Bidspirit auction | Chiddushei Aggadah in a Letter

Chiddushei Aggadah in a Letter by Rabbi Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, Av Beit Din of Dretske, to His Brother. 1911. Extremely Rare! A letter of Chiddushei Aggadah by the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, in his holy handwriting and with his signature. Nissan 1911. [4] pp., 14×22 cm, on folded leaf. The letter was sent to one of his brothers who was preparing to publish a Sefer of Midrashic compilations, and in this letter, Rabbi Shmuel Binyamin added supplements for publication in that Sefer. In the letter appear several lofty pearls of thought, on the existence of Torah and Israel among the nations, and on the wisdom of Torah and other wisdoms, including: - I heard from my father, the holy Gaon OBM, that the existence of Torah among the nations, as well as the existence of Torah scholars… is not natural and cannot be grasped or comprehended by human intellect.” - Our Sages said: If the earlier ones were like angels, we are like men; if the earlier ones were like men, we are like donkeys. It appears to explain… as the Hafla’ah wrote, if the Rav resembles an angel of Hashem, as is known, and if the heads of the nation, the early ones who went before as a sign and wonder for the House of Israel, are in the category of angels, not walking in greatness but remaining in their level, then their words leave an impression on their generation, and we are like men. But if the leaders of Israel are in the category of walking like men, conducting themselves only before Hashem without lowering themselves before the spirit of each man, then the masses will not comprehend the knowledge of Hashem and will walk in darkness.” - And those who bring merit to the many are like the stars – these are the teachers of children. I heard explained: like stars that appear to us as small, though they are great in the heights of the heavens. So too the teachers, who in our eyes appear of little value, yet their greatness is exceedingly high, for if there are no kids, there are no goats.” - There is a time for every desire: sometimes strength will be aroused in a man, and his heart will be uplifted in the ways of Hashem, but regarding strictness and insult he will be lowly and small, as it is said, ‘If I have not set and stilled my soul like a weaned child with its mother, ’ which is the trait of equanimity...” - He continues to explain that in the five things that were said about the altar fire, “a lofty idea is hidden, to depict the existence of Israel among the nations… Israel has never submitted before the nations, but like lions they have prevailed, to stand alive before Hashem forever… Doubt has never swayed them, faithful belief is hidden in their hearts like the shining sun… Falsehood blinds the eyes of the nations… but falsehood cannot endure forever, for nothingness and void is its foundation, while the special quality of Israel is that it has substance… No affliction has reached the spirit of our tent… and a crown of glory is uplifted in the greatness of Israel, who did not hold on to quarrels and hatred for what their enemies did to them, but rather were bound in thanksgiving for the great kindness the nations bestowed upon us in our times of poverty and oppression… The nation of Hashem cleaves and is bound with a strong love; national love for the Land was theirs, and this love uplifted us, to find favor and kindness in the eyes of God and man.” - All that is natural is prone to error, not so the wisdom of Torah, which is entrusted to us; it will set a boundary forever… For thousands of years they mocked the Shabbat, yet today there is a spirit of wisdom among you, that every man must rest once a week, and so with many matters… Blessed is Hashem who gave us the Torah of truth, and we do not desire the wisdom and cleverness of nature. Just as a child prefers what is in his father’s hand to delicacies, in his trust in his father, knowing it is the best for him – so too we do not desire wisdoms not according to Torah, even if they seem sweet in the natural view… only in Torah and wisdom from the mouth of Hashem do we delight, sweeter to us than honey and the drippings of the comb, for they are from the mouth of the Blessed One.” The Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Shmuel Binyamin Sofer (1873–1943), youngest son of the Gaon Rabbi Eliezer Zussman. A disciple of his father in the Yeshiva of Paks, and later a disciple of the Shevet Sofer in the Yeshiva of Pressburg. He was ordained for rabbinic ruling by his brother-in-law, the Gaon Rabbi Yeshaya Silberstein, Av Beit Din of Weitzen. In 1903, after the passing of his father, his brother, Rabbi Yosef Leib, was called to succeed him as Av Beit Din of Paks, and Rabbi Shmuel Binyamin was chosen to succeed his brother as Av Beit Din of Dretske. Upon his appointment, the Gaon Rabbi Yehuda Greenwald, author of Zikaron Yehuda of Satmar, wrote of him: “He is a wonder in this generation, in the greatness of his stature in Torah and Avodah relative to his years.