A Large Anthology of Handwritten Sermons by Rabbi Sheraga Feish Fishman Av Beit Din of Klausenburg and the Darshan ...

A Large Anthology of Handwritten Sermons by Rabbi Sheraga Feish Fishman Av Beit Din of Klausenburg and the Darshan of Pressburg - the Polemic of German in the Synagogues of Hungary / Original Photograph of the Author
A large collection of handwritten notebooks with compositions and sermons by Rabbi Sheraga Feish Fishman. It is most likely that most of them were handwritten by him (while the others are copying in preparation for printing by a scribe, who wrote in a more orderly manner). There are signs of erasures and short handwritten additions, which support the notion that this is the author's autograph. According to his daughter, Rabbi Fishman used to write his sermons himself.
Most of the sermons are written in German, which constitutes a historical novelty in the history of the Hungarian Jews, as will be explained hereinafter.
Each notebook is tied up with string and their size is 35 cm. Attached is also a letter from Rabbi Fishman's Archive and an original photograph of him.
A total of approximately 320 pp!
Following is a short description of the material, which still requires comprehensive research:
A. "Shesh Ha'Ma'arechet" a notebook of handwritten sermons. "Sermons by the genius rabbi the well-known tsaddik Rabbi Feish Fishman … Av Beit Din of Kloisenberg and lately Maggid Yesharim of Pressburg" (version of the title page).
The text is in German; however, some of the titles are in Hebrew and Hebrew words and quotes are occasionally integrated in it.
The volume starts from left to right (as in English books). On the reverse side of the title page, a content and then ten leaves of a preface about the special content of the sermons and the figure of their author. The preface is signed by Rabbi Hirsch Fintzman [?]/
The notebook contains long sermons about the Jewish holidays and additional events and occasions.
A total of 100 pp.
B. The book "Sheraga Be'Tehara", a collection of 13 sermons for Sabbaths and the Jewish holidays. A total of 60 pp.
C. "A Sermon which was designated for Parashat Beshalach 1862 … I had delivered the sermon on the last day pf Passover 1862"/ 10 pp. torn margins.
D. A handwritten notebook "a sermon for Parashat Kedoshim 1862" (according to the Hebrew version on the cover). German with manu Hebrew verses. 12 pp.
E. "Sermon for Parashat Parah 1866". 11 pp.
F. Sermons for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh – Hanukkah" 16 pp.
G. "Sermon for Parashat Beshalach 1868 [?]". 25 pp.
H. Handwritten notebook, "Kedoshim 1879 – Kedoshim Tihiyu!" (the version of the cover). 10 pp. German with Hebrew verses and quotes.
I. [Not titled]. 9 pp.
J. "A sermon that was designated for Parashat Yitro and was delivered on Sabbath Parashat Shekalim 1866". 16 pp. German and Hebrew verses. On the last page, a short Hebrew sermon on Parasht Yitro.
K. A special sermon: "Sermon for Parashat Bamidbar the eve of Shavu'ot 1867, the day our king was crowned". He is referring to the crowning of Franz Joseph I Emperor of Austria, who was crowned that same year king of Hungary and who was known for his tolerant attitude towards the Jews and was admired by them. When he became the Austro-Hungarian Emperor, he gave the Jews equal rights. German and a little Hebrew9 pp. torn margins.
L. "Sermon for Parashat Bereshit-Noach 1865". 13 pp. the script is different from the script of the other notebooks (more dense and fine).
M. Handwritten notebook, "1868". Different script. Sermon about "the existence of Sabbath, Bereshit, retribution, Noah, Torah from heaven, Lech Lecha" (from the version on the cover). German. At the end of the notebook a Hebrew index.
N. Handwritten German notebook, referring occasionally in Hebrew to "Rabbi Sheraga Fishman". Apparently, a eulogy for him or an article in his memory. The notebook also refers to Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the "Chatam Sofer" and his son Rabbi Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, the "Ketav Sofer", Rabbi Kalman Pepfhenheim of Pressburg, and Reb Mendel Cohen, the secretary of the Pressburg community. Contains additionas, erasures and comments. The content has not been studied. No date (it was most likely written on the missing cover). 18 pp.
O. Original photograph of Rabbi Fishman. 5.5x10 cm.
P. German handwritten letter. 4 pp. 17 cm. has not been studied.
Rabbi Sheraga Feish Fishman and his sermons
Some of his writings were lost in the Holocaust. Others (in Hebrew) were edited and published in Jerusalem in 1959 in the book "Or Sheraga". According to the editor, the author's grandson Rabbi Meir Fishman in the preface of the book, "Most of them were not printed from the author's manuscripts but rather were written by his disciples as they had heard them from their rabbi". The book was approbated by Rabbi Yitzchak Zvi Sofer, who wrote of its author that "his influence on his listeners was great as I have heard from my uncle the Maharil Sofer Av Beit Din of Paks".
In his preface, the editor states the existence of notebooks such as the ones before us; yet he most likely had not seen them since he describes untitled notebooks (and for this reason, he had to come up with the title of the book – "Or Sheraga") whereas some of the notebooks before us were titled by the author! Thus, before us is a most important discovery!
The editor in his preface also announces that "I have in my possession approximately fifty booklets that contain one sermon each written in Yiddish-Teitsch, which was then spoken in Pressburg. These sermons are a treasure of Aggadah and Mussar sweet as honey. Indeed, the time has not come to publish them exactly the way they are written; therefore I tend to translate them into our holy language and publish them with God's help in the future … ". he added that "according to his daughter … are Rabbi used to write his sermons down on Motzaei Shabbat after he had delivered them on Sabbath".
The Polemic regarding the language of the Sermons
When he was the rabbi of Szikszó, Rabbi Fishman was invited by Av Beit Din of Pressburg, the Ketav Sofer, to move to the town in order to serve as a Maggid Meisharim. And indeed, in 1864, he moved to the city.
He was asked to deliver his sermons in German [!] not Yiddish, as was customary until then. This was a request of the intelligent, enlightened public of Pressburg, which was tired of the traditional order. The request was approved by the "Ketav Sofer", although in the previous generation, delivering German sermons was considered a reform with far-reaching consequences! It is common knowledge that the Chatam Sofer tried to prevent the phenomenon and in his last will and testament explicitly prohibited it in Pressburg: "Sermons should not be delivered in the tongue of the nations since he who does so will not live for many years".
However, a generation later, his son, the "Ketav Sofer" allowed the Maggid Meisharim to deliver his sermons in German.
This permission by the "Ketav Sofer" angered the zealots of Hungary, headed by Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein. The first clause of the regulations of Michaelowitz, which were written in 1865, prohibited the delivering of sermons in a foreign language, that is, German. This was obviously in response to Rabbi Fishman's German sermons.
The biography of Rabbi Fishman
Rabbi Sheraga Feish Fishman (1825-1881) was one of the most prominent rabbis of Hungary, Av Beit Din of Klausenburg and later Maggid Meisharim of Pressburg.
He was born in a small town on Bohemia. In 1835, when his father, Rabbi Yechezkel Moshe, was appointed rabbi of Miskolc, his family moved with him to Hungary. When he was 12, he was sent to study in Trebitsch in the yeshiva of Rabbi Chaim Yosef Folk, author of "Makor Chaim". During the first several years after his marriage, he refused different proposals to serve as a rabbi of various cities and enjoyed the fruit of his labor. Eventually, his financial situation forced him to accept the position of rabbi of Szikszó, in north-eastern Hungary, where he became famous as a great sermonizer (Darshan) and Jews from all around the area came to hear him. In 1861, he moved to Klausenburg and in 1864 he became the maggid Meisharim of Pressburg. In the winter of 1872, after the death of the "Ketav Sofer", he was asked to replace him as the rabbi of Pressburg; yet, he refused.