The struggle for the observance of the Brit Milah- letters from the Gdoley Ashkenaz to strengthen the observance of ...

The struggle for the observance of the Brit Milah- letters from the Gdoley Ashkenaz to strengthen the observance of circumcision against the reformist tendencies - Frankfurt am Main, 1844

"Rabbinische Gutachten über die Beschneidung" - [Rabbinical opinion on circumcision] Letters from Gdoley Ashkenaz in the war against the reformist trends that sought to abolish the mitzva of Brit Milah, by Rabbi Shlomo Zalman ben Avraham Trier. Frankfurt am Main, 1844, following the 'Frankfurt Scandal'. German and Hebrew.

An important publication that was published in the midst of the war of Gdoley Ashkenaz on the observance circumcision, against the trends of the Reformers who called for its abolition and replacement in another ceremony. As part of the struggle, the rabbi of Frankfurt, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Trier (1758-1847), who was at the forefront of the fighters in the renewed trend, compiled the letters of all the greats of the generation [a total of 28 letters], including their clear and decisive opinion on the matter. Among them: Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch when he was still rabbi in Amdan, Rabbi Yaakov Ettlinger of the "Aruch Lenner", Rabbi Yaakov Zvi of fro klenburg the "Ketav VeHaKabbala", Rabbi Yitzchak Dov Halevi Bamberger of Würzburg, and dozens of other rabbis. He also added the opinions of well-known scholars such as: R. Yom Tov Lipman Zunz from Berlin, Yitzhak Noah Manheimer from Vienna, and Shmuel David Luzzatto (Shada"l) from Padua.

In 1843, an article by the "Yedidey HaReforma" was published in a daily newspaper in Frankfurt in which they preached the complete abolition of the commandment of circumcision.

One of the Reform teachers in Frankfurt, Joseph Yahelzon (1777-1851), even wrote a pamphlet in which he suggested that every Jewish institution replace the commandment of circumcision with a different ceremony. The "Yedidey HaReforma" stated that the commandment of "circumcision" was the cause of infant mortality at that time.  A local Jewish banker left his son uncircumcised and even persuaded the community committee to ignore the restriction which was customary throughout Europe - to register in the community register only a Jewish child who was circumcised as a religion. Seeing the dangerous trend, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Trier went out with the geniuses of Frankfurt, Rabbi Issachar Ber Adler, and Rabbi Aharon Fuld, owner of Beit Aharon, to fight the Holy War, both in appealing to the community committee to return from the new reliefs, and in the essay before us in which he most clearly expressed the opinion of all the greats of the generation in the matter.

On the title page is the caption: "Als manuskript gedruckt" [printed as handwriting]. According to the great scholar BS Hamburger (HaYeshiva Harama in Fjorda, Part C, p. 521), the book was defined as a manuscript, in order to strengthen its authority. He writes that the book was printed in a very limited number of copies and delivered privately to influential individuals, and was never offered for sale in bookstores. Hamburger also writes that "this book is one of the rarest today."

On the inner cover, the owner's stamp of Rabbi Dr. E. Munk

XXIV 240 pages, 19.5 cm. Front cover detached. The outside of the spine is missing. Stains. moderate-good condition.