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| Rabbi Emden's transcription of a letter he received from Moses Mendelssohn (Hitavkut p. 162) |
INTRODUCTION:
Rabbi Yaakov Emden (1697-1776) is considered to be one of the leading and most authoritative rabbinical figures of the 18th century. What many people don’t realize is that the Ya’avetz[1], as he is also known, was also a most radical and controversial personality with views that would shock even the most open of religious thinkers today.
Rabbi Emden was born in Altona, a borough of the German city
state of Hamburg, which at that time was under Danish rule. It is important to
remember that he vigorously defended Orthodox Judaism - which had been dealt a
harsh blow by the false Messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi who had died just 21 years earlier.
The Sabbatian movement continued to
thrive for a very long time even after their leader’s conversion to Islam and
subsequent death. Its influence remained a threatening menace to the rabbinical
leadership, which was constantly challenged by very active but secret messianic
cells embedded within the Jewish community at that time.
THE GREAT CONTROVERSY:
Rabbi Emden became extremely unpopular when he accused his
colleague, Rabbi Yonason Eybeschutz of Prague, another towering rabbinical
figure, of being a secret follower of the false Messiah. He was extremely
suspicious of Rabbi Eybeschutz, who had some mystical amulets which appeared to
tie him to the secret group. The two leaders had huge followings, and soon violence
erupted in the streets to the extent that the authorities had to intervene.
The
situation was so much more complicated because Rabbi Eybeschutz also happened
to be the Chief Rabbi[2]
with close connections to the Danish King Frederick V. Rabbi Emden, in turn,
put pressure on the king to question the Chief Rabbi about alleged voting
irregularities relating to his election to this high office.
The controversy turned more ugly when Rabbi Eybeschutz
refused to appear before a Beit Din and instead chose to go to the Gentile
courts. To make matters worse, he appointed a former pupil, Karl Anton (previously
known as Gershon Moshe Cohen) who had converted to Christianity, to represent
him.
(Incidentally, Rabbi Eybeschutz, who was one of only seven
rabbis to have acquired the illustrious title of ‘Rebbe Reb’[3],
had a son, Wolf who openly declared himself to be a follower of Shabbetai Tzvi.
As a result of this devastating blow Rabbi Eybeschutz’s yeshiva was closed
down, never to open again.)
Rabbi Emden went so far as to accuse Rabbi Eybeschutz of incest
and fathering a child with his own daughter.[4]
Notwithstanding all these allegations, the majority of the Jewish community
stood behind Rabbi Eybeschutz, and people were ordered by the rabbinate under
threat of excommunication, to refrain from attending Rabbi Emden’s Shull.
Rabbi
Emden’s very life was under threat and he was forced to seek refuge in
Amsterdam. Eventually the Danish King intervened and he returned to his home on
the condition that he would halt his attacks on Rabbi Eybeschutz.
Rabbi J. Schacter of Yeshiva University, believes that the
modern malady of disrespect towards rabbis, and the common tendency to undermine
rabbinic authority, has its roots in this bitter and unfortunate controversy.
In a great irony of history, both Rabbis Emden and
Eybeschutz were buried in very close proximity to each other.
SOME OF RABBI EMDEN’S
VIEWS:
ZOHAR:
Rabbi Emden believed that many sections of the mystical work
known as the Zohar were forgeries and therefore not authoritative[5].
(Some are of the opinion that the reason why he took this stance,
was because of the emphasis the Sabbatteans placed on the Zohar, and he was
determined to undermine them at every level.)
MAIMONIDES’ MOREH
NEVUCHIM:
He was greatly opposed to philosophy and maintained that the
Guide for the Perplexed was not
authored by Rambam, but by some unknown impostor.
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
MOVEMENT:
Surprisingly, he had a very good relationship with Moses
Mendelssohn, the founder of the Haskalah or
Enlightenment movement, who referred to himself in a letter to Rabbi Emden as;
“your disciple, who thirsts for your words”.[6]
STUDY OF HISTORY:
Rabbi Emden also believed in the importance of knowing
Jewish as well as secular history, since without some historical reference it
is impossible to ever grasp the essence of any teaching:
“The rabbinic
scholar should not be devoid of (any) knowledge of history and changing times.
(He must possess this information) in order to know how to provide his
questioner with an answer and not be considered a fool or simpleton in worldly
affairs...There is an obligation to know history. In order to understand
Chazal, halacha etc, you need to understand history.” [7]
ALCHEMY:
He seems to have had a keen interest in alchemy, and
frequented Gottingen University to access ancient and original books on the
subject.[8]
SHEM HASHEM:
Rabbi Emden suggested that one pronounce G-d’s name in full,
instead of the term ‘Hashem’, when studying Torah. He records this in
the name of his father, the Chacham Tzvi, who, whenever hearing students
studying and using the name ‘HaShem’,
would instruct them to use the full name as if they were ‘reading from the
Torah’.[9]
CHRISTIANITY:
More interesting though, is his view on Christianity. He had
ongoing interaction with Christian scholars, and wrote that the original
intention of that religion, especially under the leadership of Paul, was only to
convert Gentiles to the Seven Laws of Noah, and allow the Jews to continue with
their Torah.
Rabbi Emden wrote; “The rise of Christianity and Islam
served to spread among the nations, to the furthest ends of the earth, the
knowledge that there is One G-d who rules the world...
Christian scholars
...have also defended the Oral Law. For when, in their hostility to the Torah
ruthless persons in their own midst sought to abrogate and uproot the Talmud,
others from among them arose to defend it and to repulse the attempts...
He (G-d)also
bestowed upon them ethical ways, and in this respect He was much more stringent
with them than the Torah of Moshe, as is well known...it is not necessary to
impose upon Jews such extreme ethical practices, since they have been obligated
to the yoke of Torah...”[10]
PILEGESH:
Most surprising and shocking (and certainly not reflecting
the view of this writer) is his responsum on the permissibility of a married
man taking a pilegesh (even in
modern times).
Rabbi Emden taught that at least theoretically, a married
man may take another woman besides his wife, and maintain a committed
relationship with her. (Pilegesh
should not be confused with the biblical permissibility to take more than one
wife[11].)
He writes;
“Great men and kings took concubines...A pilegesh is
forbidden to another man as long as she is in a private relationship with this
one because of the prohibition against prostitution, which is biblical. And
also to determine the parentage of each child, which is the reason she needs to
wait a period of three months if she leaves the first man and chooses to live
exclusively with a second...
Moreover, I have found in the course of my bibliographic
search, the response of Ramban where he challenges the ruling of Rambam and
says; ‘I do not know why there is any question about (the permissibility of a
pilegesh) for she is in an exclusive relationship with him...If he brings her
into his home and she is exclusively with him, and thus her children would be
known to him and are called by his name, she is permitted...And if you claim
that it may be permissible by biblical law but prohibited by rabbinic law,
where in the Talmud was such a decree recorded?’
(If she chooses to leave) she would not require a get
(divorce), and after three months may marry or live with another man...the
relationship is initiated by word and ended by word...
People are trespassing
boundaries in sexual morality, and this is certainly so also in our time and in
all places because the door of permissibility has been shut in front of their
faces...It therefore seems to me that we should be teaching in public that a
person is allowed to be in a pilegesh relationship and rescue them from serious
violations (such as relationships with other married women) that are occurring
daily.
Why should we continue to impose this prohibition without
cause, to place stumbling blocks that are based and perpetuated by a stringent
ruling that has absolutely no premise to support it?”[12]
ANALYSIS:
It needs to be abundantly clear that this article is in no
way intended to be seen as an endorsement of any of the views expressed above.
I happen to believe that in our times these ideas are
morally dangerous, and may be (in not have been) abused by some to further
their own nefarious agendas.
The family unit is under threat from all sides and certainly
does not need a sanctioning religious element to be added to the fray.
These views, however, have simply been recorded to show the scope,
range and multifacetedness of some of our Torah thinkers - something which
never ceases to amaze me.
A number of popular historical accounts of Rabbi Emden paint
him very superficially as just another scholarly rabbi to whom we owe a
traditional debt of gratitude.
But I found it fascinating to dig a little beneath the
surface.
[1]
Yaakov ben Tzvi - His father was the famous Tzvi Ashkenazi or Chacham Tzvi
(1656-1718) so named after his responsum by the same title. (The surname Javitz is said to come from Ya’avetz.)
[2] Rabbi
was Chief Rabbi of the Triple Communities of Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbeck.
[3] I
heard this from a close associate of the Belzer Rebbe. The other six were all
Chassidic Rebbes, which shows the high esteem in which Rabbi Eybeschutz was
held, as he predated Chassidic movement.
[4] This
allegation is recorded in Rabbi Emden’s autobiographical book Megillat Sefer.
It was written between 1752 and 1766 and remained in manuscript form for about
130 years until it was found at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and only
published in 1896 by David Kahane. It is probably the most frank and brutally
honest rabbinic autobiography ever written.
[5] See
Mitpachat Sefarim.
[6] See
Harvey Falk, Journal of Ecumenical studies vol. 19, no.1 (1982)
[7] See
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, ‘History, Truth and Religious Commitment’.
[8] See
An Esoteric Path to Modernity: Rabbi Emden’s Alchemical Quest, by Maoz Kahana.
[9]
Shealat Ya’avetz vol.1, 91. See also
Iggeros Moshe, Orach Chaim, vol. 2, 56.
[10] See
Seder Olam Rabbah VeZuta.
[11]
Which he also wanted to reinstate, overriding the Cherem of Rabbenu Gershom.
Rabbi Emden had three wives (not simultaneously), and fathered
twenty children, 16 of which sadly died within his lifetime.
[12]
Extracted from Shealat Ya’avetz, vol.2, no. 15 (Translated by Gershon Winkler)
For more insights, see Rabbi Emden’s autobiographical
account in Megillat Sefer : http://www.hebrew
books.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=37017&st=&pgnum=98.
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