Letter from the Beregsaz Community - Regarding the Polemic Surrounding the Rabbinic Post of Rabbi Avraham Yehuda ...

Letter from the Beregsaz Community - Regarding the Polemic Surrounding the Rabbinic Post of Rabbi Avraham Yehuda HaKohen Schwartz, Author of Kol Aryeh - Addressed to Rebbe Menachem Mendel Paneth of Deyzh - 1861
Interesting letter regarding the polemic surrounding the Beregsaz rabbinate, addressed to Rebbe Menachem Mendel Paneth of Deyzh (Dej). Beregsaz (Berehove), 1861. In the letter, dated "Sunday, Parashat Shoftim 1861, here in Beregsaz", eight of the community members address Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Deyzh, author of Maaglei Tzedek, then serving as rabbi of Urişor, and ask him not to suspect them of taking part in the controversy that had erupted then in Beregsaz. They inform him that they tried to oppose it to the best of their ability, and did not support it in anyway. They ask the Rebbe not to bear any grudge against them, and extend their blessings. The letter is signed by eight members of the community. The letter was presumably written in the wake of the controversy which broke out surrounding the rabbinic post of R. Avraham Yehuda HaKohen Schwartz, the Kol Aryeh, who was appointed rabbi of Beregsaz in 1861. The dispute was instigated by a small group who supported the dayan R. Moshe Aharon Fränkel as rabbinic candidate. This controversy did not subside throughout the Kol Aryeh's tenure as rabbi of the city, and eventually, he resigned, returning to Mád. Regarding this polemic, see: Ehrenreich, HaKol Aryeh, New York, 2007, Vol. I, chapter 7, The Polemic and its Consequences, p. 223 onwards. This letter documents the early stages of the dispute, a short while before the Kol Aryeh arrived in Beregsaz, while the book covers a later period. R. Menachem Mendel Paneth (1818-1885), Rabbi of Deyzh and Chief Rabbi of Transylvania, was the son of Rebbe Yechezkel author of Mareh Yechezkel (disciple of R. Mendel of Rymanów, served as rabbi of Carlsburg [Alba Iulia] and of Siebenburgen [Transylvania]). He was a close disciple of his father, of the Chatam Sofer and of the Yismach Moshe. Between 1832 and 1837, he studied in the yeshiva of the Chatam Sofer and was the only young man in the Pressburg yeshiva who donned a Chassidic silk robe on Shabbat. His teacher, the Chatam Sofer, was very fond of him and used to stroll while conversing with him every Shabbat eve (he would dub him "the golden one"). While studying in the yeshiva of the Chatam Sofer, he merited a revelation of Eliyahu HaNavi who greeted him in the Beit Midrash, in the disguise of a pauper. In 1842, he was appointed rabbi of Urişor, and in ca. 1855, of Deyzh, where he established a large yeshiva, edifying numerous disciples, many of whom later served as rabbis in Transylvania. During those years, he would frequent the courts of leading rebbes, R. Yisrael of Ruzhin and the Divrei Chaim of Sanz. From the beginning of his tenure in Deyzh, entire areas of Transylvania were captivated by his charm, and many Jews, who until then had no connection to Chassidism, became chassidim. R. Menachem Mendel served as the halachic authority in his times in Transylvania, and corresponded with most of the leading rabbis of Hungary and Galicia. His responsa are published in the series Responsa Avnei Tzedek, Shaarei Tzedek and Mishpat Tzedek. He is renowned in the Chassidic world for his book Maaglei Tzedek on the Torah, published in the last year of his life. In this book, he quotes extensively thoughts he heard from his three prime teachers, his father, the Chatam Sofer and the Yismach Moshe. Special significance is ascribed to this book as a segulah for livelihood (see: Maaglei Tzedek HaMevoar, Bnei Brak, 2007, p. 22). He successfully combined in his leadership both his positions as rabbi and as rebbe. [1] leaf. 28 cm. Fair condition. Stains and wear. Folding marks. Ink faded. Left margin trimmed close to text.