Bidspirit auction | A Teshuvah LeHalachah from the

A Teshuvah LeHalachah from the Gaon, the Aruch LaNer — Altona, 1865 An halachic responsum from the famed gaon R’ Yaakov Ettlinger, Baal Aruch LaNer, regarding dinei taharah, addressed to the gaon R’ Yitzchok Dov Bamberger, the Würzburger Rav. Written in Altona, 20 Elul 1865. The body of the letter is in a sofer’s hand (likely a family member), with additions and hagahos in the ksav yad kodsho of the Aruch LaNer, and bearing his signature! This very teshuvah was later printed in his sefer Binyan Tzion (siman 73). R’ Yaakov Ettlinger (1798–1871), born in Karlsruhe, served as Rav and Av Beis Din of the great city of Altona, where he authored and printed his seforim. He stood at the forefront of the struggle against the maskilim and the early reformers, and was recognized as one of the leading gedolei Ashkenaz of his generation. His sefer Aruch LaNer on several masechtos earned enduring acclaim far beyond the borders of Germany. The gaon R’ Yosef Shaul Nathanson of Lemberg, Baal Shoel U’Meishiv, even wrote him a letter of ha’aros on his seforim, addressing him with the titles “tzaddik niskav” and “ish Elokim kadosh” (printed in Shoel U’Meishiv, Tinyana IV:169).