Beautiful Handwritten Inscription by the Daas Sofer of Pressburg, on the Sefer of his Father the Shevet Sofer
Vienna, 1923. First edition.
Sefer Sha’arei Simcha, containing chiddushei aggadah on the Torah, with the sefer Ohel Rachel, containing precious and delightful derashos, written by the renowned gaon Av Beis Din and Rosh Yeshiva of Pressburg, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Sofer, the Shevet Sofer, son of the Ksav Sofer and grandson of the Chasam Sofer.
On the flyleaf is a beautiful handwritten dedication, as a gift for a bar mitzvah, written and signed by the author’s son, Rabbi Akiva Sofer, Av Beis Din and Rosh Yeshiva of Pressburg, dated 1925.
It was the Daas Sofer who brought this sefer to print, writing an introduction for it and adding his own chiddushim to the work.
The recipient of the sefer was Rabbi Dovid Shraga Kalish, son of Rabbi Yeshaya Kalish Hy”d, himself a talmid of the Daas Sofer who served as a Dayan in Pressburg and was later appointed as Raavad. Includes the stamps of both the recipient and his father.
A rare and important sefer!
The son of the sefer’s author and the author of the inscription is
Rabbi Akiva Sofer (1878-1959), also known as the Daas Sofer. He served as Av Beis Din of Pressburg, perpetuating the golden chain of his forefathers, the Chasam Sofer, Ksav Sofer and Shevet Sofer, as Rabbanim and Roshei Yeshivah in Pressburg. Already in his youth he began delivering shiurim in the yeshiva and from 1907 he succeeded his father as Rav of Pressburg. In 1940 he immigrated to Jerusalem where he reestablished the yeshiva. Among his works are Shu”t Daas Sofer on the Shulchan Aruch, and Daas Sofer on the Torah and festivals.
The author,
Rabbi Simcha Bunim Sofer (1843-1907), Av Beis Din of Pressburg and author of Shevet Sofer, succeeded his holy forefathers, the Chasam Sofer and Ksav Sofer, as Rav of Pressburg and Rosh Yeshiva of Pressburg’s Yeshiva Gedolah. He cultivated thousands of talmidim and Gedolei Torah who spread their brilliance and ardor for Torah and holiness throughout the borders of Hungary. The Shevet Sofer’s spiritual leadership extended throughout Europe, and like his venerable father and grandfather, he was a prolific author whose written legacy includes dozens of volumes of Chiddushei Torah. Some of these survived the inferno: ‘Shu”t Shevet Sofer’, ‘Chiddushei Shevet Sofer on Chulin, Kesubot, and Gittin, and ‘Shaarei Simchah al HaTorah’.
Vienna, 1923. First edition.
Page Count: [2], 5, [1], 705, [1] pages.
Condition: Good; several stains. Original binding, with a new spine incorporating remnants of the original spine.
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Regarding the drashos of the Shevet Sofer printed in this sefer, his son attests in the introduction:
"Fortunate are the eyes that beheld those moments, when flocks of holy young men gathered by the hundreds in the great beis medrash of our great yeshiva, and my saintly father opened with words of Torah in the presence of ……. the esteemed members of the community, igniting the hearts of his students with a voice aflame, inspiring diligence in Torah and fear of Heaven…"
