Letter of Ordination Handwritten and Signed by Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer – Berlin, 1874-1889

Letter of Ordination Handwritten and Signed by Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer – Berlin, 1874-1889
Letter of rabbinic ordination, handwritten, signed and stamped by R. Azriel Hildesheimer – ordination for his disciple R. Natan Ehrenfeld, later chief rabbi of Prague. Berlin, 1874.
At the foot of the letter, R. Azriel added at a later point, in 1889, an additional recommendation in German, in his own handwriting, presumably on the occasion of the appointment of his disciple as chief rabbi of Prague. This addition contains one line in Hebrew: "And he is one of my dearest and most outstanding disciples, whom I pride myself in".
R. Azriel Hildesheimer (1820-1899), rabbi, posek and leader. A foremost rabbi in his times, he stood at the helm of Orthodox Jewry in Germany. He was a close disciple of R. Yaakov Ettlinger – the Aruch LaNer in Altona (who refers to him in Responsa Binyan Tzion as "my son"), and studied under Chacham Bernays (R. Yitzchak Bernays) of Hamburg. In 1848, he founded a yeshiva in Halberstadt, and in 1851, he was appointed rabbi of Eisenstadt, where he also served as yeshiva dean and established a unique educational system. In 1869, he began serving as rabbi of the Adath Israel Orthodox community in Berlin, where he founded a yeshiva. In 1874, he opened the Rabbinical seminary, which edified generations of rabbis, educators and community leaders. Just like his teacher the Aruch LaNer, he was titled "Nesi Eretz Israel". He was renowned for his wide-ranging efforts on behalf of German Jewry, and for his extensive activities on behalf of Russian Jewry. He authored many novellae and halachic responsa, which were published in the books Responsa of R. Azriel (2 volumes), Chiddushei R. Azriel – on the Talmud (3 volumes) and others.
The recipient of the ordination, R. Natan Ehrenfeld (1843-1912), chief rabbi of Prague from 1889. Prior to that, he served as rabbi of Brandenburg, Prenzlau and Gnesen (Gniezno). His son-in-law and successor as rabbi of Prague was R. Chaim Brody.
[1] leaf. 21 cm. Good condition. Folding marks and minor wear.