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He studied under his grandfather R. Samuel Helman of Metz (who was also the teacher of his distant relative R. Benjamin, son of Saul Katzenellenbogen of Samter and Krotoschin). On qualifying as a rabbi, his first invitation to the rabinnate was from Frankfurt-on-Oder. In 1793, inhis letter of acceptance to the leaders of the congregation, he wrote: To the honorable leaders of the generations and chiefs of the congregation, the Lord hath drawn me close to you and it will be a joy in yourmidst. Behold, I am prepared to carry out my sacred job whensoever you may desire. May the Almighty grant me wisdom and understanding in the management of my holy flock, as my fathers and forefathers before me. Moreover, that I shall remain with you for six years and not accepta position elsewhere. The following year, 1794, Naftali became their rabbi. In 1800 he became A.B.D. Wintzenheim, Alsace, at the same time serving as president ofthe consistory of the Upper Rhine. He had a reputation of being an excellent preacher. In 1806, Emperor Napolean convened the first Jewish Sanhedrin in almost two thousand years, in Paris. It consisted of seventy-one members, two-thirds rabbis and one third laymen, with Rabbi David Sinzheim of Strasbourg as President. R. Naftali was one of those rabbis invited, andon that occasion was called Hirsch Lazare (i.e. Hirsch son of (Eliezer) Lazarus). His published work was Sha'ar Naftali, published Frankfurt-on-Oder 1797. The title page lists his genealogy back some eight generations to the MaHaRaM of Padua. He also wrote Sha'arei Binah, several commentaries, as well as his sermons and ritual decisions which are in manuscript extant in the Strasbourg Library.
Bernd
Michaelis-Hauswaldt
