THE KSAV YAD (HANDWRITING) OF THE CHASAM SOFER BRINGS TREMENDOUS YIRAS SHOMAYIM
The Chasam Sofer was known to write his responsa very quickly without any afterthought or regret. Once, an issue with an aguna was presented to him, and as was his custom he wrote a quick response and handed his response to his son, Rav Shimon, to deliver it to the Bais Din in Nikolsburg. Rav Shimon thought that since this was a grave and important matter, he would delay fulfilling his father’s errand, because perhaps his father rushed the response and might want to clarify or change it later. A few days later, the Chasam Sofer asked his son if he had delivered the responsa. His son replied in the negative and explained his reasons. The Chasam Sofer proceeded to tell his son the following: “In every generation, Hashem puts a Godol HaDor who has Siyata dishmaya and the halachic responsa will be in accordance with Hashem’s will. In this generation, I was chosen for this task. Please deliver the responsa immediately.”
When the lengthy responsa was received by Nikolsburg’s Bais Din, Rav Mordechai Banet opened up the letter and just read the last few lines of the halachic decree. When the Bais Din questioned Rav Mordechai about why he had not read the whole p’sak din, he replied, “In reality, I only need to see the last line, if the Chasam Sofer said muttar or ossur – and that would be enough. However, I read a couple of the last lines because reading the ksav yad (handwriting) of the Chasam Sofer brings about tremendous Yiras Shomayim.”
