Responsum Letter Handwritten by the Aruch LaNer - And by His Son-in-Law R. Yisrael Meir Freimann Rabbi of Filehne

Responsum Letter Handwritten by the Aruch LaNer - And by His Son-in-Law R. Yisrael Meir Freimann Rabbi of Filehne
Letter (2 pages), containing a query handwritten and signed by R. Yisrael Meir Freimann Rabbi of Filehne (Wieleń), addressed to his father-in-law R. Yaakov Ettlinger, author of Aruch LaNer; with a response (7 lines, unsigned) handwritten by the Aruch LaNer further on the page and on the verso. [Filehne and Altona, ca. 1870].
R. Yisrael Meir Freimann, who prepared the book VeHizhir for print, sent his father-in-law the Aruch LaNer a difficulty regarding the punishment for eating non-slaughtered meat. His father-in-law responded to the letter on the same leaf. This correspondence is mentioned briefly by R. Yisrael Meir in a footnote printed in VeHizhir on Shemot (Leipzig, 1873, p. 4a, footnote 3): "These laws are difficult, and I discussed them with my father-in-law, and please G-d in part II they will be addressed". Ultimately, R. Yisrael Meir did not publish this discussion in part II of his book, and this correspondence was only printed recently based on a manuscript, in the third part of Responsa Binyan Tzion, published by Dvar Yerushalayim (Jerusalem, 2002, section 176).
R. Yaakov Ettlinger (1789-1872), chief rabbi of Altona and the surroundings and rabbi of Altona, was a foremost leader of German Jewry and one of the strongest opponents of the Reform movement. In his youth, he served as lecturer in the yeshiva of his father, R. Aharon Ettlinger in Karlsruhe, and was one of the primary disciples of R. Asher Wallerstein, son of the Shaagat Aryeh and rabbi of the city. He also studied in the Würzburg yeshiva under R. Avraham Bing, and was a colleague of Chacham Yitzchak Bernays of Hamburg and R. Elazar Bergman of Jerusalem.
In ca. 1828, he was appointed dean of the yeshiva and rabbi of the Kloiz in Mannheim, and in 1836, went to serve as rabbi of the Three Communities (Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbeck), where he established a prominent yeshiva. R. Yaakov Ettlinger dedicated his life to disseminating Torah, and leading German rabbis were his disciples, the most renowned ones include: R. Samson Refael Hirsch; R. Azriel Hildesheimer, R. Tzvi Binyamin Auerbach Rabbi of Halberstadt and author of Nachal Eshkol, R. Getsch Schlesinger dayan in Hamburg, R. Eliyahu Munk dayan in Altona and his son R. Yehuda Munk Rabbi of Marburg, R. Zev Yitzchak HaLevi Dunner of Köln author of LiChevod Amudei HaTorah, R. Moshe Weisskopf Rabbi of Paris, and other renowned disciples who glorified German communities in that generation.
He authored the following books: Aruch LaNer on Talmudic tractates, Bikurei Yaakov, Responsa Binyan Tzion, Minchat Ani on the Torah and others. He was the founder and editor of the Orthodox periodical Shomer Tzion HaNe'eman. His books are studied until this day in Torah study halls, and his teachings are quoted extensively in Halachic literature. Already in his generation, he was considered a leading Halachic authority, and Halachic questions were referred to him from Jerusalem and throughout the Jewish world. R. Yosef Shaul Natansohn wrote in several dispensations for Agunot, that he will issue a permission only if the "Gaon from Altona" will concur with him (Shoel UMeshiv, Telitaa, part II, 216; part III, 87). He was the supreme authority amongst German rabbis, and even the great Torah scholar from Würzburg, R. Yitzchak Dov Bamberger, wrote regarding him: "Since then, I would bring any difficulty before one of the leading Torah scholars of the generation, R. M. Kargau and my mechutan R. Yaakov Ettlinger… before them I posed any difficult matter" (Responsa Yad HaLevi, Jerusalem 1988, p. 60). After his passing and that of the Ktav Sofer the same year, Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Deyzh termed them the righteous men of the generation (Maaglei Tzedek, I, Parashat Vaera).
His son-in-law R. Yisrael Meir Freimann (1830-1884), rabbi of Filehne (Wieleń) and Ostrowo (Ostrów Wielkopolski, Posen Province), author of Anfei Yehuda on VeHizhir. He exchanged extensive correspondence with his father-in-law the Aruch LaNer on various topics, some of which was published in Responsa Binyan Tzion, mostly in part III of the new edition of Likutei Teshuvot - Binyan Tzion (Dvar Yerushalayim publication, Jerusalem 2002).
[1] leaf (written on both sides). Approx. 11X14 cm. Thin stationery. Good condition. Creases and light stains.