Lot 18
Handwritten Leaf from a Booklet of Responsa of the Chatam Sofer – With his Signature
Large leaf, written on both sides, from a booklet of the responsa of the Chatam Sofer, handwritten and signed by the Chatam Sofer. Mattersdorf (Mattersburg), [early 1800s].
Leaf from a booklet of responsa by the Chatam Sofer. Autograph with erasures, revisions and additions between the lines and in the margins. On the recto is the end of a responsum written by the Chatam Sofer to his disciple with guidance in the principles of proper conduct and honoring sages. His signature appears at the end: "Signed here in Mattersdorf Erev Shabbat Parshat Re'eh… Moshe Sofer of Frankfurt am Main", followed by another passage [crossed out]: "I forgot to warn the already cautious… 'The cow wants to nurse more than the calf wants to suckle', and this warning does not contain any new halacha. I will inform you of something which took place in our neighborhood and is related to your issue and which seems to me to be the halachic ruling, and this is what happened".
On the verso, the Chatam Sofer copies a responsum he wrote in the past regarding a community which held elections to appoint a rabbi. After a candidate was elected, many votes were discovered to be invalid since the voters received bribes to vote for the chosen contestant: "Thereafter, the members of the community complained to me claiming that now they do not want this rabbi due to the improper course of events. The dispute flared and the community was divided into two. I took upon myself to bring peace to the ravaged community to bring them to a compromise for the honor of the Torah and for the sake of peace…".
The first letter was printed in the Chatam Sofer responsa, Part 6, Siman 59, and the second was printed in the Chatam Sofer responsa, Part 5 – Choshen Mishpat, Siman 160. The passage connecting the two responsa was omitted from the book of responsa and later printed in Likutei Teshuvot Chatam Sofer, Siman 81.
The city of Mattersdorf appears in the signature of the Chatam Sofer on this leaf, attesting that these responsa were written in the early 1800s during his tenure as rabbi there (until 1807), before he officiated as Rabbi of Pressburg.
[1] leaf, [2] written pages (approx. 70 lines handwritten by the Chatam Sofer). 29 cm. Good condition. Stains, wear and minor tears to margins. Folding marks.
Out of love and reverence of the teachings of the Chatam Sofer, his descendants and disciples kept his autograph writings as a segula for Yirat Shamayim and for deliverance (see page 48).