Identifying a Bloated Body by Simanim to Permit an Agunah to Remarry

Date: 23 Sivan 5593

From: Rabbi Moshe Sofer

To: Rabbi Yitzchak Tiktin

Description

Rabbi Yitzchak Tiktin of Breslau forwards to the Chasam Sofer the evidentiary record in the case of the wife of a watchmaker named Heiman, whose body was found severely disfigured in a river near Breslau. The identifying marks — a scar above the right eye, a tooth gap, and leech marks on the right middle finger — are presented alongside witness testimonies, and Tiktin requests the Chasam Sofer's authoritative concurrence in permitting the agunah to remarry. This siman contains only the question and testimony; the Chasam Sofer's actual ruling is not included here.

Source: Shu"t Chasam Sofer EH I §55

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