The Maharam Schick
R’ Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Schreiber, known as the Ktav Sofer, was once vacationing in Marienbad, a popular resort area where many Torah leaders would congregate for a break from their demanding schedules. At the same time, a disciple of his father’s, R’ Moshe Schick, known as the Maharam Schick, was also staying there.
Although on vacation, the Ktav Sofer spent most of his time engrossed in his studies, using the few sefarim that he had brought with him. At one point he wished to refer to the Tur and sent one of his students to the Maharam Schick to ask whether he had a copy which R’ Schreiber could borrow.
The Maharam Schick asked which chapter was needed, and told the student to return in two hours, when he would be able to give him what he had requested. It would seem that the Maharam Schick was then using the sefer in question and would only be finished in two hours, but when the student returned after that time, he was astounded to receive sheets of paper on which the requested chapter of the Tur had been painstakingly handwritten!
At first the Ktav Sofer wondered whether his father’s disciple did not deem him trustworthy enough to lend him his sefer, and had thus taken the time and effort to copy out the pages that were needed. Soon, however, the matter was explained:
the Maharam Schick did not have a copy of the Tur with him; he wished to help out, and had therefore written the entire section from memory - word for word!
The Ktav Sofer, astounded by the genius of his father’s student, was moved to tears. He marveled at the incredible ability of the Maharam Schick to record an entire section of the Tur from memory, adding that he was certain that it was the merit of his great teacher, R’ Schreiber’s own father, the Hatam Sofer, that had enabled the Maharam Schick to rise to such great heights. (A Mazeldig Voch)
Reprinted from the Parashat Ki Tesse 5785 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace.
