to Rabbi Akiva Eiger for his examination. Rabbi Akiva Eiger revised, removed and added sections. Only after his corrections was the manuscript returned to his grandson, who then printed them in Berlin.
In Orach Chaim, Hilchot Rosh Hashanah, there are two handwritten scholarly glosses.
At the end of Yoreh Deah, Kitavim, there are two handwritten scholarly glosses.
Orach Chaim: [2], 65 leaves. Includes the biography of Rabbeinu Akiva Eiger. 20.5 cm.
Yoreh Deah: [2], VIII, 64 leaves, includes the biography of Rabbeinu Akiva Eiger. Missing the last two leaves; leaf 64 is blemished. 20.5 cm.
Bound with Chidushei HaMeir on Tractate Beitzah. Berlin, 1859. Lacking title page.
Fine condition. Stains. Title page has been restored.
The Mahara”m Schick opens with: “I started to arrange words of Aggadah for the upcoming Rosh HaShanah, [1846]” with the date on which it was written.
This sermon was printed in Derashot Mahara”m Schick , Part I, Sermon 28.
Rabbi Moshe Schick (1807-1879) was the Chatam Sofer’s prominent disciple, the renowned rabbi of Chust and its rosh yeshivah, a leading adjudicator in Hungary, and leader of faithful Judaism in Hungary. He wrote novellae on Shas, responsa, sermons, and more.
[4] leaves, 22×17 cm. Ink on paper. Approximately 38 lines per page. Fine-very fine condition.
Elucidations on chamishah chumshei Torah, many of which are Torah novellae by the gaon Rabbi Moshe Sofer, Av Beit Din of Pressburg, author of Chatam Sofer .
Also including novellae in the name of the gaon Rabbi Yehonatan Eibeschütz (19b), Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna – the GR”A (35a) the Ba’al Hafla’ah (1b; 11a; 22b; 24a) and the gaon Rabbi Mordechai Bennet (3, 34, 37a) and in the name of the local rabbi (Hamburg?] (2b).
Examination of the manuscript demonstrates that there are many novellae here found in the Chatam Sofer’s books on the Torah ( Chatam Sofer , Torat Moshe , Chatam Sofer HeChadash ), most in a different style, and some with precisely the same wording, but the name of the ‘Chatam Sofer’ is not mentioned here. It is possible that there was a title page on which it was written that the novellae are from him. Because many of the novellae are found in the Chatam Sofer’s writings, and that the rest of the novellae are in the style of his elucidations, it is certainly possible that the rest of the novellae are from him and apparently they are additional novellae, as-yet unknown!
In any case, this is a notebook of novellae overflowing with the Torah of the rabbi of the Jewish people, the ‘Chatam Sofer’ – apparently written by one of his disciples. (Some of the novellae which we found in the Chatam Sofer’s writings were printed from the Chatam Sofer’s notebook from 1797 – and apparently this writer also had an early notebook – this issue requires further in-depth examination).
[38] leaves written on both sides in clear, legible writing. 15×21 cm. Including Torah portions Bereishit-Haazinu – 197 segments numbered א-קצז. Some is on greenish paper. Fine condition. The ends and beginnings of the lines are slightly cut. New binding.
Two volumes of novellae on tracate Gittin, handwritten by a disciple of the Chatam Sofer’s while he studied in the Pressburg yeshivah.
These are independent novellae of the writer’s, and not notes from the Chatam Sofer’s lectures. However, he quotes his great teacher in a few places. (For examples, refer to: Notepad 1 leaf 30a ‘נ”ל ליישב מה שדקדק אדמ”ו נ”י’. , Notepad 2 leaf 30b ‘דהנה אדמ”ו הגאון נ”י אמר’ , Notepad 2 leaf 34b ‘הנה אדמ”ו הגנ”י הביא בשם הב”ח’ .)
The last pagination of the second compilation includes a large compilation on the topic of “Harheinu” in Tracate Pesachim. Leaves 47-48 of notepad 1 include:” What Hash-m has graciously given me, on the day that we mourn the home of our L-rd, on the 9th of Av, that fell out on Shabbat, regarding the laws of mourning … I recorded my thoughts on Monday – the 11th of Menachem Av, 1836.”
Hard-to-read calligraphic owner signature at the beginning of the first notepad: לי אני..הצעיר והק’ אליהו….לע”ע [לעת עתה] פ”ק פ”ב [פה קהלת פרשבורג] נגהי ליום ב’ ער”ח אלול תקצ”ה (?). [Me … the young and small Eliyahu … presently in Pressburg … on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul 1835]. The same page bears a poem with acrostics that spell out the name: Eliyahu son of David. Another one of his signatures appears on notepad 1, leaf 48a. We currently have no information regarding the writer’s identity. No mention of a disciple named Eliyahu son of David is mentioned in Rabbi Kinstlicher’s book. Two large notepads: 21×25 cm. Notepad 1: [75] leaves. Notepad 2 : 35, [1], 16 leaves (altogether 254 pages). To the best of our knowledge, this work has never been printed. Overall fine condition.
Letter from Rabbi Menachem Mendel Katz, loyal scribe of the beit din in Pressburg for more than forty years. In the letter, he twice mentions the “Ktav Sofer,” who was then the rabbi of the city.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Katz was a disciple of the Chatam Sofer, who testified that if the Holy Temple would be standing, Rabbi Katz would be worthy of being the High Priest. The Ktav Sofer also wrote that he was “a senior disciple who followed the characteristics of his teacher… priest for Hash-m.” He is mentioned in Shu”t Chatam Sofer and Shu”t Ktav Sofer. He passed away in 1867. His son-in-law was Rabbi Aharon David Deutsch, rabbi of Yarmat. Refer to: HaChatam Sofer V’Talmidav , 325-226.
[2] pages, 17×21 cm. In his hand and with his signature. Very fine condition.
Rabbi Simcha Bunim Sofer – Schreiber [1843-1906] was the son of Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, the oldest son of the Chatam Sofer. His talents and diligence in Torah were already noted when he was very young. He took over his father’s position as rabbi of Pressburg and rosh yeshivah of the large yeshivah there when he was just 29-years-old.
The Torah leaders of the generation extolled his virtues. His father, author of Ktav Sofer , noted his greatness and said: “I have chosen him from amongst my sons – who are all good and men of integrity – to take over my position.” When Rabbi Simcha Bunim was a young man, the Admor Chaim Halberstam of Sanz said, “We have no such Torah scholar so young in years amongst us here in Galicia.” The Mahara”m Schick addressed him with the honorific “Hadrat Geonuto.” Rabbi Eliezer Zussman Sofer, a prominent disciple of the Chatam Sofer and rabbi of Paks, was much older than Rabbi Simcha Bunim Sofer, but he bent down to kiss his hand when he met him. He authored the series Shevet Sofer .
[1] official letterhead. 22×14 cm. 6 lines in his hand and with his signatures. Fine condition. Fold marks and light tear without loss.
Torat Moshe . Commentary by Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Chatam Sofer, on the Torah. Published by his grandson, Rabbi Shimon Sofer. Pressburg, [1879-1893]. The title page of Exodus bears the stamp of Rabbi Shimon Sofer of Erlau (the publisher).
Complete set in one volume. The book was published from manuscript by Rabbi Shimon Sofer of Erlau, who added his own ideas to the body of the book (in parentheses).
Rabbi Shimon Sofer was born in Pressburg in 1850. His father was Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, author of Ktav Sofer , son of the author of Chatam Sofer . He lived in Kleinwardein, Uman, Kiev and Pressburg. From 1881, he served as rabbi of Erlau for over sixty years. He was a leader of Hungarian Jewry until he was murdered at a very old age by the Nazis in 1944. He authored S hu”t Hitorerut Teshuvah. His grandson is theAdmor Yochanan of Erlau.
[2], 52: [1], 94: [1], 66: 60; 80 leaves. 23 cm. Fine condition. Acidic paper.
Lengthy letter of Torah thoughts sent by Rabbi Avraham Ever Shabtai Weidling of Sanz to Rabbi Moshe Sofer. The letter is comprised of four full pages. Rabbi Moshe Sofer wrote his response and comments in the margins of the pages by hand, with his signature. His writings are very rare.
Rabbi Moshe Sofer [1885-1944], grandson of the Chatam Sofer, was born to Rabbi Shimon Sofer of Erlau, who was the son of the Ktav Sofer. He became renowned as a prodigy in his youth, but did not want to serve as a rabbi. He lived for dozens of years in Erlau with his father, author of Hitorerut Teshuvah , and served as an adjudicator and Av Beit Din. He was killed in the Holocaust along with his father, his wife, and his four daughters. His son is Rabbi Yochanan Sofer of Erlau-Jerusalem. Most of his writings were lost in the Holocaust. His son Rabbi Yochanan published some of his responsa in Shu”t Yad Sofer . The sender, Rabbi Avraham Ever Shabtai Weidling of Sanz, is mentioned in Shu”t Yad Sofer (siman 62).
[4] 40, 23×29 cm. Fine condition. Aging stains and tears without lack.
Interesting letter from the time that he studied in the Chatam Sofer’s yeshivah, with Torah novellae that he sent to his friend the “learned young man,” Yechiel Pollack of Libeň.
Rabbi Moshe Shiffman [1811-1894] studied under the Chatam Sofer. He started serving as rabbi of Mishkowitz in 1846 and from there he moved on to various rabbinical positions. He left many manuscripts of novellae from his teacher the Chatam Sofer that were included in the recently printed Chiddushei HaChatam Sofer (documentation regarding this publication is included with this lot).
[1] leaf. Ink on paper. 22×18 cm. Text on both sides of the leaf. Very fine condition.
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Weinberger (1805-1885) was Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Heller-Charif’s son-in-law. When his father-in-law passed away, and the latter’s widow married the Chatam Sofer, he moved to Pressburg where he had an exceptionally close relationship with his step-father-in-law.
In 1832, he served as Av Beit Din in Freistadt, where he learned with Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Manheimer, Av Beit Din Ungvar and Rabbi Meshulem Feish Segal of Tosh. In 1844, he began his forty year term in Kleinwardein. He was friendly with Rabbi Chaim of Sanz and corresponded with him on halachic matters. His printed writings include the Pnei Yitzchak on the Talmud (Munkacs, 1892) and Milel Avraham on the Torah (Munkacs, 1913). To the best of our knowledge, these novellae were never printed.
Sources: Encyclopedia L’Chachmei Galicia, section 2, p. 819-820. Ishim B’Teshuvot Chatam Sofer , p. 41-42.
[44] pages. Ink on green paper. 18×23 cm. Autograph. Moderate-fine condition. Minimal aging stains. Faded ink in a number of places. Minimal worming holes. Not bound.
Halachic deliberation regarding a man whose wife was hospitalized in a mental home, and he cannot live with her. Can he divorce her or marry an additional wife, so that he can fulfill the commandment to be fruitful and multiply?
Rabbi Kornitzer (1881-1933) was a great-grandson of the Chatam Sofer – from both his mother and his father. He was rabbi in Selish and then in Krakow. His sons-in-laws were Rabbi Shabtai Frankel and Rabbi Menachem Tzvi Eisenstdat, who lectured in the city and was a member of the Krakow city council.
[1] leaf. Ink on paper. 29×23 cm. Written and signed by Rabbi Yosef Nechemiah Kornitzer. Fine condition. Fold marks. Light tears in the fold, without affecting text.
Official document handwritten, signed and stamped by the gaon Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Mannheimer, sent to the chief rabbi of Pest. The document is written in a foreign language and dated the 8th of August, 1865. It confirms that a marriage ceremony was performed for a couple in his community. The back of the document bears the recipient’s and sender’s details and an official wax seal in Hebrew confirming the letter.
Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Mannheimer [1814-1886] was the rabbi of Werbau and Ungvar and leader of the Orthodox Jewish community in Hungary. He was an elite disciple of the Chatam Sofer, renowned as a genius from a young age. Before he was even thirteen, he was accepted to the Chatam Sofer’s yeshivah, where extremely proficient older students studied. The Chatam Sofer rebuked them a few times, asking why they’re not embarrassed by this young boy, who wasn’t even bar mitzvah yet, who was engaged in in-depth understanding better than they. Rabbi Landsberger, Av Beit Din of Grosswardein, studied together with him in the yeshivah. He preceded a question to him regarding releasing an agunah with the statement: “I don’t have anyone to ask, then I remembered you, that when you were still young you were a “lime pit that doesn’t lose a drop” and an overflowing wellspring … and a true genius.” He was also well-accepted by the Chassidic leaders, and many of the next generation of Hungarian rabbis studied in his yeshivahs in Werbau and Ungvar. The first responsum in Shu”t Ktav Sofer , Even HaEzer, is addressed to him. He authored the Ein HaBedolach responsa and novellae. His epitaph reads, “Minister and leader in Israel, the leading shepherd, the cedar of Lebanon, world genius and lofty righteous person.” [Encyclopedia, HaChatam Sofer V’Talmidav , 151-156].
[1] sheet of paper, divided into two leaves, each leaf 32×20 cm. German. Fine condition. Aging stains.
