Shimon Sofer (1850 – 2 June 1944)Shdeour, E. ''Harav Shimon Sofer of Erlau, Hy"d''. ''

Hamodia ''Hamodia'' ( he, המודיע – "''the Informer''") is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem. A daily English-language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions in England and Israe ...

'', 23 June 2011, p. C2. was the rabbi of the Hungarian city of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bu ...

(Erlau) and the progenitor of the Erlauer

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

dynasty. His grandson

Yochanan Sofer Yochanan Sofer (January 1, 1923 – February 22, 2016) was the rebbe of the Erlau dynasty. He was born in Eger, Hungary, where his father and grandfather were also rebbes. After surviving the Holocaust, he founded a yeshiva, first in Hungary and th ...

was the Erlauer

rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritu ...

in Israel.

Early life and family

Sofer was one of 10 children of

Samuel Benjamin Sofer Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer (german: link=no, Abraham Samuel Benjamin Schreiber), also known by his main work Ksav Sofer or Ketav Sofer ( trans. ''Writ of the Scribe''), (1815–1871), was one of the leading rabbis of Hungarian Jewry in the se ...

(1815 – 1872), a rabbi known as the ''Ksav Sofer'', who was the son of

Moses Sofer Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...

(1762 – 1839), known as the ''Chasam Sofer'', the rabbi of Pressburg (present-day

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

). Sofer lived the early part of his life in

Kisvárda Kisvárda (; german: Kleinwardein, yi, קליינווארדיין, Kleynvardeyn) is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary near the border of Slovakia and Ukraine. It is the 3rd largest town ...

(Kleinwardein) in Hungary. In 1870 he married Esther Fried. The couple had a daughter. Esther died after two years of marriage. In 1874 Sofer married his cousin, Glikle Birnbaum. The couple had a son, Akiva, but divorced soon after his birth. During this period, Sofer lived both in

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

and

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

. He then lived in the Polish city of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

, where his uncle, also a rabbi named

Shimon Sofer Shimon Sofer (1820–1883) (german: Simon Schreiber) was a prominent Austrian Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the 19th century. He was Chief Rabbi of Kraków, Poland after serving as Chief Rabbi of Mattersdorf. He was the second son of Rabbi Moshe So ...

(author of ''Michtav Sofer''). In approximately 1875 Sofer returned to Pressburg and married another cousin, Malka Esther Spitzer, with whom he had 13 children. In 1881, Sofer became rabbi of the Hungarian city of

(Erlau) where he founded a large

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stu ...

. He also fought

Neolog Judaism Neologs ( hu, neológ irányzat, "Neolog faction") are one of the two large communal organizations among Hungarian Jewry. Socially, the liberal and modernist Neologs had been more inclined toward integration into Hungarian society since the Era ...

, a Hungarian reform movement. Later one of his sons,

(author of ''Yad Sofer'') became rabbi and '' dayan'' (rabbinical judge) of Erlau.

Death and legacy

Sofer led the Jewish community in Erlau for some 64 years. Shortly after the Germans occupied Hungary in May 1944, they placed the Jewish population in

ghettos A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

. In June, the Germans deported Sofer and his entire community – some 3,000 Jews – to Auschwitz. They arrived on 21

Sivan ''Sivan'' (Hebrew: סִיוָן, Standard ''Sīvan'', Tiberian ''Sīwān''; from Akkadian ''simānu'', meaning "Season; time") is the ninth month of the civil year and the third month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a ...

(June 2), and were gassed a few hours later. Sofer was 94 at the time of his death. His son, Rabbi Moshe Sofer, was murdered at the same time. Sofer authored a book of responsa, ''Hisorerus Teshuva'' (hence he is known as "The Hisorerus Teshuva"), and ''Shir Maon'' on the Torah. He also edited the works of his father and grandfather and prepared them for publication. Sofer's grandson, Yochanan Sofer, re-founded the Erlau community in Israel in 1953. Yochanan printed his grandfather's ''

sefarim ''Sifrei Kodesh'' ( he, ספרי קודש, , Holy books), commonly referred to as ''sefarim'' ( he, ספרים, , books), or in its singular form, ''sefer'', are books of Jewish religious literature and are viewed by religious Jews as sacred. T ...

'' at the Institute for Research of the Teachings of the Chasam Sofer ( he, מכון חת"ם סופר), which he established and also presided over the Ohel Shimon-Erlau Yeshiva, named in memory of Shimon Sofer.

Children

Sofer had 15 children from his three wives, including

Moshe Sofer Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' (translation, trans. ''Seal of the Scribe' ...

References

External links

www.ChasamSofer.com

Title page of ''Hisorerus Teshuva'', Part II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sofer, Shimon (Ii) 1850 births 1944 deaths 19th-century Polish rabbis Hungarian Orthodox rabbis 19th-century Hungarian rabbis 20th-century Hungarian rabbis Hungarian people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Hungarian civilians killed in World War II People killed by gas chamber by Nazi Germany Hungarian Jews who died in the Holocaust