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Manuscript of Drashos and Chiddushim by the
Chasam Sofer
Edited by His Son, the Michtav Sofer
The Manuscript Used for the Printed Edition.
Manuscript of Drashos and Chiddushim by the
Chasam Sofer
Edited by His Son, the Michtav Sofer
The Manuscript Used for the Printed Edition.
The Chasam Sofer’s drashos and explanations on the weekly Torah portions from the years 1834–1837.
An Important and Exceptional Notebook Carefully Corrected from the Chasam Sofer’s Original Manuscript.
Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern, the leading expert on the manuscripts of the Chasam Sofer and the leading editor of his Torah writings, states unequivocally:
“This copied notebook is now regarded [with respect to its text] as equivalent to the original autograph manuscript itself.”
“This copied notebook is now regarded [with respect to its text] as equivalent to the original autograph manuscript itself.”
Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern used this manuscript to prepare the printed editions of these drashos and chiddushim in Drashos Chasam Sofer and Chasam Sofer al HaTorah.
The History of the Manuscript
The Michtav Sofer
In 1871, this notebook was copied directly from the manuscript handwritten by the Chasam Sofer, at the instruction of his son, the illustrious Rabbi Shimon Sofer, author of Michtav Sofer (see the introduction to Sha’ar Yosef on Drashos Chasam Sofer, leaf 13a, in the note below, and the introduction to Chasam Sofer al HaTorah, leaf 10a).
In one place there is a six-word gloss in the handwriting of the Michtav Sofer himself. Beside it, Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern noted:
“This is in the holy handwriting of my revered grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Sofer.”
(Rabbi Stern married the great-granddaughter of the Chasam Sofer.) On the inside of the original binding, a crossed-out ownership inscription can still be identified:
“This holy book belongs to my revered father, Rabbi Shimon Sofer…”
“This is in the holy handwriting of my revered grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Sofer.”
(Rabbi Stern married the great-granddaughter of the Chasam Sofer.) On the inside of the original binding, a crossed-out ownership inscription can still be identified:
“This holy book belongs to my revered father, Rabbi Shimon Sofer…”
On leaf 93a appears the scribe’s colophon:
“Blessed is the Merciful One Who has helped me until this point. The work of copying was completed on Monday, Parshas Nitzavim, the 18th of Elul, 1871.”
The identity of the copyist is unknown. It is evident that he was a distinguished Torah scholar, and in several places, he added his own notes beginning with the words,
“The copyist said.”
“The copyist said.”
Rabbi Shimon Sofer, author of Michtav Sofer (1821–1883), was the first editor of his father, the Chasam Sofer’s, Torah writings. During the final years of the Chasam Sofer’s life, he began collecting his father’s teshuvos. After completing their publication, he turned to gathering and organizing the Chasam Sofer’s Torah commentary and Aggadic teachings (see Rabbeinu Shimon Sofer, vol. I, chapter 4).
Rabbi Shlomo Alexandri Sofer
The manuscript subsequently passed to his son, Rabbi Shlomo Alexandri Sofer, who added numerous glosses in his own handwriting, occasionally signing them.
For example, on leaf 18a he writes:
“Shlomo Alexandri, the son of Rabbi Shimon Sofer, said: I heard from his holy mouth in the name of my saintly grandfather, the author, of blessed memory.”
Likewise, on the margin of leaf 28a appears another handwritten note signed:
“Shlomo Sofer.”
Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern
The manuscript later came into the possession of his son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern, the leading editor and disseminator of the Torah writings of the Chasam Sofer.
As Rabbi Stern relates, when he first began preparing the Chasam Sofer’s manuscripts for publication, he did not possess the original handwritten notebook for these years, as it was then in the hands of Rabbi Yehuda Greenwald, Av Beis Din of Satmar (a son-in-law of Rabbi Yosefa, son of the Chasam Sofer).
In 1924, Rabbi Chanoch Henich Friedman, Rabbi Greenwald’s son-in-law, sent him the original handwritten notebook. Rabbi Stern then meticulously corrected every single word of the present manuscript against the original autograph.
After completing this painstaking comparison, he declared:
“This copied notebook is now regarded as equivalent to the original autograph manuscript itself.”
His editorial symbols, references, and annotations appear throughout the notebook.
Upon completing the comparison, Rabbi Stern added the following colophon:
“Yosef said… Blessed is the Merciful One that I have corrected this entire notebook according to the original holy autograph manuscript of our master of blessed memory, containing his Aggadic chiddushim from Parshas Bamidbar of 1834 until 1837, concluding with the drashah of the 27th of Elul. May his merit protect us, Amen. Written at midnight on Tuesday night, 1924, in Sered.”
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In summary, this is an exceptional handwritten notebook copied directly from the original autograph manuscript of the Chasam Sofer at the instruction of his son, the Michtav Sofer, who himself added a handwritten gloss. It subsequently passed to his son, Rabbi Shlomo Alexandri Sofer, whose handwritten annotations appear throughout the volume, and finally to Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern, who carefully corrected the entire notebook according to the Chasam Sofer’s original autograph manuscript in 1924 and concluded:
“This copied notebook is now regarded as equivalent to the original autograph manuscript itself.”
Page Count: 94 large leaves (plus 2 additional copied leaves not belonging to the original manuscript).
“This copied notebook is now regarded as equivalent to the original autograph manuscript itself.”
Page Count: 94 large leaves (plus 2 additional copied leaves not belonging to the original manuscript).
Size: 40 cm × 25 cm.
Condition: Used condition, with several tears, creases, and folds on some leaves. The majority of the leaves remain complete and in good condition. Original worn binding.
