Bidspirit auction | Letter of Chizuk from Maharam

Letter of Chizuk from Maharam Schick to His Nephew, in His Final Year – Chust, 1878 * A letter bearing the handwritten signature of Maharam Schick, addressed to his nephew and student Rabbi Dov Ber Ehrmann of Kerestir. The letter has never been published and was not known until now. Rabbi Dov Ber studied in the yeshiva of Chust under his uncle, and after some time, he moved elsewhere. Those around him did not understand why he had left — after all, his uncle was the Rosh Yeshiva! Was he expelled by his uncle? In response, the Rosh Yeshiva, the Maharam Schick, penned this letter of chizuk, expressing his heartfelt support, and setting the record straight — that Rabbi Dov Ber parted from the yeshiva amicably and in the ordinary manner of students (unlike in later generations, it was once very common to move from one yeshiva to another). He strengthens and blesses him: “Pay no heed to such talk; rather continue diligently in Hashem’s Torah, and Hashem will bless your endeavors with success... from your teacher who seeks your welfare.” Here, the Maharam Schick signs in his own holy handwriting: “Hakatan Moshe Schick of Brezova.” The letter was written only a few months before Maharam Schick’s passing. It is dated the 24th of Tishrei 1878; around Chanukah, he fell ill with his final illness, from which he did not recover, and he passed away on the 1st of Shevat. Letters from the Maharam Schick are rare. To the best of Zaidy’s knowledge, this letter has never been publicized. Rabbi Moshe Schick (1807-1879), renowned as Maharam Schick, was a leading disciple of the Chasam Sofer who perpetuated his legacy of spiritual leadership in Hungary. His many illustrious disciples numbered among the most prominent Torah luminaries in Europe, and contemporary rabbanim unanimously accepted his halachic rulings. In 1838, he was appointed Rav of Yargen, a town near Pressburg famous for its clean air. When the Chasam Sofer vacationed in Yargen, he would visit his disciple’s beis medrash to listen to his shiurim. The Chasam Sofer praised him greatly and said: “I cannot offer any new insight that would challenge him, for he knows everything; and in his humility, he is truly like Rabbi Akiva Eiger” (as related by his student Rabbi Zalman Spitzer, son-in-law of the Chasam Sofer, in his eulogy Tikkun Shlomo, pp. 104–106). The famous blessing of the Chasam Sofer to the Maharam Schick reads: “May Hashem bring us joy and bless us, and may your stature and the honor of your Torah be elevated, and may your teachings spread far and wide” (Orach Chaim, siman 17). Rabbi Dov Ber Ehrmann, author of Devarim Areivim, is famous as a storyteller of tzaddikim. He studied Torah from his uncle, the Maharam Schick, from the Kol Aryeh of Mad, and others. For many years, he basked in the presence of great Rebbes, among them Rabbi Yehoshua of Belz and his son Rabbi Yissachar Dov, the Yetev Lev, his son the Kedushas Yom Tov, and his grandson the Atzei Chaim, the Shem Shlomo of Munkatch, his son the Darkei Teshuva, and, in particular, his grandson, the Minchas Elazar. In his later years, he became close to Rabbi Shalom Eliezer Halberstam of Ratzfert. He authored several works containing many stories of tzaddikim that he personally heard from these Rebbes, and published them in his sefarim: Devarim Areivim, Pe’er V’Kavod, and Zochreinu L’Chaim. His brother-in-law was the famed gaon Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich, Av Beis Din of Shamloi. Rabbi Dov Ber was the nephew of Maharam Schick: in 1873, the wife of Maharam Schick passed away, and he remarried Sarah Rachel of the Ehrmann family (who had previously been married to Rabbi Chaim Avraham Ehrenstein). Her brother was Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Ehrmann, the father of Rabbi Dov Ber. Chust, 24 Tishrei (Isru Chag), 1878. One page in the writing of a scribe, with the autograph signature of Maharam Schick. Size : 16.8×21 cm. Condition : Fair, with wear and tears along the margins and fold marks.