Not to touch Mendelssohn's books? Inspirational. Not to wear a sheitel? Not so inspirational.

An important external hard drive of mine may have died. This is bad news for me. So posting may be a little sparse. Or maybe not. We'll see what happens.

The Chasam Sofer, like many Jews, wrote a so-called Ethical Will. An Ethical Will is like a Last Will and Testament, only it does not focus on worldly possessions. Instead it gives instruction to family or disciples. The Chasam Sofer's ethical well (henceforth "Testament") contained the following clause:

בנותי וכלותי השמרו לכם חלילה וחלילה לגלות טפח מבשרכם ע"י קיצורת המלבושים כנהוג ח"ו לא תהיה זאת בגבול ביתי ומכ"ש שתזהרו מריעות נשים רעות שמוציאים אפילו שער א' חוץ וגם בפאה נכרית אני אוסרכם איסור גמור

"My daughters and daughters-in-law, guard yourself lest you, God forbid, reveal a handsbreadth of your skin in revealing dresses, which are popular, God forbid. . . . and I also forbid you to wear a wig, with a total prohibition."

The Chasam Sofer's ethical will, addressed to his family (it begins, "My sons, daughters, children-in-law, and grandchildren, listen [to my words] and live . . ."], was read at his funeral before a large public. Thus, although it is addressed to his family, it was clearly seen by those close to him (= whomever was responsible for the proceedings of the funeral) as something for the public to hear, if not heed. The contents were not only read publicly, but reported only a month later in the Israelitische Annalen #45, November 8, 1839, pg. 354.

In this Testament he instructed his family not to join with Reformers and not to read books by Moses Mendelssohn. [Instead?] it is most important to study and teach your children Tanach with Rashi, and Torah with Ramban. Next he asks them to remain firm in their principles even in the face of hunger and poverty. The women [in the family] should read nothing but books printed in Judeo-German, and only works based on Aggadah. None may attend the theater. No one should grow proud or haughty. They should study Torah diligently, and teach it publicly. They should not change their name, language or clothing, that is, not to imitate the ways of Gentiles. Then he tells them not to be anxious because he has not left them wealth, for God will have mercy on them and provide for them. Next, not to use the Torah as a means of glorifying themselves, or a means for making money. They should not become a traveling Maggid for pay - they should stay in their place. Finally, do not say that times have changed. We have an old Father - God - who does not and will not change.

Also at his funeral, another Testament addressed to the *community* of Pressburg, was read. This one contained one appendix addressed to the females of his family, and another to the males of his family and his students. This second part, asked his community to never appoint a rabbi who breeches tradition, and not to allow the rabbinical post to remain vacant more than two years. It also asks them to appoint a humble man, and to continue funding Torah studies in the same manner as they always have.

The next section, with which I began this post, addressed to the women in his family, specifically asks that they dress modestly, specifically that they never let a hair on their head show, and that they must not wear a wig.

Then his sons and students are addressed, and they are asked to be careful to keep his yeshiva running as it always has, and he expresses the preference that his son Avraham Shmuel Binyamin be officially appointed its rosh yeshiva - and this led to his appointment as rabbi of Pressburg at the funeral itself!

In 1860 the complete will was published by R. Akiva Yoseph Schlesinger, who was then in his early 20s, with a Yiddish translation in the beginning of his book Naar Ivri, and has been reprinted in whole and part many, many times since. Note the "הָאארשַייטֶל."

Several years later Schlesinger reprinted the will with a very lengthy commentary, transforming a text of a few paragraphs - it takes up 8 pages, including the Yiddish translation in Naar Ivri - into a book of about 150 pages. In the introduction, he writes that when he was a yeshiva student, a friend asked him why he refrains from using Mendelssohn's Chumash. Citing the will, the friend pointed out that it is only for the Chasam Sofer's family. Schlesinger replied that allthough he knows full well that the Chasam Sofer's Testament is addressed to his family, he nevertheless is glad to consider himself bound to follow its commands. Why? He reasons that surely the Chasam Sofer loved his family and was concerned for their souls, and this is what he advises them to do. Doesn't Schlesinger love himself? If so, wouldn't he be sensible to follow the prescriptions of the Chasam Sofer for those whom he loved?

In any case, agree or disagree with this logic, it seems clear that the bulk (and frankly, the best part) of the will is addressed solely to his own family, with a small part addressed to his community. Nevertheless, his instructions to his family were also promulgated in a most public fashion.

Through Artscroll, Rabbi Moshe Bamberger published a very interesting book called Great Jewish Letters: A Collection of Classic and Inspirational Writings of Torah Personalities. This book contains Bamberger's translations of all or part of many letters, drawn from Geonic to contemporary times. The section called Ethical Wills contains 9 specimens, the first one by the Ramban, and the next nine from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

On page 38-40 the Chasam Sofer's will appears, more specifically, only the first part. In a way that's understandable. Even though the second part is actually addressed partly to the public, the first part is where the meat is. The second part, even though it contains spiritual matters, is basically business. For the Chasam Sofer, the proper way of appointing a rabbi is business; the proper way of maintaining his yeshiva is business; the modest dress of the female Schreibers is business. So in that sense I can understand why it only translated the first part of the will. Nevertheless, one does notice that the second part forbids in the strongest possible terms the women from wearing sheitlach. So my conspiracy theory is this: Not to touch Mendelssohn's books? Inspirational. Not to wear a sheitel? Not so inspirational.