Rabeinu the Chatam Sofer (1763-1840) was born in Frankfurt in 1763 and acquired his knowledge from the rabbis and sages of his city, and especially from the Gaon Rabbi Natan Adler. In 1772 the Gaon Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz, the author of Sefer HaHafla’ah arrived in Frankfurt, and the Chatam Sofer became his student. As the years went by, the Chatam Sofer viewed Rabbi Adler and Rabbi Horowitz as his main rabbis and mentors. The Chatam Sofer was appointed a rosh yeshiva and rabbi of several cities in Moravia and later in Hungary, until he was appointed as rabbi of Pressburg, a position that he held for over 30 years.

In his generation the Chatam Sofer was both a Torah giant to the many students who came to his yeshiva, and a posek for many hundreds of halachic questions that reached him from throughout the Diaspora of Ashkenazic Jewry. These responsa and his comments on the Shulchan Aruch became a foundation stone for halachic rulings.


At the same time, the Chatam Sofer gained acclaim as a master of homiletic literature. His many drashas that were published are a marvel of unique style, including his propensity for elucidating a single verse or statement in several ways, “like a hammer blow that sends sparks in many directions.” This can also be learned from the item before us.


In addition to all these, the Chatam Sofer left his clear imprint on his campaign against the secular intellectuals and the reformers of his time. He issued the famous statement, “New is forbidden by the Torah.” This struggle turned the Chatam Sofer into one of the greatest influencers on the character of Haredi Jewry in the last few generations.


The manuscript before us consists of a single drasha for Rosh HaShana and Shabbat Shuva and was printed in the books of his famous sermons. The ending of the drasha is particularly interesting. There Rabeinu the Chatam Sofer explains that he added more ideas to sweeten the subject matter, since the discussion included the concept that on the eve of Yom Kippur, or on Yom Kippur itself, the coronation of the king would be taking place and that would cause the cancellation of a few Jewish Holy Day customs, “and Baruch Hashem that was postponed and we were not imposed upon for it.” The reference was apparently to the coronation of Ferdinand I (who later became the emperor of Austria) as king of Hungary. (See also the book Minhagei Raboteinu v’Halichoteihem – Customs and Practices of Our Rabbis – which has a long description by the Chatam Sofer’s daughter, Simcha Lehmann, on the events of those times. She mentions there that the coronation was postponed until after Sukkot.


A single large page consisting of 94 lines. 25 X 41 cm