Manuscript, halachic ruling concerning chalitza, handwritten and signed by Rabbi Shmuel Landau. Prague, 1808.
The ruling begins with the words, "It happened in our community…", and deals with a question which arose in Prague regarding chalitza. After the place for the chalitza was fixed, one of the dayanim was prevented from attending the ritual. Rabbi Shmuel Landau ruled leniently to permit concluding the chalitza in the presence of a different assembly of a Beit Din. The ruling is signed at the end: "Shmuel". After the signature, he adds the details of the event: "This occurred in Prague on Tuesday the 26th of Sivan, 1808, at the time Rivka the daughter of Zelig performed chalitza with her brother-in-law Sinai son of Avraham from here".
The famous Gaon Rabbi Shmuel HaLevi (Segal) Landau (ca. 1750-1834; according to another opinion, he died in Tishrei 1837) was a famous sage of his times. Son and successor of the Noda B’Yehuda in the Prague rabbinate. His responsa and homilies were printed in his father’s books, the Nodah B’Yehuda series and in his book Shivat Zion and elsewhere. He served as dayan in Prague in his father’s lifetime and headed the senior yeshiva in the city.
After his father’s death, R. Shmuel was not appointed as Rabbi of Prague due to various disputes among community leaders who did not want to accept the testament of the Nodah B’Yehuda to appoint R. Shmuel as his successor, but his authority was recognized in the entire Jewish Diaspora as a leading Torah scholar and dayan of Prague, which was a center of Torah scholars and poskim. He was very active in bolstering religious adherence, in fighting the Reform Movement and their "religious revisions", as well as opposing Frankism in his city (which eventually led to his imprisonment).
He exchanged halachic correspondence with the Chatam Sofer, who mentions R. Shmuel several times in his books with great esteem [see the responsum of the Chatam Sofer (Part 8, Siman 65), in which he relates that only twice did he retract a halachic ruling, once after he accepted the opinion of Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margolioth and again at the time he conceded to the opinion of Rabbi Shmuel Landau on the matter of writing names for gittin].
[1] leaf, 19 cm. Stains. Folding creases.
About him, see also Sefer HaRav Yechezkel Landau UVno HaRav Shmuel Landau (Warsaw, 1924).
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Lot #144