Jonathan Eybeschütz

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Jonathan Eybeschütz

Jonathan ben Nathan Eybeschütz (born 1690 in Krakow ; died September 18, 1764 in Altona ) was a Talmudist and Kabbalist who became known primarily through a religious dispute - his long-term conflict with Rabbi Jacob Emden .

life and work

Eybeschütz was a child prodigy and studied in Poland , Moravia and Prague . After the death of his father, who had officiated as rabbi in Eibenschütz , he continued his studies in Prossnitz and Vienna under Samson Wertheimer . He married the daughter of the chairman of the Bunzlau court and settled in Prague after a few years of traveling. Here he maintained contact with leading Christian circles and discussed religious issues with them. With the help of Cardinal Hassebauer, he was given permission to print the Talmud , with all passages in contradiction to Christian principles being deleted. This provoked the anger of David Oppenheim and the rabbis from Frankfurt am Main , who revoked the permission to print. Eybeschütz enjoyed a high reputation in Prague and in 1725 was one of the Prague rabbis who banned the followers of Shabbtai Zvi . After David Oppenheim's death in 1736, he was appointed Dajan (judge) of Prague. In 1741 he became a rabbi in Metz and in 1750 moved to Altona, which was part of the conglomerate state of Denmark , where he became rabbi of the three congregations of Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek . In Metz and Altona he had numerous students and was considered a great preacher.

In Altona, however, a fierce controversy arose around Eybeschütz, which accompanied him until the end of his life, with Rabbi Jacob Emden being his most important opponent. Mainly it was about supposed leanings of Eybeschütz on the Sabbatianism , the doctrine of Shabbtai Zvi. In Jewish communities from the Netherlands to Poland, the conflict became the talk of the day. While most of the German rabbis opposed Eybeschütz, he found support from Polish and Moravian rabbis. After an unsuccessful mediation attempt by the Prague Rabbi Ezekiel Landau , both sides turned to the authorities in Hamburg and Frederick V the King of Denmark - as sovereign of Altona - with a request for a judicial settlement. The Danish king stood on Eybeschütz's side and ordered new elections in which Eybeschütz was confirmed in his office. The literary polemics, however, continued, with Christian scholars also taking Eybeschütz's side. After his re-election, Eybeschütz refused to appear before a rabbinical commission with representatives from Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Metz. In 1753 the matter was brought before the council of the four countries , which made a decision in its favor. In 1760 the dispute broke out again when Eybschütz's younger son Wolf posed as a Sabbatian prophet and other Sabbatian followers were found among the students of Eybeschütz's yeshiva , so that the yeshiva was closed. During Moses Mendelssohn's visit to Hamburg in 1761, Eybeschütz treated him with great respect and published a letter to him. Eybeschütz died in Altona and is buried in the Jewish cemetery there.

Eybeschütz was not only considered one of the greatest preachers of his time, but also one of the most important Talmudic scholars. Thirty of his works have been published in the field of halacha . They contain commentaries on various treatises of the Talmud and on the works of Maimonides . He was also considered an important Kabbalist, but only one of his books on Kabbalah , Shem Olam ("Name of the World" or "Eternal Name") was printed in 1891.

When some amulets were opened by Eybeschütz in Metz and Altona in 1751 , the so-called amulet dispute developed. Jacob Emden deciphered the amulets and found Sabbatian formulas in them. Eybeschütz, however, denied that the amulets had any logical meaning, and said that they consisted exclusively of "holy names". There are three different opinions regarding Eybschütz's relationship to Sabbatianism: 1) he was never a Sabbatian, and there were no grounds for suspicion in this regard; 2) he was a Sabbatian in his youth and broke off his relations with the group after the ban was pronounced in 1725; 3) he had been a hidden follower of Sabbatianism ("crypto-Sabbatian") from his studies in Prossnitz and Prague until the end of his life. The latter opinion is represented by Heinrich Graetz and Gershom Scholem , among others .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eybeschütz In: JewishEncyclopedia (English)
personal data
SURNAME Eybeschütz, Jonathan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eybeschütz, Jonathan ben Nathan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Talmudist and Kabbalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1690
PLACE OF BIRTH Krakow
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1764
Place of death Altona