Bidspirit auction | “Printed at the Behest of

“Printed at the Behest of the Chasam Sofer!” Haggadah Shel Pesach with the Shtar Mechiras Chametz Prepared by the Chasam Sofer – Vienna, 1826 * Pesach Haggadah together with the booklet Beis Chorin, containing the halachos and laws of Pesach, with a Yiddish translation by Rabbi Ber Frank, one of the distinguished members of the Pressburg community who was close to the Chasam Sofer. He is the one who drew the famous portrait of the Chasam Sofer. An exceedingly rare Haggadah, complete with the illustrated page. A Shtar Mechiras Chametz in German, prepared by the Chasam Sofer, is printed on the final page! The Chasam Sofer testified himself: “And I composed the shtar in German and had it printed by R’ Ber Frank in the Seder Haggadah in Vienna” (Shu”t Chasam Sofer, Orach Chaim §113). Regarding the importance of this shtar in the eyes of the Chasam Sofer, his great disciple, the Maharam Shik, writes: “The shtar is a masterwork; it was composed by Maran HaGaon Maharam Sofer, zt”l. And I know, for when I was a young bochur learning in the beis medrash of Maran zt”l, this shtar was already inscribed within the notebooks and writings of Maran zt”l and was precious in his eyes — and afterwards it was printed at the behest of of Maran” (Shu”t Maharam Shik, Orach Chaim §232, written there in response to an objection to the shtar). In his Shabbos Hagadol drasha, the Chasam Sofer would customarily teach how to prepare the kinyan documents for Mechiras Chametz (Minhagei Baal HaChasam Sofer HaChadash, p. 107). This is one of the earliest writings of the Chasam Sofer ever to appear in print, and apparently the very first to be printed intentionally and with his full consent. (In that same year, a small portion of his chiddushim was printed for the first time in Chiddushei Har”i Migash, Vienna 1826, but the Chasam Sofer himself testifies in one of his letters that this printing took place without his knowledge, describing that “it began against my will and ended with my consent.” Letters of his against members of the Reform, which he sent to the Beis Din in Altona, had likewise been printed earlier in Eleh Divrei Habris, Altona 1819.) The sefarim of Rabbi Ber were published with funding from the Pressburg community, as he himself testifies in his letter to the leaders of the congregation, which was printed at the beginning of his sefer Ohr HaEmunah (Pressburg 1841): “Every time that Hashem inspired me to publish the fruit of my studies… you provided me with the means and the place to publish it for the benefit of my people. All the mussar discourses which I have compiled these past several years, and which found favor in the eyes of the public, were all made possible in your merit!” Rabbi Ber himself received no fewer than three separate approbations from the Chasam Sofer for his sefarim! In summary, this is an exceedingly rare Haggadah printed at the behest of the Chasam Sofer, containing the first edition of the Shtar Mechiras Chametz which the Chasam Sofer prepared with great care, and one of the earliest writings of the Chasam Sofer. Vienna, 1826. Singular edition. Page Count: [1], 46 leaves. Size: 18.3 cm. Condition: Good, with wine stains and typical signs of use. New binding incorporating the original printed wrappers, front and back. Bibliography: Otzar HaHaggados no. 663; R’ Yissachar Ber HaLevi Frank u’Sefarav no. 2 (an article by Naftali Ben Menachem: Sinai 64, Jerusalem 1969, p. 41). Provenance: William Gross collection, Tel Aviv. –––––––––––––––––––– A complete copy, including the engraved illustrated page bound before the title page, depicting Jewish children being cast into the Nile and the rescue of Moshe Rabbeinu by Basya, daughter of Pharaoh. This page is extremely rare and is lacking in most copies; it was not recorded by Winograd or Yaari. In Otzar HaHaggados and in the records of the Institute for Hebrew Bibliography, it is listed only on the basis of a copy that appeared in the Judaica Jerusalem auction in 1995. In fact, the page had already been recorded earlier by Naftali Ben Menachem (Turei Yeshurun 36, Jerusalem 1973, pp. 9–11), where he notes that the page was missing in most of the copies he saw (and he himself did not record it in his earlier 1969 article mentioned above). The signature of the artist appears at the bottom of the page: Anton Biermayer of Pressburg. There are illustrations in several of Rabbi Ber’s sefarim, and according to what is commonly held, they are all the handiwork of Rabbi Ber himself (the name mentioned at the bottom of the page likely refers to the printer of the engraving and not the actual artist). –––––––––––––––––––– Rabbi Yissachar Ber HaLevi Frank of Pressburg (c. 1770–1845) was very close to the Chasam Sofer, serving as shamash and trusted official of the Pressburg community for more than forty years. He was the one who drew the famous portrait of the Chasam Sofer. Rabbi Akiva Eiger, in a letter to his son-in-law the Chasam Sofer,