Bidspirit auction | Two Giants of Ashkenaz –

Two Giants of Ashkenaz – An Autograph Letter of the Aruch LaNer to His Mechutan, the “Würzburger Rav” - A distinguished and handsome letter (approx. 200 words), written entirely in the holy autograph and bearing the full signature of the eminent Gaon Jacob Ettlinger, one of the most renowned Torah authorities of all generations. The letter is addressed to “the venerable Rabbi of Würzburg, ” the illustrious Gaon Isaac Dov Bamberger, among the foremost rabbinic leaders of German Jewry in his time. Altona, 29 Tishrei 5629 (1868). In 1867, approximately one year prior to the date of this letter, the two towering sages of the generation were joined in familial bonds: the son of the Würzburg Rav, Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Bamberger, Rabbi of Bad Kissingen, married the daughter of the author of Aruch LaNer. Indeed, in the present letter, the author of Aruch LaNer already addresses Rabbi Isaac Dov Bamberger by the title “my esteemed mechutan” (relative by marriage). Sent during the season of mercy and supplication – in the days of Selichot and the festivals of Tishrei – the two halachic luminaries exchange warm blessings of love and fraternity. Alongside heartfelt expressions of goodwill, the letter also addresses substantive halachic matters requiring the considered ruling of two of the greatest decisors of the age. [1] Single sheet of paper, 15 × 22 cm. Very fine condition. Laminated. Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger (1798–1871), Chief Rabbi of Altona, was among the supreme rabbinic authorities of German Jewry. Halachic inquiries were directed to him from across the Jewish world, and his monumental series Aruch LaNer on the Talmud became a cornerstone of Torah scholarship. Among his students were many of the leading figures of German Jewry in the subsequent generation. His mechutan, Rabbi Isaac Dov Bamberger (1807–1878), stood at the head of the rabbinate in Germany and authored important works in halachah and Jewish thought, including Melechet Shamayim, Amirah LeBeit Yaakov, Moreh LaZovchim, and Nachlei Devash. His legacy endures as one of the foremost rabbinic leaders of nineteenth-century Germany. A rare and moving document, uniting upon a single page two pillars of Ashkenazic Jewry – bound in Torah, leadership, and family.