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Biographical/Historical Information

Akiba Wertheim was born in 1778 in Breslau. His father had been a torah scholar, and in 1805 Akiba followed in his father’s footsteps, and was sent to a Talmud academy. In 1806, he became the rabbi of Moisling and Lübeck. Due to the poverty of the Moisling Jewish community and the expulsion of Jews from Lübeck, Akriba became the rabbi of Altona in 1816. He was a conservative, who discouraged liberalism within his community, which led to the outlawing of the German language Jewish prayer books in Altona. In 1823 he was given the position of chief rabbi of Altona and Schleswig-Holstein, dying in 1835, at age 53.

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Citation

Unknown Artist: Portrait of Akiba Wertheim, Chief Rabbi of Altona, Leo Baeck Institute, 86.55.