First Rabbinic Contract of the Aruch LaNer – With His Signature – Ladenburg, 1828

First Rabbinic Contract of the Aruch LaNer – With His Signature – Ladenburg, 1828
"Rabbonus Brief", a handwritten rabbinic contract of the Aruch LaNer, for his first rabbinic position in the district of Ladenburg, signed by leaders of the Jewish community and by the Aruch LaNer. [Ladenburg district, Germany], Elul 1828.
A contract of 16 clauses, with opening and concluding passages. Calligraphic and cursive scripts. The contract is signed by several leaders of the Jewish community of the Ladenburg district, as well as by the newly appointed rabbi, the Aruch LaNer: " Yukev son of R. Aharon Ettlingen, rabbi of the Ladenburg district".
The contract is bound in a paper cover, inscribed: "Rabbonus Brief [rabbinic contract] – 1828".
R. Yaakov Yukev Ettlinger (1798-1871), chief rabbi of Altona and the surroundings, 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 (Ettlingen) 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 1828, he was appointed as district rabbi of Ladenburg and settled in nearby Mannheim, where he was appointed dean of the yeshiva and rabbi of the Kloiz (at that time, R. Samson Refael Hirsch of Hamburg was his disciple). This document attests to R. Ettlinger's appointment as rabbi of the Ladenburg district.
In 1836, he 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 Dünner 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 of Altona" will concur with him (Shoel UMeshiv, Telitaa, II, 216; 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).
[4] leaves (including cover). 33 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor tears. Folding marks.