(MahRa”M Schick)

The Mahara”m Schick (1807-1879) was one of the most prominent Hunarian Rabbis of his time and the foremost disciple of the Chatham Sopher. He was a fierce opponent of the leaders of the Reform Movement, calling them “Karaites not Rabbis.” Schick supported Samson Raphael Hirsch in his dispute with Seligman Baer Bamberger concerning forming a separatist anti-Reform congregation in Frankfurt. Nevertheless, the Maha”m Schick permitted “God-fearing Talmudic scholars to preach in the vernacular,” although many of his rabbinic peers were shocked by the notion of not preaching in the traditional Jewish style. He was the principal successor to his master, the Chatham Sopher in his ability to respond quickly to even the most complicated questions of law. Almost 1000 of his responsa have been published, the present responsum was published in Teshuvoth Maha”m Schick, Yoreh Deah no. 327