Bidspirit auction | Rare. Beit Din deed, exceptionally

Rare. Beit Din deed, exceptionally written entirely in the holy hand and signed by the author of Aruch LaNer. Altona, 1864. - Manuscript beit din document concerning authorization and agency for the delivery of a bill of divorce (get). Entirely written—approximately 300 words—in the characteristic autograph hand and signed by the gaon Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger, renowned author of Aruch LaNer. The present deed is unusually long and highly detailed, as it concerns one of the gravest matters in Jewish law: permitting a married woman through the delivery of a divorce in the husband’s absence. Such cases often gave rise to some of the most complex halachic complications. Accordingly, the document is drafted with exceptional precision, addressing every detail, including annulment of prior declarations and all possible legal contingencies, so as to preclude any future challenge or claim. This likely explains why the author of Aruch LaNer personally wrote the entire instrument in his own fluent and distinctive hand. Beyond its documentary importance, much Torah law and halachic formulation may be studied from the language of the deed itself. The document bears the signatures of two witnesses, as well as the three dayanim of the city of Altona: Rabbi Yechezkel Joelson Rabbi Jacob Katz Headed by the famed Av Beit Din, Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger [1] folded paper bifolium. 21 x 34 cm. Condition: Good. Minor age stains. Fold marks. Tiny tears, professionally restored. Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger (1798–1871), rabbi of Altona, was among the foremost leaders of Orthodox Jewry and one of the highest halachic authorities among the rabbis of Ashkenaz in the nineteenth century. Already in his own lifetime he was regarded as one of the leading decisors, and halachic inquiries were addressed to him from throughout the Jewish world. Among the leading rabbis of Germany who studied under him were: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer Rabbi Zvi Benjamin Auerbach In addition to his great scholarship, he was renowned for personal piety. Testimony from contemporaries relates that he practiced self-denial and fasting. He also studied Kabbalah privately, yet despite his discretion became known as a master of Sefer HaZohar. In his will, he requested that he not be styled “tzaddik” after his passing, and that only the names of his books and the years of his rabbinate in Altona be engraved upon his gravestone. Rabbi Ettlinger authored the monumental series Aruch LaNer on the Babylonian Talmud, works that became enduring classics in the great yeshivot. He passed away on the first night of Chanukah, and Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld remarked that the number of volumes of Aruch LaNer was eight, corresponding to the eight days of Chanukah. Thus, the title Aruch LaNer (“Prepared for the Lamp”) seemed to allude to his passing on the lights of Chanukah. The second signer, Rabbi Yechezkel Joelson (1789–1885), was a disciple of Rabbi Akiva Eiger and among the scholars of the Klaus in Altona. He served as dayan and later as deputy head of the rabbinical court. The third signer, Rabbi Jacob Katz (1808–1906), was a disciple of Rabbi Moses Sofer and among the scholars of the Klaus in Altona. He served as dayan and preacher in Altona for more than fifty years.