Between 1769 and 1771 the Frankfurt rabbi Nathan Salomon Maas, clerk to the rabbinate, acted as deputy chief rabbi pending the election. This was an exception to the rule, since the Frankfurt Jewish community otherwise never elected Frankfurt rabbis to the office of chief rabbi, in order to ensure independence and impartiality in internal disputes and legal proceedings. Nathan Salomon Maas had always played a conciliatory role in community disputes, such as the Kulp-Kann disputes and the conflict between the community and rabbi Jakob Josua Falk. In appreciation of his services, he was made lifetime principal of the yeshiva, in 1770.
He also held the position of schools supervisor, responsible for reviewing all teachers of Hebrew within the community. He himself taught in the yeshiva, was a judge in the rabbinical court, and gave sermons and prayers in the synagogue.
Once Pinchas Halevi Isch Horowitz had been elected as the new chief rabbi, Maas again devoted himself to his former activity as a rabbinical judge in Frankfurt, rejecting many invitations from other communities to become their rabbi. He died in Frankfurt in 1794.