Bidspirit auction | Handwritten Halachic Ruling of the

Handwritten Halachic Ruling of the Sho’el U’Meishiv on the Rights to the Position of Shochet –  Lvov, 1867 * A halachic ruling written in the holy handwriting and bearing the signature of the brilliant gaon Rabbi Yosef Shaul HaLevi Nathanson, Av Beis Din of Lvov, who authored thousands of teshuvos, and whose approbations appear by the hundreds in the sefarim of his contemporaries. The ruling was written at the conclusion of a letter of inquiry sent by a dayan from Horasain, concerning a shochet who had been removed from his position by his opponents on the claim of invalid kashrus. The shochet’s young son was in the process of studying shechitah, and many members of the city agreed to wait for him until he completed his period of training. The question posed was whether the son possessed a chazakah to his father’s position as shochet, or whether the opponents were entitled to appoint a different shochet. In the margin of the fourth page, the Sho’el U’Meishiv wrote his clear ruling, that the son has a chazakah to his father’s position, and with regard to the opponents of the shochet, it is evident that “the urge for victory prevailed among them [that is, the impulse of machlokes overpowered them], and therefore the son has the chazakah that belonged to the father.” At the opening of his ruling, the Sho’el U’Meishiv praises the dayan, noting that he “analyzed the matter with wisdom and all his words are words of Torah, ” and he mentions the drasha he had delivered the previous evening, on Shabbos Shuvah, “before great assemblies of the people – may Hashem guard them.” He adds that he cannot elaborate further due to the sanctity of the Days of Mercy, the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. What lies before us is a complete shu”t (question and answer): It begins with the question itself, which spans three pages in the handwriting of the dayan. At the top of the fourth page, lines of supplication were added, in the handwriting and with the signature of the shochet who had been removed from his post. Finally, in the lower portion of the fourth page, appears the teshuva itself, written in the handwriting and signed by the Sho’el U’Meishiv. Rabbi Yosef Shaul HaLevi Nathanson (1808–1875) , author of Shu”t Sho’el U’Meishiv, and the Rav of Lvov for two decades, was a leading Torah luminary of Galicia and the greatest halachic authorities of his time. From all corners of the world, questions were directed to him, and his approbations and letters of semichah were sought. Already in his youth, he was revered by the Gedolei Hador, foremost among them the Ksav Sofer. His teshuvos were printed in the series of sefarim Shu”t Sho’el U’Meishiv, comprising fifteen volumes. When Rabbi Chaim of Sanz turned to him with a question concerning mikvaos, he described him in the loftiest of terms (Shu”t Sho’el U’Meishiv, second edition, part I, siman 24). Rabbi Binyamin Spitzer, son-in-law of the Chasam Sofer, mourned in his eulogy for him: “Today the tremendous genius, crown of Israel and its glory, was taken from us… to whom all the leaders of our time directed their questions in the most difficult matters, and he was the Rav of all of Klal Yisrael… Already forty years ago, my father-in-law, the Chasam Sofer, praised him as a gaon, and from then until now, the words of Torah never ceased from his mouth.” To the best of Zaidy's knowledge, this letter has never been published. Lvov, 1867. Page count: [1] folded sheet of paper containing four written pages, of which eight lines are in the handwriting and with the signature of the Sho’el U’Meishiv. Page size: 21.4 x 26.5 cm. Condition: Good.