The Ashkenazi Jewish community in England was founded in 1690. Most of its members were poor, but leadership rested in the hands of a small group of wealthy and influential figures who financed the community and its institutions.
At the center stood a powerful and forceful man named Rabbi Abraham, often known simply as Reb Aberle. Though he had a rabbinic background, he was also a businessman, and he governed the community with a firm, often heavy-handed authority.
Opposing him was Mordecai Hamburger, a wealthy Jew who competed with Reb Aberle not only in business, but also for the hand of Freudchen, daughter of Glückel of Hameln, author of the famous memoir. In the end, Hamburger succeeded in marrying her, much to Reb Aberle’s displeasure.
In 1705, a new rabbi was appointed to lead the Ashkenazi community: Rabbi Aaron Hart (also known as Uri Phoebus or Feivel). Raised in Breslau and born into a distinguished rabbinic family, he immigrated to England with his brother and was appointed chief rabbi with Reb Aberle’s backing. Despite the importance of his position, however, he remained dependent on the community’s leadership, and Reb Aberle saw him as a convenient instrument for advancing his own interests.
On August 27, 1706, Rabbi Hart presided over a secret divorce proceeding, preparing a get, a Jewish decree of divorce, for a man named Asher Anshel Cohen. A chronic gambler, Asher had lost large sums of money at cards. Unable to repay his debts, he decided to flee to the Caribbean before the authorities could apprehend him. Fearing that his wife would be left stranded as an agunah (a Jewish woman denied a divorce and barred from marrying another man) if he did not return, he asked Rabbi Hart to prepare a “conditional get.” It was agreed that if he failed to return to London by a certain date, the get would take effect; until then, he would still be considered married. The document was drawn up in secrecy.
Despite these efforts, news of the divorce soon reached Mordecai Hamburger, who did not consider Rabbi Hart fit to serve as chief rabbi.
He questioned Hart’s halakhic competence, arguing that drafting such a get was a complex process that typically required multiple carefully revised drafts. The secrecy surrounding the case was also problematic from a halakhic perspective. If someone was getting a divorce, the community needed to know about it. Angered by this criticism, Rabbi Hart summoned Hamburger to a rabbinical court in order to resolve the dispute. Hamburger did not appear. Hart responded with a warning: unless Hamburger retracted his claims, he would impose the herem of Rabbeinu Tam (a herem is essentially a rabbinic ban of excommunication).
Rabbeinu Tam, Rabbi Jacob ben Meir, was one of the leading Tosafists of the 12th century and a grandson of Rashi. He had ruled that anyone who cast doubt on the validity of a properly issued get would face severe consequences.
Hamburger, in turn, sought the assistance of Rabbi Johanan Holleschau, who served as the rabbinic authority for his family. Holleschau gathered testimony from witnesses present at the writing of the get, summarized the events, and sent the material to Hamburger’s brother in Hamburg, asking him to present the case before leading rabbinic authorities across Europe.
Meanwhile, Hamburger’s opposition reached the ears of Reb Aberle, Rabbi Hart’s patron. He quickly turned his anger toward his rival and instructed Hart to proceed with the herem.
Mordecai Hamburger could hardly believe what he had gotten himself into.
The punishment of the herem proved harsher than expected: all Jews in London were forbidden from coming into contact with Rabbi Mordecai Hamburger. Even the poor, who had once frequented his home to receive alms, were now forced to stay away.
The High Holidays were approaching, yet Hamburger was barred from attending synagogue. During the festival of Sukkot, he was even prevented from making use of the community’s only etrog fruit, an essential part of the holiday’s rituals. Hamburger’s daughter was born during this time, and yet when his wife rushed to the synagogue so that the baby’s name could be announced to the community, as was customary, she was turned away in tears. Realizing the severity of his situation, Mordecai Hamburger publicly recanted his statements and even offered to pay a fine of 500 pounds. But Reb Aberle refused to relent and would not allow Rabbi Hart to accept the apology.
Meanwhile, news of the affair reached leading rabbis across Europe, who sent their responsa to London. For a variety of reasons, they all sided with Mordecai Hamburger, and some argued emphatically that it had been improper to invoke the herem of Rabbeinu Tam in this case.
These carefully reasoned arguments strengthened Hamburger and his supporters. The responsa were collected and published in the book Ma‘aseh Rav (“The Act of a Rabbi”), printed in Amsterdam, a title that subtly mocked Rabbi Aaron Hart.
But Rabbi Hart did not yield. In the month of Heshvan 5467 (autumn 1706), he published his own response in what would become the first Hebrew book printed by the members of the Jewish community in England. He titled it Urim Ve-Tumim, and in it he addressed the arguments of the rabbis who had supported Hamburger. His central claim was that they had not heard both sides of the dispute, and that a conditional get, such as the one he had written for Asher Anshel, was fully valid, no different from any standard get.
In the end, the Ashkenazi community in England fractured into opposing camps: some supported Mordecai Hamburger and Rabbi Johanan Holleschau, while others stood with Reb Aberle and Rabbi Aaron Hart.
The dispute led to a full communal schism.
Mordecai Hamburger established a new congregation of his own, appointing Rabbi Holleschau as its leader. At the time, such a split was considered a grave step, but Hamburger had little left to lose. The new community became known as the “Hambro” congregation, named after him, and it remained active in London for well over two centuries until 1936, when it merged with the broader community.
