Financial document signed by the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Mintz Av Beit Din of Alt-Ofen (Óbuda), the Chief Rabbi of Budapest District, author of responsa ‘Mahara”m Mintz’, and also signed by his disciple the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Kunitz, author of Sefer ‘Ben Yochai’ – extremely rare signature – Alt-Ofen, Shevat 5562 (1802).
At the end of the document are signed the following: ‘the young Moshe Mintz of Brod’, ‘Moshe Kunitz’, ‘Shmuel the small Budshpitz of Asad’ (Rabbi Shmuel [David] Budshpitz, Av Beit Din of Asad, dec. 1818. He was a Gaon, and a famous orator in his time)
The Gaon Rabbi Moshe Mintz (1761 -1831) was a disciple of Rabeinu Meshulam Igra. After his marriage he lived in Brod, where he sat at the feet of the wise men and scholars of that city, and therefore always signed as ‘the young Moshe Mintz of Brod’. Afterwards he served as the Rabbi of Radvil. Circa 1790 he was appointed Av Beit Din of Alt-Ofen. In 1794 the Kaiser appointed him Chief Rabbi of the entire Budapest province. Among his disciples were some of the greatest of the generation, among those Rabbi Chaim Kitze, Av Beit Din of Irsha, and Rabbo Baruch Goytein Av Beit Din of Hedias, author of Sefer ‘Kesef Nivchar’. His responsa is quoted in the Responsa Chatam Sofer, and even the Noda BiYehuda mentions him in one of his responsa.
The Gaon Rabbi Moshe Kunitz (1774 1837) was a disciple of Rabbi Moshe Mintz. He took his place at the Rabbinate of Alt-Ofen in his later years. His name became known as an important investigator of Jewish history. Wrote several interesting compositions, but he is most famous for his Sefer ‘Ben Yochai’ (Vienna 1815) where he staunchly defends the attribution of Sefer HaZohar to the Tana Rashbi, and in which he came out staunchly refuting the opinion of Rabbi Yaakov Emden, in his Sefer ‘Mitpachat Sofrim’, where he claims that parts of the Zohar are from a much later period. Both the Sefer and its author were controversial and were of great interest to scholarly researchers. Rabbi Moshe Kunitz’s signature is extremely rare!
[1] pg. (large, folded folio). 38cm. good-medium condition. Moisture stains. Large tears at the fold marks.
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