A Segulah for Children! Chiddushei Torah in the Holy Handwriting of the Chasam Sofer
Dresnitz, 1797
Chiddushei Torah in the holy handwriting of the venerable Rabbi Moshe Sofer, Av Beis Din of Pressburg and author of ‘Chasam Sofer’.
It includes a complete chiddush on Parshas Vayechi, dated from an early period, as well as sections of chiddushim on Vayigash and Shemos.
His insights on Parashas Vayigash focus on Chushim, the son of Dan. He discusses the words of our sages regarding whether Chushim was one individual or two, and among his words, he discusses the possibility that Dan also had a daughter, Chushim’s sister. He writes: "And it appears that this righteous man [=Dan] would fulfill the mitzvah of ‘be fruitful and multiply’ with both a son and a daughter…"
Among the descendants of the Chasam Sofer, it is widely believed that holding an original handwritten manuscript of the Chasam Sofer is a powerful segulah for being blessed with children.
A well-known story is told, which was heard directly from the person involved (his name is known to us): A couple who had been waiting to be blessed with children heard a remarkable piece of advice from Rabbi Bunim Schreiber shlita of Kiryat Sefer, a descendant of the Chasam Sofer. He told them that holding a handwritten manuscript of the Chasam Sofer is a well-known and effective segulah for having children.
The couple turned to the person who told over this story, who was in possession of such a manuscript and requested to borrow it for a certain period of time. Through Hashem’s mercy, after some time they were indeed blessed with a child!
The handwritten manuscripts of the Chasam Sofer are also known to be a segulah for a woman having a difficult labor, as attested by Rabbi Yosef Naftali Stern. This belief has been held by leading Torah sages, including the author of Shevet HaLevi (see Shu”t Shevet HaLevi, vol. 6, siman 162) and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, as recorded in Otzros HaSofer (vol. 25), in the name of the philanthropist Rabbi Shimon Hershler.
At the conclusion of several sections, the Chasam Sofer marked a line and a dot as was his custom, according to Kabbalah (see below).
There are slight variations in wording between the present manuscript and the printed version.
Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Chasam Sofer (1762-1839)
“When Hakadosh Baruch Hu beheld the danger hovering upon the Jewish people, He dispatched a heavenly angel, the Chasam Sofer zt"l, who taught Torah and spread purity among Klal Yisrael and cultivated thousands of disciples. Today, the vast majority of European Torah derives from his students, and his students’ students. (Hagaon Harav Zalman Spitzer, Tikkun Shlomo p. 108a).
Dresnitz, 1797. Two pages in the holy handwriting of the Chasam Sofer.
Size: 19.8 x 24 cm.
Condition: Several words missing at the top of the page, restored with artistic paper filling. Minor stains.
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The Chasam Sofer – the Soul of the Ramban
The grandson of the Chasam Sofer wrote in the sefer ‘Chut HaMeshulash’:
"It is well known how my grandfather the Chasam Sofer zt"l would always extol our holy teacher the Ramban z"l and his commentary on the Torah, and he also instructed in his will to study Torah with Ramban’s commentary as it is the foundation of steadfast faith. And it is known that the reason he cherished the Ramban z"l so much is because he held that his soul was the soul of the holy Ramban."
Similarly, Rabbi Shaul Brach wrote in the name of his teacher the Maharam Shik, that the soul of his teacher the Chasam Sofer’s was the soul of the Ramban, and he favored students who studied the Ramban’s commentaries (‘Shaul B’chir Hashem’ section 10).
It is also brought in the introduction to the sefer ‘Yismach Moshe’ on Nach in the name of the Yitav Lev, that his grandfather the author of ‘Yismach Moshe’ maintained that the Chasam Sofer was the soul of the Ramban.
The Rayatz Dushinsky said in the name of his teacher Rabbi Zekil Pollak, a student of the Chasam Sofer, that this is why the Chasam Sofer signed: "Moshe HaKatan" (Moshe the small one), and not "HaKatan Moshe" – to indicate that he is the lesser one, but there is a greater Moshe who is the Ramban (Introduction to ‘Tuv Yerushalayim’ on the Ramban).
In response to someone who wanted to print the Ramban with the Chasam Sofer’s chiddushim, the Chasam Sofer wrote: "I will tell the truth that, thank God, you will find among all my chiddushei Torah that I am accustomed to making a special compilation each and every year, recording what Hashem has granted me during my weekly review of the Torah portion and during the Torah reading, and from among them you will collect here and there what pertains to the Ramban z"l, and it requires clarification and effort to search for them and arrange them…" (Shu"t Chasam Sofer Part 6 Section 61).
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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 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
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).
