"Between Sephard and Ashkenaz"
A letter in the handwriting of the esteemed Rabbi Yitzchak Zekel Halevi Bamberger, Chief Rabbi of Bad Kissingen, written on behalf of his father, Rabbi Simcha of Aschaffenburg, addressed to the esteemed Rabbi Yitzchak Raphael Ashkenazi, Chief Rabbi of Ancona.
The letter is from Rabbi Zekel Yitzchak Halevi Bamberger, Chief Rabbi of Bad Kissingen, written on behalf of his father, Rabbi Simcha, Chief Rabbi of Aschaffenburg, to Rabbi Yitzchak Raphael Ashkenazi, Chief Rabbi of Ancona, dated Aschaffenburg, 1887.
“I am honored to send to your esteemed hand the sefer Lekach Tov on Ruth, which, with God’s help, I was privileged to publish. I hope it will find favor in your eyes, and that you will kindly request more copies of the sefer to sell. I hope to receive your esteemed reply with your good wishes… on the instruction of my honored father, the esteemed rabbi, may he be well, who respects and honors you.”
The letter is written in block script so that Rabbi Ashkenazi, a Sephardic rabbi, could read it (rather than in connected Ashkenazi cursive, which was unfamiliar to Sephardic scholars).
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The esteemed Rabbi Zekel Yitzchak Halevi Bamberger, Chief Rabbi of Bad Kissingen and the surrounding region (d. 1934), was the son of Rabbi Simcha Bamberger, Chief Rabbi of Aschaffenburg, and the grandson of the esteemed Rabbi Yitzchak Dov (Seligman Baer) Bamberger, Chief Rabbi of Würzburg. In his youth, he published the novellae of the esteemed Rabbi Avraham Bing, titled Zikaron Avraham, along with insightful annotations. He also published his father’s sefer, Zikaron Simcha. After the passing of his father-in-law and uncle, Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Leib Bamberger, Chief Rabbi of Bad Kissingen (son-in-law of the author of Arukh LaNer), he succeeded him in the rabbinate of Bad Kissingen, where he served until his passing in 1934.
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The esteemed Rabbi Yitzchak Raphael Ashkenazi (1826-1908), the revered Chief Rabbi of the prominent city of Ancona, was one of the famous Italian scholars of his generation. He was known for his profound knowledge, and several commentaries on Talmudic tractates from earlier scholars were preserved in his extensive collection. His sefer Toldot Bnei Yisrael is well known.
Very good condition, with a minor tear at the edge, not affecting the text.
