A ‘Ma’aseh Beit Din’ concerning the woman Sarah, daughter of the late Rabbi Yirmiyahu, and the widow of the late Rabbi Gershon, in the presence of the notable Yitzchak Worms, guardian of his brother’s orphans, with the approval of the authorities, may they be blessed.
Amsterdam, 21st of Menachem Av, 1724.
The entire *Ma’aseh Beit Din* is written in the holy handwriting of the esteemed Gaon, Rabbi Avraham Berlin, Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam.
The first signature is from the Chief Rabbi, "Hakatan, Avraham, son of the late Rabbi Yehuda, of blessed memory, chief of the Ashkenazi community, may it endure."
The next signature is from Rabbi Shmuel, son of Koppel.
After him signs the Dayan "Hakatan, Yosef, son of Rabbi Shimon Akiva Baer, of blessed memory."
Their signatures are extremely rare!
Rabbi Avraham ben Yehuda Berlin (born between 1672-1675 – died in 1730), was a prominent Gaon and served as the Chief Rabbi of Halberstadt and Amsterdam.
He was born between 1672-1675 to his father, the notable Rabbi Yehuda, a pillar of the Berlin community at that time, extremely wealthy and close to the monarchy. He was the brother of Rabbi Yitzchak Binyamin Wolf, author of *Nachalat Binyamin*. His mother was the Rebbetzin Malka, daughter of the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Halevi, Chief Rabbi of Hildesheim, and son-in-law of the Gaon Rabbi Meshulam Ashkenazi, Chief Rabbi of Lvov. In his second marriage, his father Rabbi Yehuda Berlin married the important court agent Estherle from the Shulhof family, who herself was a major jewelry supplier to the monarchy.
In his youth, Rabbi Avraham studied at the esteemed yeshiva of the Gaon Rabbi Yeshaya Sheftel Horowitz (author of ”Vavei HaAmmudim”) in Poznań, where he became well-known. Around 1692, he assumed the rabbinate of Halberstadt, where he served until 1717, when he was called to fill the position of the ”Chacham Tzvi” in Amsterdam. He held this position until his death on the 24th of Adar, 1730.
This is the inscription on his tombstone:
"And Avraham passed through the land and pitched his tent at Bethel. Here lies the great Gaon, Chief Rabbi and Head of the Academy, may his light shine, a sharp scholar and a pillar of wisdom, the pious and humble one, crown of our heads, descendant of the holy ones, who ruled his community with patience and led his congregation with humility. A master of hidden mysteries with a strong hand, he raised his family. This is the Rabbi Avraham, son of the late Rabbi Yehuda of Berlin, of blessed memory, who passed away on the night of Monday and was buried the next day, 26th of Adar, in the year ‘I will walk before the Lord in the lands of the living, ‘ according to the small count."
In the sefer of Eliezer Carmoly (”Toldot Gedolei Yisrael”, Metz, 1828, p. 47), his death is described: "And all his congregation wept for him, as did the Sephardic community, and they honored him greatly in his death. Rabbi David Israel Attias and Rabbi Yitzchak Chaim Ben Danah Di Briso eulogized him, saying, ‘Oh, teacher, oh, glory, ‘ as did the other rabbis of the city—Rabbi Shmuel ben Koppel, Rabbi Yosef ben Shimon Akiva, Rabbi Moshe Frankfurter, and Rabbi Yitzchak Zamosht—who eulogized him daily until the Passover holiday, for he was a wise man and a man of words who led his congregation with integrity and honesty more than any rabbi before him. From the day of his arrival until the day of his death, he preached twice a week, on Sunday and Wednesday, and conveyed to his people words of rebuke and guidance to follow the path of life every day."
Rabbi Shmuel, son of Rabbi Koppel, was one of the rabbis and Dayanim of Amsterdam and delivered a eulogy after the death of Rabbi Avraham Berlin.
Rabbi Yosef, son of Rabbi Shimon Akiva Baer, served as Chief Rabbi in several communities and later as one of the rabbis and Dayanim of Amsterdam. He, too, delivered a eulogy after the death of Rabbi Avraham Berlin.
He authored a sefer to reconcile the criticisms of the *Sema* on the *Levush*, mentioned by the *Chida* in *Shem HaGedolim* under the entry "Yosef, " and in *Maarechet Sefarim* under the entry "Levush."
After the death of the Gaon Rabbi Avraham Berlin, the leaders of the community could not reach an agreement on the appointment of a new rabbi for their distinguished congregation. Therefore, they decided that in the meantime, the rabbinate would be jointly held by the Gaon Rabbi Moshe, son of the Gaon Rabbi Shimon Frankfurter, and the Gaon Rabbi Yosef, son of the Gaon Rabbi Akiva Baer, until the position was eventually filled by the Holy Gaon Rabbi Elazar Rokach, author of ”Maaseh Rokach”.
For more about him, see M. Binyahu, "The Transfer of the Hebrew Printing Center from Venice, " ”Studies on the History of Dutch Jewry”, Vol. 1 (1975), p. 66. He is signed on many endorsements for seforim as one of the Dayanim of the Ashkenazi community in Amsterdam. See, for example, the *Mishnayot*, Amsterdam 1716, printed by Aharon di Shlomo Antonin, and the sefer ”Chafetz Hashem” by the Holy Or HaChaim, printed there in 1732.
Rabbi Yosef was also a printer, printing various seforim in his press in Amsterdam from 1717 to 1752.
23.8 X 18.5 Cm.
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Lot #216