A responsum regarding the case of an agunah, in which both great scholars agree to permit her remarriage but for different halachic reasons, in the classic manner of Torah discourse.

Among his words, Rabbi Bachrach defends himself to Rabbi Shmuel:

"And regarding what Your Excellency has reproached me for not having consulted the sefer of our great master, the Nodah B’Yehudah, your honored father, of blessed memory, let me assure you that there is no basis for any such suspicion. For anyone who is accustomed to my ways knows that I have always honored and cherished this sefer and have derived great pleasure from it, both in the past and even now. Indeed, it is well known to Your Excellency that I frequently engaged in discussion and debate with his saintly father on many matters, both in his presence and in his absence.

And I would often set aside my own opinion in deference to his, of blessed memory. However, since his great sefer is vast in scope and of immense value, and I am burdened with many responsibilities, I was often forced to interrupt my studies out of necessity and due to matters of respect and other pressing concerns. Even in the works of earlier authorities, I was unable to delve as thoroughly as I would have liked. Therefore, do not attribute to me any improper thoughts, for—thank God—I am not a Nefel (unborn child), and the Torah remains accessible to all who seek it.

And whoever engages in it for the sake of Heaven, and not for personal acclaim, is granted divine assistance."

A two-sided manuscript, written in his holy hand, with his marginal additions. No signature.

Published in Kerem Shlomo, Kuntres 102 (Kislev 1987) from this manuscript.

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 seforim 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].

21 X 17.7 Cm.

Lot #101

Responsa from the Gaon Rabbi Michael Bachrach, Av Beis Din of Prague, to the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Landau of Prague: "B''h, I'm not an unborn child"

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Responsa from the Gaon Rabbi Michael Bachrach, Av Beis Din of Prague, to the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Landau of Prague: "B''h, I'm not an unborn child"

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