The Position of Dayan in the Capital City of Budapest – A Letter from the Great Gaon Rabbi Yonatan Steif zt"l Regarding His Appointment to Serve in Pest as a Dayan
A letter from the year 1923 written by the great gaon, Rabbi Yonatan Steif zt"l, when he was appointed to serve as a dayan and halachic authority in the great city of Budapest, to his colleague, the gaon Rabbi Ephraim Pishal Sofer zt"l, who also served as a dayan in Pest. With his great humility, Rabbi Yonatan requested from Rabbi Pishal to grant him permission to come serve in the beis din.
[It is important to note that Rabbi Yonatan mistakenly wrote the recipient’s name as ‘Avigdor’ instead of ‘Ephraim Pishal, ’ which likely occurred because Rabbi Pishal’s name in vernacular was ‘Victor.’]
The great gaon Rabbi Yonatan Steif zt"l was one of the leading poskim in America after the Second World War. In his youth, he learned in Pressburg under the gaon, the Sha’bet Sofer. He served as a dayan in Ungvar, and in 1927, he was appointed as chief dayan in the capital city of Budapest. He survived the Holocaust and immigrated to the United States, where he was accepted as the rabbi of the
"Adas Yireim" community in Vienna. He served as vice president of the "Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada" alongside the president, the holy Rabbi of Satmar zt"l, who greatly revered him. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein referred to him as ‘the gadol hador.’
He authored many seforim, including Chadashim Gam Yeshanim on the Talmud, Limudei Hashem on Chumash, Mitzvos Hashem, two seforim on the Seven Noahide Laws, Shu"t Mahar"i Steif, and more.
