1. Shimon Sofer was a prominent Austrian Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the 19th century.
29 Facts About Shimon Sofer
1. 2.
Shimon Sofer was Chief Rabbi of Krakow, Poland after serving as Chief Rabbi of Mattersdorf.
3.
Shimon Sofer was the second son of Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg.
4.
Shimon Sofer became the foremost leader of the Orthodox Jews of Galicia in religious as well as in worldly matters.
5.
Shimon Sofer had ten other children beside him, and he lost her when he was eleven years old.
6.
Shimon Sofer was named Shimon after his ancestor, the author of Yalkut Shimoni.
7.
Shimon Sofer was recognized as a child prodigy at a very early age.
8.
Shimon Sofer displayed great interest in Jewish Poetry, a talent which is noticeable in his later Torah works.
9.
Shimon Sofer matured quickly and at the age of 17 he married Miriam Sternberg, a daughter of philanthropist Rabbi Dov Ber Sternberg of Carei.
10.
Shimon Sofer was a mere 19 years old when his father died.
11.
Avraham Shmuel Binyamin and Shimon Sofer continued to edit and publish their father's Torah commentary and Halakhic rulings, a project placed upon them by their father during his lifetime.
12.
Shimon Sofer remained steadfast in his father's way of refusing to accept any reform or change to traditional orthodox Judaism.
13.
Circa 1851, the Jewish community in Nikolsberg invited Shimon Sofer to accept the Chief Rabbinical position of their city.
14.
Rabbi Shimon Sofer again turned down this offer reasoning that he could not possibly stand in the position of previous "Torah giants".
15.
Shimon Sofer reasoned that this community had removed their Bima from the center of their Synagogue and moved the Chazzan's position to the face the congregation from a high stage.
16.
Circa 1859 Rabbi Shimon Sofer accepted this position and moved to Krakow.
17.
Shimon Sofer had donated the dome on the Tiferes Yisrael Synagogue in Jerusalem.
18.
The Hasidim and the Austrian-Hungarian rabbis of the Shimon Sofer Dynasty made a joint effort to strengthen traditional Orthodox Judaism and opposed the Reform both socially and politically.
19.
In 1879, Shimon Sofer was elected and earned a seat at the Reichsrat.
20.
Shimon Sofer carried himself like a true aristocrat and did not like to get excited.
21.
Rabbi Shimon Sofer requested the emperor's permission to don his hat in order to bless the Emperor, which was granted cordially.
22.
Rabbi Shimon Sofer made the traditional blessing to which the Emperor answered "Amen".
23.
Shimon Sofer described the welcoming as "splendid", writing that he was invited to the "ball" that evening but was not planning on attending.
24.
The report describes the joy and happiness of the Jewish community and the respect they and Rabbi Shimon Sofer received from the Emperor, an unprecedented event in Diaspora Jewish history.
25.
On 10 May 1881, Rabbi Shimon Sofer sent a parchment scroll to the Emperor Franz Joseph on the occasion of the wedding of his son Rudolf.
26.
Rabbi Shimon Sofer was not informed of the death of his brother Avraham Shmuel Binyamin on December 31,1871 and did not take part in his burial.
27.
Shimon Sofer wrote that his family and community withheld the news from him and that the death of his brother came to his knowledge by chance.
28.
Shimon Sofer discovered the news upon seeing his son-in-law reading the laws of Avelut.
29.
On Purim 1883, Rabbi Shimon Sofer celebrated with his congregation as usual, festivities continued into the late hours of the night.