Letter from Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Margolios Yaffe Schlesinger [Mecholas ...

Letter from Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Margolios Yaffe Schlesinger [Mecholas Machanayim] AB"D of Pezinok, to the Maharam Schick, 1864. Rabbinical Seminary of Budapest Controversy,

A long letter from the beginning of the struggle, by the Gaon Rabbi Yisrael David Margaliot-Yaffe Shlesinger, Av Beit Din of Pezinok, to his friend the Gaon Maharam Schick.

“And did not the King grant exemption for all the young men who study Talmud and did not mention any German…”

The Gaon Rabbi Yisrael David Margaliot Yaffe Shlesinger (1802-1864) was born in Sered, Hungary. He was one of the outstanding students of the Chatam Sofer, and as rabbi of Sered spoke out against the “innovators, ” mainly regarding the changing of customs and the structure of the synagogue and the order of the prayer services. He published all his arguments in Mecholat Machanayim and in his book of responsa, Har Tavor. In 1832 he was appointed rabbi of Pezinok [Pezing], a post he held till his death.

This signed letter is completely in his handwriting and signed. 19 X 23 cm. 3 pages, 68 lines.

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Background : Starting in 1846, members of the Enlightenment movement in Hungary began trying to convince the ruling regime to establish an institution for liberal rabbis, which would train rabbis in secular studies, so that they could serve as official, state-sanctioned rabbis so that gradually all the Jewish communities would be assigned rabbis with dubious loyalty to traditional Judaism, in order to persuade and lead the general Jewish public toward liberalism and openness and to leave the age-old path of Orthodox Judaism.

For decades the intellectuals tried to convince the authorities, but the efforts of the Torah giants, headed by the students of the Chassam Sofer, managed to cancel and postpone the initiative each time it threatened to become a reality.

After the suppression of the people’s revolution in Hungary in 1848, the Austrians imposed an enormous fine on the Jews, to be used for building Jewish educational institutions, and in 1862 the plan for the establishment of the rabbinical seminary in Budapest was published.

The plan’s announcement sparked a huge storm among the haredi rabbis, who organized petitions that were signed by hundreds and presented to Emperor Franz Josef by a delegation headed by Rabbi Yehuda Assad and Rabbi Yirmiyahu Lowe, resulting in the freezing of the plans.

Following years of pressure from the intellectuals, the emperor acquiesced and in 1873 they were given the money to build the seminary. This news sent shock waves through the haredi community. The Maharam Schick rent his clothes in grief and Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein of Kolomaya declared a day of fasting and mourning. In 1876 the seminary opened its doors, and still exists today.

The Maharam Schick, as one of the outstanding students of the Chassam Sofer, was very active against the seminary and sent dozens of letters to all the leading rabbis of Hungary and beyond for them to protest and form a united stand against the liberal initiative. The rabbis all sent letters supporting the Maharam Schick’s efforts.

The rabbinical seminary features prominently on the responsa by the Maharam Schick and in his book of sermons.