Letter of Ordination from R. Meir Ash, Rabbi of Ungvar and Foremost Disciple of the Chatam Sofer – Mentioning the ...

Letter of Ordination from R. Meir Ash, Rabbi of Ungvar and Foremost Disciple of the Chatam Sofer – Mentioning the Words of his Teacher the Chatam Sofer
Letter of ordination handwritten and signed by R. Meir Ash (Eisenstaedter). Ungvar (Uzhhorod), Tamuz 1846.
Rabbinic ordination accorded to R. Yaakov Tzvi Fleisig, disciple of the Chatam Sofer. He begins with noting that the Chatam Sofer had already commended him in his adolescence, attesting to his proficiency in Talmud and Halacha, which had only increased since then, in fulfillment of his teacher's expectations.
R. Meir Eisenstaedter – Maharam Ash (1780-1852, HaChatam Sofer V'Talmidav, pp. 296-303) was a foremost disciple of the Chatam Sofer and a leading Hungarian rabbi, son-in-law of R. David Deutsch Rabbi of Neustadt (Nové Mesto nad Váhom). He served as rabbi of several Hungarian cities, and from 1835, as rabbi of Ungvar. He authored Responsa Imrei Esh and other books. He studied under the Chatam Sofer for five years, and the Chatam Sofer attested that no disciple enlightened him like R. Meir did (HaChatam Sofer VeTalmidav, p. 297). A holy man, he fasted every weekday of the Shovavim period, and was known to benefit from divine inspiration. In 1831, he went to visit his teacher the Chatam Sofer, who expressed amazement at the extent of his disciple's retention of his teachings. He was very attached to his teacher the Chatam Sofer, and had a special room in his house, where he cloistered himself every day for a whole hour praying for the Chatam Sofer's longevity. From the day of his teacher's demise, he ceased this custom, perceiving with divine inspiration that the Chatam Sofer had passed away, and the latter appeared to him in wakefulness, as a Sefer Torah cloaked in black (HaChatam Sofer VeTalmidav, p. 299 and p. 301). The Ktav Sofer eulogized Maharam Ash as the foremost disciple of his father, the elite of the elite of his foremost disciples, in Torah, piety and character traits. He mentioned the account of the Chatam Sofer's amazement at his proficiency, recalling that the latter had exclaimed to those who were present that he had never seen such an erudite Torah scholar, with exceptional fluency in everything he had learnt, as if it was written before him (Drashot Ktav Sofer, pp. 197-199, Jerusalem 1972 edition).
The recipient of the ordination was R. Yaakov Tzvi Fleisig (1818-1900), a disciple of the Chatam Sofer and son-in-law of R. Meir Almash Rabbi of Mattersdorf, and brother-in-law of R. Asher Anshel Jungreis Rabbi of Csenger. From 1855, he served as rabbi of Freistadt (today Hlohovec-Galgoc, Slovakia) and from 1872, as head of the Vienna Beit Din.
This letter was printed in Kerem Shlomo, year 6, issue 7, p. 54; and passages from it were printed in HaChatam Sofer VeTalmidav (Bnei Brak, 2005, p. 234).
[1] double leaf, 21 cm. Approx. 17 autograph lines and signature. Fair-good condition. Tears to the folds and wear.