Chiddushim on the Torah Handwritten by the
Chasam Sofer
Mattersdorf, 1802
Marvelous insights on the Torah, written in the holy handwriting of Rabbi Moshe Sofer, Av Beis Din and Rosh Yeshiva of Pressburg, the holy Chasam Sofer.
This sacred leaf, written on both sides in two columns, is from the notebook of chiddushim known as the Mattersdorf Manuscript, which the Chasam Sofer composed during his tenure as Rav of Mattersdorf. The chiddushim here date to 1802.
Content: Commentary on Parshiyos Tetzaveh and Ki Sisa and the haftarah of Tetzaveh. Six complete passages, printed in Chasam Sofer al HaTorah from this very manuscript that was in the possession of Rabbi N. Stern (with two of his own handwritten notes).
On Parshas Ki Sisa he writes a wonderful insight concerning the greatness of every Jew. He sets forth an order of importance found in creation: the Mishkan is greater than the creation of the heavens and the earth, yet Shabbos is greater than the Mishkan (for indeed, the building of the Mishkan does not override Shabbos). Yet the life of a Jew surpasses even Shabbos itself, for saving a Jewish life overrides Shabbos ā
showing that a single Jewish soul is the greatest of all existence.ā
[1] A single leaf, written on both sides. Two columns per page, 143 lines, all in his holy handwriting.
Condition: Good. Bound in an elegant new leather binding.
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The Mattersdorf Manuscript
The Chasam Sofer kept a special notebook for each year, in which he would record, throughout the year, his chiddushei Torah in the order of the parshiyos. As he himself writes in a teshuva: āIn truth, it may be found among my chiddushei Torah, for I am accustomed each year to make a special notebook to record that which Hashem has graced me each Shabbos, during my study of the weekly parsha and at the time of the Torah readingā (Shuāt Chasam Sofer Vol. 6, §61).
The Mattersdorf Manuscript is one such notebook, containing his chiddushim on the Torah written between 1799ā1802, during his tenure as Rav of Mattersdorf. Its identifying mark is the two-column per page format, unlike his other notebooks, which were written in a single column.
An Ever-Flowing Fountain of Torah Learning
Among his words, the Chasam Sofer writes regarding the relationship of a teacher and talmid: āWhen a person perfects himself, Hashem prepares for him students who are worthy of receiving from him. Through them he merits to increase his influence even more,
for through his students he himself grows the most. Then, as he becomes like an ever-strengthening spring, the students in turn become capable of receiving more, and he again bestows upon them in greater measure ā and so it continues endlessly.ā
These words are most apt for their author, the Chasam Sofer, who perfected himself in every area and wrote: āMy lifelong aspiration has always been to teach othersā (Likutei Michtavim 19). Indeed, for sixty years he taught Torah to multitudes of students, truly āan ever-flowing fountain."
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The Segulah of the Chasam Sofer’s Manuscripts
It is well known that the Chasam Soferās family members and descendants would safeguard his letters and writings as a segulah for protection and healing.
His son, the Ksav Sofer, testified that the Maharam Banet once received a handwritten teshuvah from the Chasam Sofer and he spent a great deal of time perusing it. When his students asked if the letter perplexed him, he replied, āNo, but I am delving into this teshuvah, since the mere sight of his sacred writing increases fear of heaven.ā (Drashos Chasam Sofer, Preface, p. 6)
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The Holiness of the Chasam Sofer’s Words
āWe must thank the Master of the world for granting us, in the last generation, that great and holy man who illuminated our eyes with Torah and fear of Heaven. Were it not for him, we would be groping like blind men in the darkness of this exile. All his words, drashos, and chiddushim in halacha and aggadah are suffused with holiness, fear of Heaven, saintliness, and pure and lofty character traitsā (the Gaon from Shamloi Hyād, Zikaron LeMoshe, p. 8).
Torah Moshe al HaTorah
āEven if our teacher, the Chasam Sofer, left no other work but Toras Moshe al HaTorah, it would suffice to see the greatness of his stature; for while all his writings are holy, this sefer is kodesh kodashimā (Rabbi Meir Arik, in the preface to Haggadah shel Pesach Chasam Sofer).
The Chasam Sofer ā the Soul of the Ramban
As is well known, many of the Chasam Soferās Torah chiddushim are built upon and woven from the words of the Ramban, which he called āthe foundation of faith and the root of religionā (Shuāt Chasam Sofer Vol. 6, §61). In the chiddushim on this leaf too, the Chasam Sofer draws upon the Torah of the Ramban and cites his words.
The grandson of the Chasam Sofer wrote in his sefer Chut HaMeshulash: āIt is well known how my grandfather, the Chasam Sofer, constantly extolled our holy teacher the Ramban zt"l and his commentary on the Torah. Likewise, he instructed in his will to study Torah with the Ramban’s commentary, for he is the foremost pillar of true faith. It is known that he cherished the Ramban so greatly because he regarded his own soul as being that of the holy Ramban.ā
Similarly, Rabbi Shaul Brach related in the name of his teacher, the Maharam Schick, that the soul of his teacher the Chasam Sofer was the soul of the Ramban and he cherished those talmidim who occupied themselves with the Rambanās commentary (Shaul Bechir Hashem, §10).
The Yetev Lev said that his grandfather, the Yismach Moshe, maintained that the Chasam Sofer was the soul of the Ramban. Rabbi Y. T. Dushinsky related in the name of his teacher Rabbi Zekel Pollak, a disciple of the Chasam Sofer, that this was why the Chasam Sofer would sign āMoshe HaKatanā rather than "HaKatan Moshe" ā to indicate that he is the lesser Moshe, but there is a greater Moshe, namely the Ramban (introduction to Tov Yerushalayim on the Ramban).
In response to someone who wished to publish the Ramban together with the Chasam Sofer’s chiddushim, the Chasam Sofer explained that each year he compiled a notebook of Torah chiddushim and āwithin them you may gather here and there that which pertains to the Ramban, but it requires effort and toil to search for them and arrange themā¦ā (Shuāt Chasam Sofer, Vol. 6, §61).
