Rabbi Jacob Emden: Life and Major Works

797 Pages·1988·27.354 MB·English

by  Jacob J. Schacter

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Rabbi Jacob Emden: Life and major works
Schacter, Jacob Joseph, Ph.D.
Harvard University, 1988
Copyright ©1988 by Schacter, Jacob Joseph. All rights reserved.
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
THESIS ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE
(To be placed in Original Copy)
The undersigned, appointed by the
Division
Department Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Committee
have examined a thesis entitled
Rabbi Jacob Emden: Life and Major Works
presented by Jacob Joseph Schacter
candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and hereby
certify that it is worthy of acceptance.
Signature
Typed name Bernard..Septimus.
Signature
Typed name Isadar.e...Tw.ersky.
Signature ....
Typed name
q September 15, 1988
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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
RABBI JACOB EMDEN: LIFE AND MAJOR WORKS
A thesis presented
by
Jacob Joseph Schacter
to
The Department of Near Eastern Languages
and Civilizations
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the subject of
Near Eastern Languages
and Civilizations
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
September, 1988
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(c) 1988 by Jacob Joseph Schacter
All rights reserved
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ABSTRACT
Jewish life in eighteenth-century Europe was characterized by a
number of significant features. Rabbinic scholarship flourished on a
high level in many parts of the continent. In addition, the Jewish com­
munity was caught up in the aftershock of the mass messianic movement of
Shabbetai Zevi which had captured the imagination of most of world Jewry
in 1665-1666. Those who continued to maintain their belief in him even
after his conversion and death were constantly being harassed by the
Jewish establishment which considered them heretics. Finally, the end of
the century brought with it the Haskalah movement which challenged the
prevailing Jewish communal, social, religious and intellectual norms.
One of the most dominant figures at that time was Rabbi Jacob Emden
(1698-1776). Emden was intimately involved with each of these major
elements in the Jewish world of his day. Reared in a learned home, he
was a preeminent scholar whose achievement in the field of rabbinic lit­
erature was substantive and significant. He also played a major role in
the eighteenth-century battle against Sabbatianism and, in the last two
and a half decades of his life, became obsessed with ejqposing and hound­
ing any vestige of the movement. Finally, he lived long enough to wit­
ness the emergence of the Haskalah. Unlike some of his more traditional
colleagues, Emden was sensitive to the shifting nuances of thought repre­
sented by that movement and was aware of the changes in Jewish life that
it potentially represented.
This work treats Emden from all of these perspectives. In addition
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to presenting the story of his life for the first time, it also describes
some of his rabbinic works as well as his attitude towards non-Jews,
philosophy and Maimonides. It suggests some factors which should be
considered in attempting to understand the virulence of Emden's anti-
Sabbatianism. Finally, it assesses the level of his knowledge of a wide
range of extra-Talmudic disciplines and his attitude towards the emerging
Haskalah movement.
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