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Parshas Bo 5785

ויאמר ה' אל משה לא ישמע עליכם פרעה למען רבות מופתי בארץ מצרים ... (יא-ט)


    The holy Chasam Sofer, R’ Moshe Sofer zt”l, was not only the undisputed leader of the Jewish people in his generation, he was also a Rosh Yeshivah and devoted teacher to hundreds of talmidim in the Pressburg Yeshivah. To listen to the Gadol Hador deliver a Talmudic discourse in any area of Shas and poskim, was to witness an artisan in action, a masterpiece in the making. As pearls of Torah wisdom and knowledge rolled off his tongue, a combination of Niglah and Nistar (hidden and revealed) elements were interwoven together to form a formidable tower of novellae, thereby unfastening the knots of entanglement that locked up a sugya, enabling the intricacies that once stood in the way of comprehension to be released - like melting snow rushing through a mountainous pass.

One day, as the Rosh Yeshivah was in the midst of delivering his shiur, he came upon a topic that discussed the detailed complexities of names. During one lengthy exposition, the Chasam Sofer unwittingly let slip a comment to the effect that he had already mastered the deepest Kabbalistic understandings of names, and maintained the unique ability to recognize the name of each and every Jewish neshama (soul) within the body of the holy words of the Torah.

The students, who had been following the meandering paths of the sugya, all paused for a moment and looked at each other, and then back at their rebbi in wonderment. Of course, the Chasam Sofer had not made such a statement so as to brag about his ability; however, the thought intrigued each student as he sat there wondering, how can the holy Rebbi know the origins of each name and where it is located in the Torah?

As a heavy silence prevailed over the room, none of the students even considered breaking the Rebbi’s thought-process and question him on his unusual statement. All, except one. There was a young man by the name of Moshe, who was different from the other students. He was not intensely involved in his studies as he should have been and he was known to have secular leanings, including interest in areas that were considered off-limits to the students. As a boy growing up in Germany, he saw and imbibed a culture that was foreign to the age-old ways of traditional Yiddishkeit, and privately he would read books and newspapers that were unacceptable in the Yeshivah.

It was this boy who stood up in the middle of the Rebbi’s shiur and brazenly called out, “Rebbi, is this true? Do you really see every person’s name? If so, where is the name of the Rambam found in the Torah?”

The Chasam Sofer slowly opened his eyes and looked up. The other students began to urge Moshe to be quiet and sit down, but he just stood his ground and ignored their entreaties. The Chasam Sofer did not look irritated and in fact, urged everyone to be silent. Then, he said, “Before subjecting the Egyptians to the final makka, Makas Bechoros (Plague of killing the First-born), Hashem tells Moshe, 'למען רבות מופתי בארץ מצרים' (In order to increase My wonders in the Land of Egypt.) The first letter of these four words spell out the acronym ר'מ'ב'ם, for it was this great sage who revealed - in his many illuminating writings - many of the great wonders of the Almighty.”

The students buzzed with excitement as the Chasam Sofer seemed to end the discussion right there. But Moshe was not one who gave in so easily. In his misguided and errant mind he called out once more, “Okay, but where is the name of Moses Mendelsohn (universally regarded as the father of the Haskala/Enlightenment movement and forebear of the Reform Movement, which wreaked havoc on Torah-true Yiddishkeit) found in the Torah?”

Without missing a beat, the Chasam Sofer responded, “Why, it is a clear posuk in Parshas Emor. 'כי משחתם בהם מום בם' (For their corruption is in them, a blemish is in them.). The first letter of these aptly portrayed words spell out משה בן מנחם ברלין - Moshe the son of Menachem, from Berlin! His father’s name was Menachem and he adopted the lifestyle of the secular Berliners!” And with that last line, the Chasam Sofer tossed Moshe right out of the Pressburg Yeshivah!

 
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