Sacred Manuscript by the Chasam Sofer zy”a
Haggadah “K’ha Lachma Anya” with His Handwritten Commentary
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K’Ha Lachmya Anya
The Chasam Sofer’s custom was to recite the famous passage that begins the seder with the words “K’ha lachma anya, ” as opposed to the more prevalent version of “Ha lachma anya.”
In his notes in Shu”t Ksav Sofer Vol. 1 p. 111 upon the Haggadah, the Ksav Sofer recounts that his father the Chasam Sofer would intone the word “K’ha” and then pause and continue with “lachma anya.” He clarifies that ‘k’ha‘ means ‘like this bread, the bread of affliction, that our forefathers ate in Egypt.’
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One handwritten leaf of Torah novellae by the Chasam Sofer with the header ‘Pesach’ and famous commentary on the opening passage of the Haggadah, ‘Kha lacma anya’. The paragraph is almost complete.
These novellae, written in 1803, are exceedingly rare. The Shabbos Hagadol drashah that the Chasam Sofer relayed in Mattersdorf during that same year appears on the verso.
The above drashah was printed in Drashos Chasam Sofer (Grosswardein, 1929) based on this leaf.
Mattersdorf, 1803. Page size: 24×19. Handwritten on both sides. Good condition.
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The Segulah of the Chasam Sofer’s Handwriting
The Chasam Sofer’s descendants affirm that any handwritten legacy of their revered ancestor is auspicious for protection from any trial or tribulation. Whenever his son Harav Shimon Sofer, Av Beis Din of Cracow, faced the Austrian Parliament, he would take his father’s writings with him.
Maharam Banet likewise expressed that a mere glance at the sacred writing of the Chasam Sofer is a segulah for fear of heaven. It is told that Maharam Banet once received a written responsa from the Chasam Sofer and devoted extra time to reading and analyzing it. When his students asked if the letter perplexed him, he replied, “No, but I am delving into this responsa, as the mere sight of his sacred handwriting increases
fear of heaven.”
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