Moses ben Samuel Sofer (or Schreiber), known to Jews as the Hatam Sofer, or the Ch'sam Soifer, (after his main work), was one of the leading rabbis of European Judaism in the 1800s. His German name was Moses Schreiber.

Early years

Sofer was born in German at Frankfort-on-the-Main 14 September, 1763; he died at Pressburg (now Bratislava) 3 October, 1839.

His mother's name was Reisil. At the age of nine he entered the yeshiva of Rabbi Nathan Adler at Frankfort, and when only thirteen years old he delivered public lectures. So great was the Sofer's fame that Rabbi Phinehas Horowitz (Hurwitz), author of "Sefer Hafla'ah" and then rabbi of Frankfort, invited him to become his pupil. Schreiber consented, but remained under Horowitz for one year only, when he left for the yeshivah of Rabbi Tebele Scheuer in the neighboring city of Mayence, who gladly welcomed Sofer.

Sofer devoted himself to the study of Torah and Talmud. Many prominent residents of Mayence took an interest in his welfare and facilitated the progress of his studies.

Education

Schreiber succeeded in acquiring a knowledge of secular sciences, becoming proficient in astronomy, geometry, and general history. His teacher then gave him semicha, rabbinical ordination, authorizing him to render decisions on questions of Jewish law. Yielding to the entreaties of his former teachers in Frankfort, Schreiber returned to his native city.

Boskowitz

In 1782 Nathan Adler was called to the rabbinate of Boskowitz (Boskovice), and Schreiber followed him. Schreiber went, at Adler's advice, to Prossnitz (Prostejov), where he married Sarah, the widowed daughter of Rabbi Moses Jerwitz.

Schreiber became head of the yeshivah at Prossnitz, and later accepted his first official position, becoming rabbi of Dresnitz, after he had procured the sanction of the government to settle in that town. In 1798 he resigned the rabbinate, and moved to Mattersdorf, Hungary. There he established a yeshivah, and pupils flocked to him. About this time he declined many other offers of rabbinates, but in 1803 accepted a call to Presburg. Here also he established a yeshivah, which was attended by about 500 pupils, many of whom became famous rabbis.

In 1812, Sofer's wife died. After the lapse of some time he married Sarah, the daughter of Rabbi Akiba Eger.

Fight against changes in Judaism

In 1819 an early form of Reform Judaism developed in Hamburg. Schreiber declared open war against the reformers, and attacked them in his speeches and writings with all the force at his command. In the same spirit he fought also the founders of the Reformschule in Presburg, which was established in the year 1827.

In response to those who stated that Judaism could change or evolve, Sofer created the motto, Hadash asur min ha-Torah, "Anything new is forbidden by the Torah", and used this view to effectively ban any change at all in Judaism. For Sofer, the Judaism previously practiced was the only form of Judaism acceptable; in his view, Judaism never changed, and would never change. This became the defining idea behind the opponents of Reform, and it possibly carried over into the Orthodox response to other innovations.

Influence

He is one of the most important figures in the development of Haredi Judaism, and the patriarch of the Sofer family of rabbis. His son Abraham Samuel Benjamin (the Ktav Sofer) succeeded him as rabbi of Pressburg, and his son Simon Sofer became rabbi of Cracow.

In the Orthodox world, he is an often-quoted authority. Many of his responsa are required reading for semicha (rabbinic ordination), his novellae on the Torah sparked a new style in Torah commentary, and some tractates of the Talmud contain emendations and additions of his hand.