The Chasam Sofer’s Personal Copy of Maseches Succah with His Handwritten Glosses!

Sacred Copy ...

The Chasam Sofer’s Personal Copy of Maseches Succah with His Handwritten Glosses!

Sacred Copy & Illustrious Provenance!

Personal copy of Maseches Succah that belonged to the venerable Chasam Sofer, Rabbi Moshe Sofer, Av Beis Din of Pressburg. The used condition of this sefer, along with the wax drippings that adorn its pages, attest that the tzaddik devoted many hours learning and reviewing the Gemara from these holy pages.

Chavrusah of Tannaim & Amoraim

It is told that when the Chasam Sofer would learn Torah, his soul would cleave to the souls of the holy Tannaim and Amoraim, and he would learn their Torah together with them.

The Chasam Sofer himself inscribes in Toras Moshe, Parshas Behaaloscha: “…Based on the Yerushalmi in Shekalim, one who repeats a lesson in the name of the one who said it first, it is as if the one who said it is standing beside him, and in this way, the soul of the one who taught the lesson cleaves to the one who repeats it, and it is a [spiritual] rectification.”

Rabbi Asher Yonah Weinberger related: “The Chasam Sofer learned at night, veiled by a curtain. The gabbai was instructed to not gaze at his face while he is learning.

Once, when the Chasam Sofer began learning, the gabbai heard two voices; he peered inside, and fainted, for when the Chasam Sofer said the name of a Tanna or Amora, the one he quoted came to learn with him” (Knesses Yisrael, Jerusalem 1994, p. 512).

“Throughout the days of the Festival, he slept and learned in his succah, and he was rarely seen exiting it” (Minhagei Baal Chasam Sofer Ch. 7 #12). We can easily infer that this maseches Succah was beside him during those precious hours in his succah.

“The flame was not extinguished at night…”

The sacred leaves of this Gemara feature several scorch marks and wax drippings from the candle that the Chasam Sofer used to illuminate the holy pages during the late night hours.

His son Rabbi Shimon Sofer, Av Beis Din of Cracow, relates that the Chasam Sofer once started out learning at night with a small candle that had only enough wax to burn for a half hour. The Chasam Sofer, as always, immersed himself in his learning, paying no attention to the passing time, and only many hours later, after dawn broke over the horizon and the sky grew light, did the candle sputter and die.

When Rabbi Shimon shared this story with the Admor Rabbi Shmuel Abba of Zichlin, the Admor replied, “This is what the Torah intended when it wrote, ‘Taamah ki tov sachra, lo yichbeh ba’lailah neirah.’ She advises that her merchandise is good, her lamp does not go out at night” (Lahav Eish, Pietrekov, 1935 p. 34a).

The Chasam Sofer’s Handwritten Annotations

In the course of his exalted learning, the Chasam Sofer adorned the leaves of his Gemara with numerous annotations and chiddushei Torah. The leaves of this Gemara boast 7 glosses and amendments in his holy hand!

These comments were first printed in the Vienna 1860-1873 Edition of Shas by his disciple Rabbi Eliezer Halevi Ish Horowitz, Av Beis Din of Vienna, and then subsequently in the Vilna Shas.

The present Gemara with the original annotations in the Chasam Sofer’s handwriting is the source of all printed versions of the Chasam Sofer’s Hagahos.

Importantly, through the original ksav yad presented here we can resolve an error that is common in the printed versions (see hebrew for details).

Maseches Succah. Vienna, 1794. Page size: 34.5 cm. Contains Piskei Tosfos, Piskei Rosh, and the Rambam’s commentary on the Mishnah. Title page partially in red ink. Annotation 12a is slightly cropped, with margins professionally restored with paper filler. Very used, yet its worn condition is precisely what makes this sefer so precious! Minor reinforcements and repairs to margins. Ornate new leather binding.

(Collection of Chasam Sofer’s Grandson)

The Sacred Gemara

The Chasam Sofer inscribed in his sefer on the Torah (Parshas Toldos): “It appears from Yerushalmi Moed Katan [regarding the staff of Rabbi Meir] that a person’s garments are affected by the sanctity of the one who wore it [previously], and the one who wears it after him shall benefit from the same good and beneficial spirit that rested upon him…”

The Chasam Sofer absorbed this lesson from his master the Baal Hafla’ah who inscribed the following in Panim Yafos (Parshas Lech Lecha): “ Sanctity rests upon the belongings of tzaddikim.”

Surely, we can glean from their holy teachings that if a sacred spirit can rest upon mundane, material objects as clothing, then they most certainly remain upon tashmishei kedushah and holy items as the sifrei kodesh from which the tzaddik learned, and that this aura of sanctity passes to the next user.

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