Controversy of the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary.

Letter from Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Assad, AB"D of Szerdahely, to the Maharam Schick, 1876

In this letter Rabbi Assad confirms that he received the letter from the Maharam Schick to take action against the “seminary, ” and is full of hope that “we will be able to repair the ruined altar of Hashem and turn the hearts of the offenders to good…”

Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Assad (1830-1905) was one of the great rabbis of his generation, the son and successor of the Gaon Rabbi Yehuda Assad of Szerdahely [who met with Emperor Franz Joseph regarding the seminary]. Rabbi Aharon Shmuel was a student of his great father and of the Ktav Sofer, and wrote many compositions on Torah issues. Some of which were published in the philosophy book Aish Dat and as responsa in Sh’eilat Shmuel.

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Background : Starting in 1846, members of the Enlightenment movement in Hungary began trying to convince the ruling regime to establish an institution for liberal rabbis, which would train rabbis in secular studies, so that they could serve as official, state-sanctioned rabbis so that gradually all the Jewish communities would be assigned rabbis with dubious loyalty to traditional Judaism, in order to persuade and lead the general Jewish public toward liberalism and openness and to leave the age-old path of Orthodox Judaism. 

For decades the intellectuals tried to convince the authorities, but the efforts of the Torah giants, headed by the students of the Chassam Sofer, managed to cancel and postpone the initiative each time it threatened to become a reality.

After the suppression of the people’s revolution in Hungary in 1848, the Austrians imposed an enormous fine on the Jews, to be used for building Jewish educational institutions, and in 1862 the plan for the establishment of the rabbinical seminary in Budapest was published.

The plan’s announcement sparked a huge storm among the haredi rabbis, who organized petitions that were signed by hundreds and presented to Emperor Franz Josef by a delegation headed by Rabbi Yehuda Assad and Rabbi Yirmiyahu Lowe, resulting in the freezing of the plans.

Following years of pressure from the intellectuals, the emperor acquiesced and in 1873 they were given the money to build the seminary. This news sent shock waves through the haredi community. The Maharam Schick rent his clothes in grief and Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein of Kolomaya declared a day of fasting and mourning. In 1876 the seminary opened its doors, and still exists today.

The Maharam Schick, as one of the outstanding students of the Chassam Sofer, was very active against the seminary and sent dozens of letters to all the leading rabbis of Hungary and beyond for them to protest and form a united stand against the liberal initiative. The rabbis all sent letters supporting the Maharam Schick’s efforts.

The rabbinical seminary features prominently on the responsa by the Maharam Schick and in his book of sermons.

This signed letter is completely in the handwriting of Rabbi Aharon Shmeul Assad. Szerdahely 1876, 19 X 24 cm. 1 page, 22 lines.