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An interesting familial letter, handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov Yukev Ettlinger, author of Aruch LaNer, to his father-in-law, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law through his first wife. Below is another letter by his eldest daughter "Rella Ettlinger". Altona, 12th Av 1843. Yiddish. The letter opens with family matters, and is followed by the Aruch LaNer's expressions of sorrow over a recent Pale of Settlement edict decreed by Tsar Nicholas. This decree called for the expulsion of all Jews residing in the strip of fifty versts (a Russian unit of length, equal to approximately 1.1 km) along the Prussian and Austrian border, to the inner regions. The Aruch LaNer writes that since the time of the Spanish expulsion, an edict of such a large scope had never been decreed. The Tsar's edict would uproot the lives of over 100,000 Jewish families living in the areas included in his order. The decree would obliterate large communities such as Kalisz (in the end, the decree was not executed due to technical difficulties). R. Ettlinger recounts that in his Shabbat sermon in the synagogue, he spoke at length about the decree and roused the hearts of the Jewish people to pray that the calamity about to befall their brethren should be averted. He adds that in his opinion, this decree is retribution for the canceling of a prayer (part of the Tachanun prayer) calling upon G-d to retract his wrath and withdraw the evil which befalls his nation. The Reform cancelled this plea, claiming that the Jewish people no longer live in exile (this was one of the first amendments to the prayer texts which the reformers initiated. See: HaYeshiva HaRama BeFiurda, Part II, p. 361, section 19). Further in the letter, the Aruch LaNer writes about the Reform. He relates that he received a printed circular letter signed by leading Frankfurt Torah scholars - R. Ber Adler and R. Aharon Fuld, in the name of R. Zalman Trier, rabbi of Frankfurt, with a request to express his opinion on the society of the "wicked of Frankfurt who wish to eradicate religion and breach the covenant". He expresses pain over the necessity to write about such things, a situation which had not occurred since the time "of idol worshipers in the First Temple era". (The Aruch LaNer's response to the Frankfurt rabbis from 24th Av 1843 was published by R. Zalman Trier together with replies from other rabbis, in a German composition titled Rabbinische Gutachten über die Beschneidung, opposing the abolishment of circumcision, Frankfurt am Main, 1844, see: Kedem Auction 57, item 341). The Aruch LaNer signs his letter: "Your faithful son-in-law and brother-in-law, Yukev son of R. Aharon Ettlinger". The letter of the Aruch LaNer is followed by a letter from his daughter, Rella. She ends her letter with a request to send regards to all her uncles and aunts, and mentions her aunts Regina and Hannchen. R. Yaakov Yukev Ettlinger (1789-1872), Chief Rabbi of Altona and the region, was a foremost leader of German Jewry and a fierce opponent of the Reform movement. In his youth, he taught in the yeshiva of his father, R. Aharon Ettlinger, in Karlsruhe, and was a primary disciple of R. Asher Wallerstein, rabbi of Karlsruhe, son of the Shaagat Aryeh. He also studied in the Würzburg yeshiva headed by R. Avraham Bing and was a colleague of Chacham Yitzchak Bernays of Hamburg and of R. Elazar Bergman of Jerusalem. Around 1828, he was appointed yeshiva dean and rabbi of the Mannheim Kloiz, and in 1836, began his tenure as rabbi of the Three Communities (Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek), where he established a prominent yeshiva. R. Yaakov Ettlinger dedicated his life to disseminating Torah and his disciples included leading German rabbis. Among them are R. Samson Refael Hirsch; R. Azriel Hildesheimer; R. Tzvi Binyamin Auerbach, Rabbi of Halberstadt and author of Nachal Eshkol; R. Getsch Schlesinger, dayan in Hamburg; R. Eliyahu Munk, dayan in Altona, and his son R. Yehuda Munk, Rabbi of Marburg; R. Ze'ev Yitzchak HaLe