Rabbi Akiva Eiger and the Slavuta Shas Dispute

Rabbi Moshe Shapira established a printing press in Slavuta in 1791. In the 1800s, the Shapira family expended considerable time, effort, and money to publish a beautiful newly typeset edition of Shas. Needing to recoup their investment, the Shapira family sought and received letters from various rabbanim forbidding anyone to publish another printed Shas for a fixed period of time. However, in 1834, the Romm brothers began to publish a competing edition of Shas. They argued that the exclusivity period for the Slavuta Shas had expired. Moreover, the Romm brothers offered to buy any remaining volumes of the Slavuta Shas that were left unsold. The Shapira Family found rabbanim who wrote letters forbidding the purchase and publication of the new Romm Shas, colloquially known as the Vilna Shas.

Rebbe Akiva Eiger was one of the signatories of the original edict forbidding any competition to the Slavuta Shas. (See the University of St. Thomas Law Journal Vol 10, article 3.) However, he ruled that the exclusivity of the Slavuta Shas had expired. The Vilna Shas was therefore able to be published and purchased. Apparently, some suggested that Rebbe Akiva Eiger was too old and feeble to issue a ruling, and the ruling in favor of the Vilna Shas was not his own. Rebbe Akiva Eiger penned a forceful letter in reply.