Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber, known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, was an Austro-Hungarian rabbi. He was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the 19th century.
He was a teacher to thousands and a powerful opponent of the Reform movement in Judaism, which was attracting many Jews in the Austrian Empire, and beyond. As Rav of the city of Pressburg, he advocated for strong communal life, first-class education, and uncompromising opposition to Reform and radical change.
Sofer established a yeshiva in Pozsony/Pressburg, the Pressburg Yeshiva, which became the most influential yeshiva in Central Europe, producing hundreds of future leaders of Hungarian Jewry. This yeshiva continued to function until World War II; afterward, it was relocated to Jerusalem, under the leadership of the Chasam Sofer's great-grandson, Rabbi Akiva Sofer.
Sofer published very little during his lifetime; however, his posthumously published works include more than a thousand responsa, novellae on the Talmud, sermons, biblical and liturgical commentaries, and religious poetry. He is an authority who is quoted extensively in Orthodox Jewish scholarship. Many of his responsa are required reading for semicha candidates. His chiddushim sparked a new style in rabbinic commentary, and some editions of the Talmud contain his emendations and additions.
Life
Moshe Sofer was born in Frankfurt to Shmuel and Reizel in the year 5563 AM. His ancestors were ritual scribes, and from this profession the family name was derived. On his father's side he was a descendant of the Yalkut Shimoni and a descendant of Rashi, likewise he was the great-grandson of Rabbi Shmuel Shattin Katz, called the Maharshal"kh of Frankfurt. At the age of six he was already learning Torah with Rabbi Meshulam Zalman Hasid, and at the age of seven it is already known to us that he innovated Torah novellae of his own. When he was nine he studied in the yeshiva of Rabbi Nathan Adler in Frankfurt – a rabbi considered his primary rabbi, and even served him as a substitute for a father – and at the age of thirteen he was already preaching on matters of Halakha. Likewise he also studied with Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz author of the book Hafla’ah and with Rabbi David Tebli Shayar in Mainz and additional rabbis. Besides his Torah studies he also studied mathematics, astronomy and general history, with Rabbi Tebli.In the year 1806 he was appointed rabbi in Pressburg, which was the large and important community in Hungary, there he continued to disseminate Torah in the Pressburg Yeshiva to which came students from many countries whose number reached up to 500. He served as rabbi of the district and as head of the yeshiva about 33 years – until the day of his death, and in parallel also served as a mohel.
In the year 1812, five years after he arrived in Pressburg, his first wife died, and he married Sorl, the widow of R' Avraham Moshe Kalischer and the daughter of Rabbi Akiva Eiger. From this wife were born all his children, four sons, and seven daughters. In the year 1832 Sorl died, and after some years Rabbi Moshe Sofer married Chaya, the widow of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Heller from Altenburg in Hungary.
His disciples established yeshivas throughout all of Hungary and served in the rabbinate in various communities. Not only his disciples revered him and magnified his name, also well-known Torah scholars such as Rabbi Mordecai Benet, Rabbi Akiva Eiger, Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margolioth, Rabbi Moshe Mintz, and many others revered him, honored him, and granted him a special halakhic status. Jews from many communities in Central Europe turned to him with questions regarding the laws of prohibition and permission and other matters. He was considered the last posek upon whom one could rely and conduct according to his rulings, and his rulings were accepted without any objection in the communities of Hungary in particular, and the communities of Israel in general. The name of the Chatam Sofer went out to renown in all Jewish communities, and even non-Jewish judges sent to him questions pertaining to Jewish law.
His death and his grave
He died on the 25th of Tishrei 5600 AM in Bratislava. On his grave in the Jewish cemetery an "ohel" was erected, which constitutes a pilgrimage site. During World War II, when the Nazis began to destroy the cemetery, Moshe Aryeh Leib Wottitz, a merchant and Torah scholar, risked himself and conducted negotiations with the Nazis. He succeeded in bribing them with a large quantity of gold, to prevent the continuation of the destruction and to save the rabbinic section in which the Chatam Sofer is buried. Adjacent to the tomb of the Chatam Sofer there is now placed a plaque commemorating his deed:When, due to the building of a tunnel for a road under the fortress, most of the bones were transferred from the old cemetery to a mass grave in the new cemetery, the tomb was left in its place with a small number of other graves, among them the graves of Rabbi Akiva Eger the first – the grandfather of his father-in-law, and his disciple Rabbi Daniel Prostits. For the sake of the paving they raised the road so that the tomb is now located in an underground site designed as a memorial to the entire Jewish community.
His attitude toward the Land of Israel
The Chatam Sofer had a special attitude toward the Land of Israel, toward living in it and settling it. He saw in the Land of Israel the source of spirituality and the essence of the holiness of the world, and believed that the primary existence of the Torah and the commandments is specifically in the Land of Israel, and that in exile not only is it impossible to fulfill all the commandments, but the Torah in its general wholeness dwells in darkness, and the small amount of spirituality that exists in exile — it too has its source in the Land of Israel. He saw the inhabitants of the land as the most important among the people of the world, and compared the obligation of settling the land to the obligation of laying tefillin: In his sermons he writes: "for the soil of the Land of Israel is more holy than the heavens of the diaspora". He harshly denounced the exile and likened it to a grave, and argued that Israel went into exile because they offended the honor of the Land of Israel and blasphemed it in saying ‘a land that eats up its inhabitants’. The expression ‘the land of the living’ referring to the Land of Israel he explained in its literal sense, that only in this land the people of Israel are considered alive, whereas outside the land the Jews are considered dead, since the exile endangers the existence of the Jewish people. The mishnah "better one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come" he explained as referring specifically to the Holy Land, that only there life can be superior even to the life of the World to Come.He held that the bond between the people of Israel and its land was never severed, and therefore the people of Israel wherever they are found are still the children of the Land of Israel, and therefore even at this time there exists a commandment at all times to ascend on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and even that it is permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice. In his sermons he writes to the broader public: “...and do not be among the haters of Zion who do not want to return and choose to dwell under the kingdoms from our redemption and the salvation of our souls...”. The prohibition to turn to gentile courts exists only in the Land of Israel, and not in the diaspora. And even in the Land of Israel he ruled that it is permitted in an exceptional manner to turn to them if it is the only way to save the land of a Jew. He acted for the settlement of the Land of Israel, and even encouraged agriculture and the Hebrew language. He supported the program of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer for the renewal of settlement by means of wide settlement, and although he held that the ultimate fulfillment of complete redemption depends on a divine act, nevertheless one must take hold of all natural means for its realization. He believed that even the nations of the world, when they recognize the important role that the Land of Israel fulfills in the existence of Judaism, will not resent the prayers for return to Zion and will not see in them an unpatriotic act.
The Chatam Sofer encouraged in this matter also his disciples. Several of his disciples ascended to the Land of Israel and established the Kolel Bnei Hungaria in Jerusalem. One of his distinguished disciples who ascended to the Land of Israel by his command was Rabbi Yitzchak Prager Oflatka, who also served as the head of the kolel. The members of the kolel were among the founders of Petah Tikva and among them were also the famous opponents of Zionism. The Chatam Sofer ruled that supporting the poor in the Land of Israel is more important than building a synagogue in Jerusalem.
His opposition to secularization and reform
The days of the Chatam Sofer were the days of the beginning of Jewish emancipation in Western Europe. Following the granting of rights to the Jews, the walls separating Jews from their surroundings were broken. These also led to the process of enlightenment, secularization and the beginning of the Reform movement. The Chatam Sofer not only did not rejoice in the emancipation, but saw in it a great harm and a temptation that would lead to non-observance of commandments and to assimilation:In the Reform movement the Chatam Sofer saw a great danger, and therefore became one of its leading opponents, when he coined the slogan "Chadash asur min haTorah". In origin this phrase is said regarding the prohibition of eating from the new grain before the waving of the Omer in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Chatam Sofer gave this mishnah a new meaning — that any change in the commandments and customs of Israel is forbidden, solely because it is a novelty, even if it does not contradict the Talmud and the decisors. He emphasized that changes in religion, even the smallest ones, can undermine the power of Judaism. According to his view, for this reason any innovation in Jewish life is forbidden by the Torah, and every custom that Israel has practiced is considered like a "vow made in public," whose violation entails the prohibition of "he shall not profane his word".
In 1811, the Chatam Sofer acted successfully to prevent the opening of a school in Pressburg in which they planned to teach also secular studies. Later the Maskilim conducted a campaign to close the Pressburg Yeshiva and failed after a determined struggle by him. In the year 1819 he supported the Hamburg Rabbinical Court in their stance against the establishment of a Reform synagogue in their city in which the parts in the prayer dealing with the coming of the redeemer were canceled and others were said in German, all accompanied by organ music. He defined these changes as a deviation from the tradition of Israel.
Historical research sees in the Chatam Sofer the first rabbi who can be defined as orthodox; while many of his contemporaries, such as the Noda biYehuda, still related to the early Maskilim and Reformers as isolated phenomena requiring local treatment, he formulated a comprehensive and wide response and championed an uncompromising confrontation with them, out of an understanding that his powers as Mara d'Atra were being eroded by the great changes in Jewish society. If previously the community had legal authorities to enforce the halakha on its members, these were increasingly restricted by the government. The growing integration into the environment made the acceptance of religious law more and more a matter of personal choice. When he was asked regarding the rabbis who supported the position of the builders of the Reform temple, he responded on 25 January 1819 — that if the matter were in his hands he would remove them entirely from the community of Israel: