Family Letter (Very Personal) from the Gaon Rabbi Zussman Sofer. Disclosure about Mahara"m Bennet

Family Letter (Very Personal) from the Gaon Rabbi Zussman Sofer. Disclosure about Mahara"m Bennet

Important and fascinating letter with counsel more precious than pearls for dealing with and the ways to cure the weak nerves from which the recipient's son suffered at the time (Rabbi Zussman's grandson; an illness that is usually incurable). The entire letter is handwritten and signed by the gaon Rabbi Eliezer Zussman Sofer, one of the leaders of Hungarian Jewry and the most famous and important dynasty of 'Sofrim' in Hungary after the Chatam Sofer's famous dynasty. On the other side of the leaf, there is another letter to the same recipient, Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Sofer.

The first part of the letter deals, as mentioned, with a distressing matter that is appropriate to downplay - a weakness of nerves from which the recipient's son suffered. A weakness that, as understood from the letter, prevents him from learning. Unfortunately this is a familiar phenomenon among scholars and particularly great scholars, as they cross a thin line in the depths of their study. In most cases, it is not reversible, Heaven forbid. Rabbi Zussman, in his important letter before us, advises his grandson the gaon as to how to deal with this difficult phenomenon and how to recover from it. Rabbi Zussman supports his counsel from the words of rabbinic leaders, who were stricken with this phenomenon and recovered after implementing this counsel. He writes as follows: "Please do not study anything new in-depth. I saw in the story of the Biurei Mordechai [he is referring here to Toldot R' Mordechai Bennet,  (Ofen, 1832) author of the book Biurei Mordechai] who was also suffering from this. He did not study at all for two years; he just manned in his uncle's shop. He only studied Tana"ch for two years. [You] should also go for a walk every day and should not speak words of Torah during meals. May Hashem give [you] strength, and [you] will learn later."

Later on in the letter, the gaon of Paks relates that a certain publisher wants to reprint one of his many series of books that had sold out, and he is uncertain whether to go with this for several reasons, and would like his grandson's advice. At the end of the letter, he writes that the main consideration with respect to the printing is bringing merit to the masses "as this is the primary issue, not the money." He signs at the end of the letter: "The small one, Zussman son of Ephraim Mordechai Fischel."

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the gaon Rabbi Eliezer Zussman Sofer and of his grandson, the gaon Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Sofer.

As mentioned, the dynasty of the geonim in Rabbi Zussman Sofer's family is the most famous and prominent dynasty of "Sofrim" after the Chatam Sofer's dynasty (no relation). This dynasty began several generations before that of the Chatam Sofer, and the Chatam Sofer even refers to it in one of his letters: "To my soul friend, the sharp wondrous rabbi, expert tzaddik lofty Rabbi Eliezer Zussman (I) "scion of the sacred." These are a pair of letters handwritten by two of the dynasty's geonim, and the letter discusses two more rabbis in that same dynasty.

[2] pp, 27 cm. One side bears the letter from Rabbi Zussman and the other, the letter from Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov.

Fine condition. Stains. Unevenly cropped lower margins.