Jacob Ettlinger
| Jacob Ettlinger | |
|---|---|
Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger
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| Born |
17 March 1798 Karlsruhe, Baden |
| Died | 7 December 1871 (aged 73) Altona, Prussia |
| Nationality | German |
Jacob Ettlinger (17 March 1798 – 7 December 1871) (Hebrew: יעקב עטלינגר) was a German rabbi and author, and one of the leaders of Orthodox Judaism. He is sometimes referred to as the Aruch la-Ner (ערוך לנר) because of his noteworthy publication by that same name.
He was born at Karlsruhe, Baden, and died at Altona, Prussia. He received his early education from his father Aaron, who was Klausrabbiner (Rabbi of a small synagogue) in Karlsruhe, continuing his studies under Abraham Bing at Würzburg, where he also attended the university. He was thus among the earliest German rabbis who possessed academic training. In 1826 he was appointed Kreisrabbiner (district rabbi) of Ladenburg, with his seat in Mannheim, where he was at the same time chief prebendary (Klausprimator). This position he held until he succeeded Akiba Israel Wertheimer as Chief Rabbi to Altona, where he officiated from 1836 until his death. His ambit as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi comprised Holstein and Schleswig and until 1864 also Denmark. In this position he became one of the most prominent representatives of German Orthodoxy, which stood for investigation of all aspects of secular learning through the lens of Torah (Written and oral traditions), and accepting those aspects deemed true.
A typical story is reported by Abraham Geiger, who formed Ettlinger's acquaintance as a student in 1829. At a school examination a teacher said that Joseph's brothers had acted in an unbrotherly fashion, whereupon Ettlinger rebuked him indignantly for speaking ill of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. His views can be judged from his first work, Bikkurei Yaakov, in the preface of which he says that he chose this title because it had the numerical value of Jacob and Rachel, who are mystically represented in the law of the Sukkah, with which the book deals. A similar belief in the doctrines of the Kabbalah is expressed in a sermon in which he urged early burial, because as long as the body remains unburied evil spirits have power over it. In his will he left the request that the four capital punishments (stoning, burning, decapitation and asphyxiation) should be performed symbolically on his body.
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