Who Was the Hatam Sofer (Chasam Sofer)? Jews of the Danube pt. 3

Brief overview of the life and work of Rabbi Moshe Schreiber, a prominent Orthodox leader of the late 18th-early 19th century.

[@LauraGlorybelle]

Thank you for your lectures.

[@kleer51]

Very interesting lecture. I wanted to learn about the Chassam Sofer as I discovered that my grandfather learned in the Pressburg yeshivah until about 1900. Now I have the opportunity to follow some more figures in Jewish history.

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

Glad you enjoyed the lecture!

[@darrenglick100]

So glad you sent this link to me. ❤️

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

Welcome!!

[@kennethnnaedu8875]

Very interesting good news,

[@kennethnnaedu8875]

How can I no the location and place in Bratislava.

[@lsmart]

Dr. Abramson: Thanks for the highly enjoyable and informative lecture. I always learn some new facts from your lectures, even when they are about such renowned gedolim as the Chasam Sofer. You seem to imply that he called his works Chasam Sofer simply to mean they were the seal of the sofer, since his family name was Schreiber. Actually. he came from a chain of sofrei stam, and that was the source of their family name Schreiber, which either he or his father originated when family names became mandatory in Eastern Europe in the late 1700's, given the family tradition of being sofrim. As for the sefer title, Chasam Sofer, it is the acronym for Chiddushei Torah Moshe Sofer. Also, it is worth noting that although he had 11 children (4 sons and 7 daughters) with his second wife, Reb Akiva Eiger's daughter, he was already 51 and still childless when he married her.

[@Mk-vd9qs]

I was at the chasam sofers kever when it was still under communism, we went down a bunch of deep stairs and there was a locked door whcih keys were held by a Mrs Engel (Frau Engel), a very special frum Jewish woman who stayed there after the holocaust. We kept hearing the tram on top of us while we were at the tzion...

[@markjacobi3537]

Very interesting lecture I listened to it from Melbourne Australia. Well done DR A"! Does anyone whether the following is 100 percent reliable. I think it is: In 1940(?) R Akiva Sofer Tzl was then Rabbi of Pressburg (Bratislava) for 33 years until the accursed fascist (Tiso?) Government took over . I think R Akiva Tzl had travelled to see his cousin R Binem Sofer Tzl in 1940 and was away from Bratislava and the then Slovakian Government refused permission to allow R Akiva Sofer Tzl back into Slovakia, R Binem replied: " Your Great GrandFather the esteemd The Chasam Sofer Tzl was the Rabbi of Pressburg (Bratislava) for 33 years, his son The Ketav Sofer Tzl was then Rabbi of Pressburg (Bratislava) for 33 years his son, the Chasam SOfer Tzl grandson The Shevat Sofer Tzl was then Rabbi of Pressburg (Bratislava) for 33 years , The Chasam Sofer's great grandson yourself have been Rov of Pressburg (Bratislava) for 33 years, and are now prevented from returning. Hence it must mean your term has concluded". Does anyone know if this story is accurate? Approximately 2,000 Oberlander (mainly Slovakian Jews, "SLovakian burjon" Jews mainly Holocaust survivors were given permission to immiigrate to Australia after World War 2. I saw the respect they all showed to the Chasam Sofer even approximately 150 years later even here in AUstraliaafter his passing! Zechus Yagen Aleinu (ZYA)

[@markjacobi3537]

Quick question I hope this isn't too hard to answer: After World War 2 are there still authentic 'Oberlanders' "Chasam Sofer" Jews and/or Kefillahs left or have this form of Torah Orthodoxy become either Chassidic or Litvak?

[@lsmart]

Re: Chasam Sofer vs. R' Samson Rafael Hirsch approaches to the reform movement. Dr. Abramson treats them simply as opposing views regarding how to respond to the reform movement, with R' Sofer taking a rigid no approach to anything new, and R' Hirsch accepting modern changes as long as they did not conflict with halacha. However, IMHO much of their differences were due to their different locations and eras. R' Sofer was the leader of Austro-Hungarian Jewry when Mendelsohn's reform ideas were just beginning to spread. Having seen these religious and behavioral reforms beginning to take hold in the more intellectual and modernized Germany, he believed that the only way to keep these changes from invading Eastern Europe as well, was to declare an absolute ban on all modern changes - and his approach indeed played a major role in delaying or preventing outright its spread to the main centers of ultra-Orthodox Jewry. By contrast, R' Hirsch was the leader of German Jewry fifty years later, with the Reform movement having already fully taken hold. His task was to keep the shrinking Orthodox Jewry from disappearing altogether. Given the high rate of intellectualism even among Charedi German Jews, he concluded that for this community at this time, taking the Chasam Sofer's approach would lead to their complete demise. For them, he needed to adopt the guiding rule that modernity is ok as long as it does not violate Jewish laws and traditions. And like R' Sofer, he too succeeded in his holy task, and even the strictest Charedi rabbis in Lithuania and Poland, such as R' Yitzchok Elchanan Spektor of Kovno and the Baal HaTecheiles (Radziner Rebbe) revered and greatly lauded the work of R' Hirsch in Germany.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Rabbi Hirsch also later combatted maskilim. Nice lectures Shalom

[@daniel-meir]

A typical Odessa Yiddish inscription would say "Flush and see what happens" (vosh arup in gib a kik vus vet zayn)

[@menachemsalomon]

Unless I am mistaken, the Yeshiva that was - as you said - transported to New York and Jerusalem after the war is actually _Chasan_ Sofer, named for and led by the descendants of the Chasam Sofer's grandson via a daughter, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld. He was the rabbi of Matersdorf, a position the Chasam Sofer also held for several years. The yeshiva was recreated on the Lower East Side of Manhattan - I don't know which year, but the Ehrenfeld family made it to the US just before WWII, possibly after Kristalnacht. It moved to Brooklyn in the 60's - I think the dedications say תשכ''ו, or 1966. There may be another yeshiva named for the Chasam (Rabbi Moshe) Sofer, but I am not aware of one, at least not in NY. I am an alumnus of YCS (Yeshiva Chasan Sofer) in Brooklyn. If you ever do a series on the first generation of survivors in NYC, the Matersdorfer Rov and his yeshiva would be a treasure trove.

[@lsmart]

You are absolutely correct re all that you wrote. I believe he called his seforim Chasan Sofer since his father and primary teacher was the chasan (son-in-law) of the Chasam Sofer.

[@Mk-vd9qs]

In Jerusalem there IS a yeshiva which was opened by his great grandson, the daas Sofer who fled from the Nazis during the war, and estsblished a yeshiva in Givat shall neighborhood. If I am not mistaken, it's called yeshiva ksav sofer.. it's run now by a great great great great grandson, Avrom Samuel Binyamin Schreiber

[@Mk-vd9qs]

In Jerusalem there IS a yeshiva which was opened by his great grandson, the daas Sofer who fled from the Nazis during the war, and estsblished a yeshiva in Givat shall neighborhood. If I am not mistaken, it's called yeshiva ksav sofer.. it's run now by a great great great great grandson, Avrom Samuel Binyamin Schreiber

[@davidsavage6324]

Why did you say "poluted mind" in reference to reference to expressing a connection-- a pesher? -- to the sheltered origins shared by Siddartha Gautama and Chasam Sofer? Aside from his social value to world culture and human spiritual character, he was a moral individual who followed the Noachide Laws without necessarily being aware of them, one might say; hence, as a Noachide tzadik, we should only speak of him with respect and honor; even though Im not sure what you meant by polluted, but it seemed out of place with the idea of honoring the Holy Buddha-- it left me somewhat disconcerted. (Im very over-analytical, please forgive me). Shalom.

[@ranranshi]

Just think of it as a typical self-deprecatory expression. In the same vein he says, he wouldn't speak american well, in relation to the pronounciation of "Stuyvesant".

[@saragreenberg8885]

I believe you may have misheard the reference to Siddhartha. Dr. Abramson was making a comparison between the Hatam Sofer, who was veiled as a young child, to Siddhartha, whom he referred to as having been also similarly veiled. In both cases, the veiling was done to protect against outside influences that could pollute the mind. So, the conclusion that you draw inferring that the statement casts aspersions on Siddhartha, is directly the opposite of what I believe Dr. Abramson intended. The conclusion should be that Siddhartha retained an UNpolluted mind, in part due to the veiling.

[@davidsavage6324]

Sara Greenberg thank you very much. That makes much more sense. I feel silly now. Shalom.

[@saragreenberg8885]

David Savage Not silly. We are all human. Shalom u’veracha!

[@zafirjoe18]

בספרי רמ״ד אל תשלחו בו יד

[@francesbirnbaum6287]

kivi zafirjoez l