R. Naoh Hayyim Zvi Berlin (1734–1802), was born in Fuerth and was the son of R. Abraham Meir Berlin, the communal leader of Franconia. He became a dayyan at Fuerth in 1764 and later served as rabbi in Bayersdorf and Bayreuth. In 1783 R. Berlin was appointed rabbi of Mainz and the surrounding district. His appointment was ratified by the prince elector. He established a yeshivah at Mainz, and lived there until 1799 when he succeeded R. Raphael ha-Kohen as the rabbi of the united communities of Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbeck. R. Berlin showed skill and tact in uniting the various elements in these communities. Wolf Heidenheim was his most outstanding pupil. R. Berlin also wrote Azei Arazim (1790), a commentary on the Shulhan Arukh, Even ha-Ezer; Ma'yan ha-Hokhmah (1804), on the 613 commandments (in verse and with a commentary). This work, unfinished by Berlin, was completed by his brother Aryeh Loeb Berlin. Two further works, Azei Besamim and Azei Levonah, remained unpublished. He wrote glosses to the tractates of Berakhot (1829), Shabbat (1832), and Shevuot. The last was published in the Vilna edition of the Talmud. There is a rational basis to his explanation of the halakhah, and he makes use of the Jerusalem Talmud.