Special Torah Insights for Chanukah in the Sacred Handwriting of the Chasam Sofer
Including two important Chidushim never before published!!!
A large page of wonderful Chiddushei Torah in the pure holy handwriting of the Gaon of Yisrael, the Chasam Sofer from Pressburg, whose name is uttered with awe by the geonim and tzaddikim of the generations.
These are Chiddushei Torah which the Chasam Sofer wrote for Shabbos Chanukah, Parshas Mikeitz, explaining the thanksgiving prayer "Al Hanissim V’al Hagevuros" and the verse in Tehilim "I will thank You for You have answered me and become my salvation."
He also wrote on these pages chiddushim on the Haftorah for Shabbos Chanukah, about the Chashmonaim and the
dynasty of King David, and about the appointment of the Nasi of the Sanhedrin from David’s lineage, "to give royal splendor to David and his descendants in Torah leadership".
These Chanukah insights were printed in Drashos Chasam Sofer, Vol. 1, page 66a-b.
The page also includes insights for the parsha before Chanukah, Parshas Vayeishev.
These sections were printed in various pages in Sefer Chasam Sofer on the Torah, Jerusalem 2007 edition.
Besides these, two complete chidushim appear here which have never been published!!
The two sections are: "Vatomas bas Shua" (page 1); "V’tavoach tevach" (page 2). Beside this section, Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern noted that a similar section appears in Chiddushei Hachasam Sofer to Chulin, however as Rabbi Yosef Naftali himself writes, this section before us was never printed (Chiddushei Hachasam Sofer, ibid., p. 223 note 5).
It will be an extraordinary merit for the buyer to publish the Torah of the illustrious Chasam Sofer, from his actual holy handwriting, and thus preserve his teachings for eternity!
At the end of each section, the Chasam Sofer drew a line and a dot as was his custom, according to Kabbalah (see below).
Among his words about giving thanks for Hashem’s kindnesses, the Chasam Sofer reveals wonderful chiddushim particularly relevant to our times:
"He asks: Why do we thank for the wars ("v’al hamilchamos")? And he answers: "…Hashem, as it were, suffers in Klal Yisrael’s troubles, and these are His mighty deeds, that He endures in order to benefit them in their end…"
"And when Hashem saw the great danger to Klal Yisrael, He sent us an angel of Hashem, the Gaon of many accomplishments… the Chasam Sofer of blessed memory, who spread Torah and purity in Israel and taught thousands of students, and nearly all Torah today in Europe stems from his students and his students’ students.
He stood against the destroyers and demolishers with his Torah that he spread until the earth shone from the glory of his Torah." (His son-in-law Rabbi Zalman Spitzer, Tikkun Shlomo, p. 108a)
Pressburg, 1830.
Size: 25X40 cm.
Condition: good; one large folio written on both sides, all in the holy handwriting of the Chasam Sofer. Minor stains.
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The Remarkable Segulos of the Chasam Sofer’s Handwriting
A Segulah for Yiras Shamayim
Maharam Banet expressed that a mere glance at the sacred writing of the Chasam Sofer fosters fear of heaven. It is told that Maharam Banet once received a handwritten teshuvah from the Chasam Sofer and spent a great deal of time perusing it. When his students asked if the letter perplexed him, he replied, “No, but I am delving into this teshuvah, since the mere sight of his sacred writing increases fear of heaven.” (Drashos Chasam Sofer, Preface, p. 6).
The Admor Rabbi Yoel of Satmar similarly expressed that seeing the handwriting of the Chasam Sofer can lead one to attain fear of heaven.
A Segulah for Protection
It is known that the Chasam Sofer’s family members and descendants would safeguard his letters and writings as a segulah for protection and security, affirming that it is auspicious for protection from trial or tribulation. Whenever his son Rabbi Shimon Sofer, Av Beis Din of Cracow, faced the Austrian Parliament, he would remove a letter written by his father from his breast pocket and carefully peruse it before rendering his decision.
A Segulah for Health and Recovery
The Daas Sofer would instruct patients to place a handwritten letter of the Chasam Sofer beneath their pillow as a segulah for health and recovery (Beis Sofrim p. 173).
A Segulah for Easy Childbirth
The Chasam Sofer’s family would also place a handwritten letter by the Chasam Sofer beneath the head of a woman in the throes of difficult labor as a segulah for swift and safe childbirth (Shu”t Shevet Halevi Vol. 6 Ch. 162 #2).
Line and Period in the Chasam Sofer’s Writings
The Chasam Sofer would mark the end of every paragraph in his writings with a line and period. See Rabbi Nosson Stern in his preface to Drashos Chasam Sofer p. 19a, comments, citing Rabbi Asher Anshel Weiss, Av Beis Din of Nagy-Falu, who notes that the Chasam Sofer inserted these markings with kabbalistic motives.
Toras Moshe on the Torah
Regarding writing his chiddushim, the Chasam Sofer writes: "As long as Hashem grants me life and gives me strength I am prepared to learn with all who come to hear, I will not rest and not be quiet… and I write in ink on paper, all that Hashem graces me with both in halacha and aggadah." (Printed in Pituchei Chosam at the beginning of Shu"t Chasam Sofer Yoreh Deah).
