Interesting Letters from the Time of Rabbi Refael HaKohen of Hamburg's Resignation from the Three Communities ...

Interesting Letters from the Time of Rabbi Refael HaKohen of Hamburg's Resignation from the Three Communities Rabbinate - Nissan-Elul 1799

Five letters pertaining to communal matters in the Three Communities (Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek) and the surrounding towns, at the time of the resignation of their chief rabbi - R. Refael HaKohen of Hamburg.
• Letter signed by 14 leaders of the Three Communities, regarding the appointment of the dayan R. Elazar Lazi Berlin as temporary chief rabbi beginning Tammuz 1799, until the appointment of a permanent chief rabbi. [Hamburg?], Sivan 1799.
• Document recording the terms of R. Elazar Lazi Berlin's temporary appointment. [Hamburg?], 27th Sivan 1799.
• Lengthy letter handwritten by R. Elazar Lazi Berlin (unsigned), written on behalf of the rabbis of the Altona community to the leaders of the Friedrichstadt community - protest against people who disregarded the community regulations. Altona, Elul 1799.
• Two letters addressed to R. Refael HaKohen, regarding the reinforcement of the community regulations in Rendsburg (a town under the jurisdiction of the rabbinate of the Three Communities). Nissan-Iyar 1799. Yiddish and Hebrew.
R. Refael HaKohen of Hamburg (1722-1803), leading Torah scholar in the times of the Noda BiYehuda, the Shaagat Aryeh and the Gaon of Vilna. Served as rabbi of Posen, and later of the Three Communities (Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek). See below regarding his resignation from the rabbinate.
5 leaves. Size and condition vary. Open tears affecting text to some leaves.

R. Refael HaKohen's Resignation from the Rabbinate of the Three Communities
On 19th Adar II 1799, R. Refael convened an urgent meeting with the heads of the Three Communities, in which he announced his decision to resign from his position as chief rabbi of the Three Communities on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz (a position he will have held for 23 years), and expressed his desire to thereafter not be involved in any communal matter. R. Refael would remain in the city as a private person studying Torah and worshipping G-d, with no communal involvement or responsibilities. The protocol of this meeting recorded in the Pinkas of the Hamburg community documents R. Refael's announcement of his resignation for "various confidential reasons", and his refusal to reconsider despite the insistent pleading of the community leaders.
Some explain that R. Refael's resignation stemmed from his great concern of transgressing the prohibition of forbidden speech, which his rabbinical position could entail. R. Refael studied the topic of guarding one's speech extensively, and his book Marpeh Lashon was one of the first books to raise awareness of the mitzvah of guarding one's tongue and the laws of forbidden speech.
Upon the initiative of R. Refael, R. Elazar Lazi Berlin (see items 291, 293) was then appointed head of the Beit Din of the Three Communities, and as R. Refael's temporary successor as chief rabbi of the Three Communities. R. Refael's resignation caused much turmoil in the Three Communities and the surroundings, and the authority of the communal regulations was undermined. As seen in the present documents, R. Elazar Lazi endeavored to strengthen them and ensure their enforcement.