Responsum Letter from Rabbi Mordechai Michael Yoffe - Addressed to R. Shlomo Eiger Rabbi of Posen - Fordon, 1846

Letter of halachic queries pertaining to laws of divorce, signed by the rabbi of the city R. Mordechai Michael Yoffe (a disciple of R. Akiva Eiger) and the dayanim in his Beit Din: R. "Yisrael Frenkel" and R. "Yehuda Leib son of… [Yoffe?]". Fordon, Cheshvan 1846. Halachic queries addressed to the rabbi of Posen (Poznań) R. Shlomo Eiger, regarding a divorce which was not delivered in accordance with Halacha, and the ban of Rabbenu Gershom prohibiting polygamy and divorcing a woman against her will. Parts of this question were analyzed at length in his responsa book (Responsa of R. M. Yoffe, Hamburg, 1852, section 4). This letter discloses details of the account and halachic aspects which are only mentioned briefly and alluded to in the book. In sections 5-10 of the book, more responsa letters regarding this same affair are quoted, including R. Shlomo Eiger's response to this letter. R. Mordechai Michael Yoffe (1803-1868, Otzar HaRabbanim 14219), was a foremost disciple of R. Akiva Eiger, who's yeshiva he studied in for some eight years, earning the title of "the Rebbi's Bachur" for the latter's great fondness of him. After his wedding with the daughter of R. David of Krotoszyn, his birthplace, he sat studying Torah, adamantly refusing to assume a rabbinic position, until all his possessions were destroyed in the great fire which struck Krotoszyn in 1827. He then began serving as rabbi of nearby Zduny, and later of Schneidemühl (Piła) in the Poznań area. In ca. 1845-1846, he went to serve as rabbi of Fordon (Bydgoszcz, northern Poland-Prussia), leaving the rabbinate in 1849 in favor of studying Torah in the famous Hamburg Kloiz, where he disseminated Torah for 18 years. He exchanged extensive Halachic correspondence with his teacher R. Akiva Eiger and the latter's son R. Shlomo Eiger. See for instance in Teshuvot Chadashot by R. Akiva Eiger (Jerusalem 1978, Even HaEzer, section 1) a responsum from R. Akiva Eiger to his disciple R. Mordechai Michael Yoffe, where he expresses his amazement at the latter addressing him with additional honorific titles apart from "rabbi". In 1834, he published his first book Beit Menachem (Krotoszyn, 1834). In 1852, he published in Hamburg his second composition named Responsa of R. M. Yoffe, consisting of Halachic rulings and correspondence he exchanged with the rabbis of his generation, including his teacher R. Akiva Eiger and his son R. Shlomo Eiger. He edited Responsa Maharach Or Zarua from an early manuscript, inserting sources and notes (published in Leipzig, 1860), together with his colleague from the Kloiz R. Elyakim Getschlik Schlesinger (the holy R. Getsch). A small number of his novellae were printed in the Shomer Tzion HaNe'eman periodical, published in Altona by the Aruch LaNer. Four of the Aruch LaNer's responsa to R. Mordechai Michael Yoffe were published in Responsa Binyan Tzion in 1860. His novellae and glosses to different books were published in various forums: his glosses to Responsa Chacham Tzvi were printed in Likutei He'arot of the Dovev Mesharim institute edition (Jerusalem, 1998) and in Moriah - Sefer Zikaron L'Rabbi Moshe Swift (Jerusalem, 1996); his glosses to Mor UKetzia were printed in the Machon Yerushalayim edition (Jerusalem, 1996); his glosses to Responsa Panim Me'irot were published in Moriah (issues 277-278, Tamuz, 2011). [1] folded leaf: [3] written pages + [1] page with address and postmarks. 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and tears. Folding marks. Tears to p. [3], with loss of text.