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Manuscript – Talmudic Novellae – By Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld in His Youth in Hungarian Yeshivas – 1860s-1870s - Manuscript, by the young Chaim Sonnenfeld (later known as R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Rabbi of the Edah HaCharedit in Jerusalem), with many of his signatures: ”Chaim Sonnenfeld”. Novellae on Talmudic topics from his teacher, R. Chaim Tzvi Mannheimer, Rabbi and dean of Werbau yeshiva; R. Tzvi Hirsch Charif and R. Koppel Charif; and the writer himself at various periods. Werbau, Pressburg, Kobersdorf and Jerusalem, ca. 1862-1873. Notebook of Torah novellae written by R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld in his youth, during his studies in the Werbau and Pressburg yeshivas, as well as after his marriage in Kobersdorf and after immigrating to Jerusalem. Some novellae are dated (most written in Werbau, 1864-1865, comprising novellae on topics studied in 1862-1863). Most of the notebook contains the material from his teacher, R. Chaim Tzvi Mannheimer, Rabbi of Werbau: Talmudic novellae, homilies and responsa. Some are written formulations of oral lessons, while others are copyings from his teacher's manuscripts. The first section in the notebook is a bar mitzvah speech that the teacher prepared for one of his students. Signatures and signed colophons conclude sections throughout the notebook (for instance on p. 5a). In several places, R. Sonnenfeld also writes his teacher's ”signature” in calligraphic style. The notebook contains several sections representing the novellae of rabbis of the previous generation, including novellae of R. Tzvi Hirsch Charif Heller, Rabbi of Bonyhád and author of Tiv Gittin, and R. Koppel, author of Chiddushei Yaavetz (p. 20a). In several places, after citing his teacher's view, he contributes his own opinion (see for instance at end of p. 9b). The notebook continues with R. Sonnenfeld's own novellae, written in the following year: aggadic novellae he wrote while studying in the Pressburg yeshiva (1866), one passage of novellae on Temurah written in Kobersdorf (1871), and novellae on Makkot and Niddah he wrote in Jerusalem (after immigrating to Eretz Israel in 1873). Index referring to thirty topics in the manuscript on p. [2]. Stamps from his early years on p. [1] of the notebook: ”Chaim Sonnenfeld” (his name was originally Chaim, until after he had immigrated to Jerusalem, when he fell sick and his teacher, the Maharil Diskin, renamed him R. Yosef Chaim, which has become his familiar name). The present page contains: ownership inscription with his signature – ”Chaim Sonnenfeld of Semnitz (Senica), studying in Werbau”, and other signed inscriptions; a pseudonymously signed approbation to a work by one of his yeshiva colleagues, committing to purchase a copy after publication, followed by six more of his friends, signing with their names, who commit to purchase the book upon publication. R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (1848-1932), spiritual leader of Orthodox Jewry in Eretz Israel, an outstanding Torah scholar. Born in Werbau (present-day Vrbové, Slovakia), after the death of his father, R. Avraham Shlomo Sonnenfeld, he moved with his mother to Semnitz (Senica, Slovakia). Upon his bar mitzvah, now orphaned, he returned to his native Werbau to study in the yeshiva of R. Chaim Tzvi Mannheimer, the city's Rabbi. The young boy was soon recognized as one of the leading students and was appointed Rosh Yeshiva, and studied under his close teacher from bar mitzvah to the age of 17 (1862-1866). In 1866, the ”prodigy of Werbau” went to study in the distinguished Pressburg yeshiva under his teacher the Ktav Sofer. After his marriage, he resided in Kobersdorf, where he was a leading disciple of R. Avraham Shag, the city's Rabbi. In 1873 he immigrated to Jerusalem along with his teacher R. Avraham Shag, where he was distinguished as one of the leading Torah scholars. He was likewise known for his righteousness and holiness, his energy and discerning, in his activities in charitable and public affairs. When the illustrious R. Yehoshua Leib (Maharil) Diskin immigrated to Jerusalem in 1879, R. Sonnenfeld became his close disciple and a member of his Beit Din. He was the right-hand man of his teacher in his struggle against the Christian missionaries and Haskalah movements that threatened the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem. For years, R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld refused the position of Rabbi of Jerusalem (after the passing of R. Shmuel Salant in 1909), but after the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate and the appointment of R. Kook as Chief Rabbi in 1919-1921, R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld was appointed the first leader of the newly founded Edah HaCharedit Community, which named him chief authority in the Land of Israel. The author of most of the novellae in the present manuscript: R. Chaim Tzvi Mannheimer (1814-1886), a leading rabbi and yeshiva dean in Hungary. He was a distinguished and beloved disciple of the Chatam Sofer in the Pressburg yeshiva, and he studied under the rabbis of Werbau, R.