Discovery: Ancient Kabbalistic sword which was in the possession of the holy gaon Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein of Kolomyya, one of the greatest disciples of the Chatam Sofer, regarding whom the verse “Kodesh Hillulim L’Hashem” was stated (Hillulim=Hillel). He was admired by the other rabbinic leaders of his generation as well, and Rabbi Chaim of Sanz stated regarding him: “Anyone who questions him, it is as if he is questioning the Divine Presence.” The sword was passed on from Rabbi Hillel of Kolomyya to his son-in-law, the author of Lev Ivri, Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, who was a disciple of the Ktav Sofer and of the Maharam Schick, and one of the leading rabbis of Hungary and of Jerusalem. The sword bears an ivory handle with a metal blade engraved with pure gold letters. The letters join together to form words in Hebrew that create the Tetragrammaton, and other Holy Names and verse excerpts. The engraving of the letters was done using special craftsmanship during the blade’s casting, which preserved the inscription in the best possible manner, even with the passage of hundreds of years since the sword was made, including the special gold sheen. Due to the sword’s sanctity and the Names engraved on it, Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger prepared a special fabric case for it, something like a tefillin bag. He wrote his name and address in Jerusalem on the case by hand, in a foreign language. Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger attested that this sword was found by a Jewish officer in 1848, at the height of the “Spring of Nations” war which swept through Europe demanding liberty and equality. Rebellion broke out in Hungary as well. (Hungarian Jews, as usual, were among the rebel leaders; the first victim of the rebellion was a Jew, a student at the local technological college, Heinrich Shpitzer). In the storm of the battles, the masses conquered the famous Petrovaradin Fortress (currently next to Novi Sad, Serbia). The officer discovered this exquisite sword with Hebrew letters engraved on the blade among the ruins of the Fortress. Despite rust stains on the blade, the beauty of the gold letters was not the least bit dulled. The Jewish officer understood that this was not only a historic sword, but a holy one, a sword with the Tetragrammaton engraved on it. He, therefore, felt a moral obligation to bring it to one of the leading rabbis of Hungary, Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein of Kolomyya. After about twenty years, Rabbi Hillel gave the sword to his son-in-law, Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, author of HaLev HaIvri, for protection when he ascended to Jerusalem, which was a dangerous place in those days. Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger wrote in his book that he paid his father-in-law “a gold ring with a brilliant [diamond]” for it. Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger and his father-in-law, Rabbi Hillel of Kolomyya, treated this sword with reverence. Rabbi Akiva Yosef, aside from being a halachic adjudicator, was also known for his Kabbalistic greatness. He published a halachic-Kabbalistic study of this sword and the holy Names engraved on it. In this treatise, he deliberates various theories about the source of the sword, and its beginning, and arrives at King David and his General, Yoav ben Tzeruyah. He writes that there is a tradition that Yoav ben Tzeruyah conquered […]

The post Trivia question: Which One Of The Chatam Sofer’s Disciples Carried a Sword with the Shem HaMeforash Engraved On It? appeared first on The Yeshiva World.