Unique letter!
Fascinating and lengthy letter with a question spread across two large pages. Sent from the rabbis of the London beit din to the renowned gaon Rabbi Shlomo Eiger, son and successor of the rabbinic leader of the generation, Rabbeinu Akiva Eiger. The letter deals with permission for a man to marry a woman who was born out of wedlock. London, Adar I, 1843.
Signed on the letter: Rabbi Azrieli son of the late Rabbi David HaLevi, Rabbi Aharon b”r Yehuda Leib of Lissa, and Rabbi Aryeh Yehuda Leib son of Rabbi Yissachar Ber ztz”l of Krotchin. These three are signed on various rulings by the beit din 1834-1855.
The letter concludes with a 4-line addition handwritten and signed by the son of the addressee, the gaon Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Eiger, who was in London at the time.
To the best of our checking, this letter is the only historic evidence of this descendant of Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s. (In contrast to his famous brother – the ‘rebel’ who became a Chassid, the Admo”r R’ Leibeleh Eiger.) We have not found any mention of this descendant in rabbinic historiography, and letters from him have never been offered at auction.
The rabbinic Eiger family and the community in London maintained a Torah correspondence over many years, beginning with Rabbi Akiva, who sent responsa to the community’s questions, and through his son, Rabbi Shlomo, to whom this letter is addressed, and concluding with this as-yet-unknown grandson, the gaon Rabbi Naftali Eiger, who apparently lived in London himself, according to this letter.
[1] leaf paper, [2] written pages. 27.5×21.5 cm.
Moderate-fine condition. Light tears in the margins with blemish to the text. Fold marks. The envelope leaf is included.