Testimony Depositions Identifying Murder Victim to Free Agunah

Date: 1815

From: Rabbi Moshe Sofer

To: Unknown recipient

Description

This teshuvah is a compilation of Hebrew-translated testimony transcripts from three Hungarian batei din (Klein Wardein, Atwa, and Dyura) concerning a Jewish man found murdered near the Tisza River on Shavuos 1813. Three independent sets of testimony converge on identifying the victim as Yosef, son-in-law of R' Shmuel Kushnitzer, through matching physical simanim (two facial moles, distinctive nose, beard coloring), travel details, family connection, and the murderer's own confession. The depositions form the evidentiary foundation for an agunah ruling permitting the widow to remarry.

Source: Shu"t Chasam Sofer EH I §89

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