30 Nisan · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yaakov Emden - the Yavetz
Rabbi Yaakov ben Tzvi Hirsch Emden - the Yavetz (son of the Chacham Tzvi) (June 4, 1697 — April 19, 1776), was a leading German rabbi and Talmudist who defended Orthodox Judaism in the face of the growing influence of the Sabbatean movement.
Yahrzeit - 30 Nisan
Resting place - Altona, Germany
Although the Yavetz did not approve of the Chassidic movement that arose during his lifetime, his books are highly esteemed among Chassidim. 31 of his works were published during his lifetime, 10 posthumously, while the rest remain in manuscript form.
The Yavetz was the son of the Chacham Tzvi and a descendant of Eliyahu Baal Shem of Chelm. He spent most of his life in Altona (now part of Hamburg, Germany), where he did not hold an official rabbinic post and earned his living by printing books. His son was Meshullam Solomon, rabbi of the Hambro Synagogue in London, who claimed the position of head of the Rabbis of the United Kingdom from 1765 to 1780.
Until the age of 17, the Yavetz studied Talmud under his father Tzvi Ashkenazi, an outstanding rabbinic authority, first in Altona and then in Amsterdam (1710–1714).
The Yavetz
"When I was still a young boy, I asked my father, the Gaon, the pious Rabbi Tzvi, the glory of Israel, why he signed his name simply 'Tzvi,' without mentioning his father. He answered me: 'These are the initials of "Tzvi ben Yaakov." When you, my son, become a man of Torah and write books and words of wisdom, sign your name as "Yavetz," which stands for the initials Yaakov ben Tzvi.'"
In 1715, Emden married Rachel, daughter of Mordechai ben Naftali Cohen, rabbi of Ungarisch-Brod, Moravia, and continued his studies at his father-in-law's yeshiva. Emden was well versed in all branches of Talmudic literature; he later studied philosophy, Kabbalah, and grammar, and also attempted to master Latin and Dutch, though he was seriously hindered in this by his conviction that a Jew should engage in secular studies only at times when Torah study is not possible. He was an opponent of philosophy and maintained that the views contained in the "Guide for the Perplexed" could not have belonged to Maimonides, but rather to an unknown heretic.
Emden spent three years in Ungarisch-Brod, where he held the position of private lecturer in Talmud. He later went into trading jewelry and other goods, an occupation that required him to travel. He generally refused to accept a rabbinic post, though in 1728 he was persuaded to accept the rabbinate of Emden, from which he took his name.
However, being by nature a man of truth and wishing to be independent of anyone's counsel, he resigned after a few years and recited the blessing: "Blessed are You, Who has not made me [Av Beit Din]" - a play on words of the morning blessing: "Blessed are You, Who has not made me [a slave]."
In 1733, Emden returned to Altona, where he received permission from the Jewish community to own a private synagogue. At first, Emden was on friendly terms with Rabbi Moshe Hagiz, head of the Portuguese-Jewish community in Altona, who later turned against Emden due to slander. His relationship with Yechezkel Katzenellenbogen, chief rabbi of the German community, was initially positive but quickly deteriorated.
A few years later, Emden received a privilege from the King of Denmark to establish a printing house in Altona. He was soon attacked for publishing the siddur (prayer book) "Amudei Shamayim" because of his sharp criticism of influential local moneychangers. His opponents did not cease condemning him even after he obtained approval for his work from the chief rabbi of the German communities.
According to Jacob Katz, "Rabbi Jacob Emden: Life and Major Works" (Jacob J. Schacter, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, 1988) "superseded" Mortimer J. Cohen's 1937 book "Jacob Emden: A Man of Controversy" as the most authoritative source on Emden.
Most of the community, including Rabbi Aryeh Leib Halevi Epstein of Königsberg, supported Rabbi Yonatan Eibeschutz; thus the council condemned Emden as a slanderer. People were ordered, under threat of excommunication, not to attend Emden's synagogue, and he himself was forbidden to publish anything from his press. Since Emden continued to maintain his position against Rabbi Yonatan Eibeschutz, the council of the three communities ordered him to leave Altona. He refused to do so, relying on the strength of the royal charter, and, as he claimed, was subjected to relentless persecution.
His life seeming to be in real danger, in May 1751 he left the city and took refuge in Amsterdam, where he had many friends and where he joined the household of his son-in-law Aryeh Leib ben Saul, an Ashkenazi rabbi.
Letter from Jacob Emden to the King of Denmark, dated August 20, 1743.
In 1756, members of the Council of Constantinople turned to Emden for help in suppressing the Sabbatean movement. Since the Sabbateans relied heavily on the Zohar, Emden considered it prudent to study the book, and after careful study concluded that a large portion of the Zohar was the work of an impostor.
Emden's works show that he possessed critical faculties rarely found among his contemporaries. He was strictly Orthodox, never deviating in the slightest from tradition, even when differences of time and circumstance might have called for departure from custom. Emden's opinions were often regarded as extremely unconventional from the standpoint of strictly traditional mainstream Judaism, though not so unusual within the more free-thinking circles of the Enlightenment. Emden had friendly relations with Moses Mendelssohn, founder of the Haskalah movement, and with a number of Christian scholars.
In 1772, when the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin issued a decree prohibiting burial on the day of death, the Jews of his territories turned to Emden asking him to prove from the Talmud that a longer exposure of the corpse was contrary to Jewish Law. Emden referred them to Mendelssohn, who had great influence with Christian authorities and wrote beautifully in German. Mendelssohn wrote the requested letter to the Duke, but privately complained to Emden that, based on the Talmud, it seemed the Duke was right. Emden wrote back to him in sharp terms, declaring it absurd to claim that the custom of the entire Jewish people was clearly mistaken, and told Mendelssohn that such statements would only reinforce the rumors of irreligiosity that he (Mendelssohn) had brought upon himself through his associations.
Views on the spread of monotheism
The Yavetz wrote: "We must regard Christians and Muslims as instruments for the fulfillment of the prophecy that knowledge of G-d would one day spread throughout the entire earth. Whereas the nations before them worshipped idols, denied the existence of G-d, and thus did not recognize G-d's power or retribution, the rise of Christianity and Islam served to spread among the nations, to the farthest ends of the earth, the knowledge that there is One G-d - who rules the world, who rewards and punishes, and who reveals Himself to man."
Sipurei Tzadikim
Once, on a particularly harsh winter day, it was so cold that his students did not reach the Beit Midrash early in the morning to hear his lecture. They arrived in the afternoon and found their Rav sitting, wrapped in his Tallit and wearing tefillin, studying a book.
He paused his studies and asked them: "Why did you not come to the Gemara lesson this morning?"
"Teacher," they answered, "it was terribly cold and difficult to go outside. We were afraid of catching cold."
Rabbi Yaakov wanted to raise his head but realized he could not, because his beard had frozen to the table. He sighed and said, "It seems it is indeed very cold," and then added: "It is written: 'Guard your foot when you go to the House of G-d' [Kohelet 4:17]." And the commentators point out that the letter 'yud' in the word 'raglecha' [your foot] is superfluous. This 'yud' is meant to remind us of the 10 laws [10 being the gematria of 'yud'] concerning the feet that a Jew must observe. They are as follows:
(1) Do not set out on a journey without praying beforehand; (2) Do not visit anyone early in the morning without having prayed; (3) Do not pray before making sure your body is clean; (4) Running to the synagogue or the Beit Midrash is a mitzvah; (5) While in the synagogue, take a step forward before prayer; (6) Do not walk barefoot in the synagogue; (7) To find water to wash your hands before prayer, one must walk up to four kilometers; (8) It is forbidden to walk behind the synagogue while the congregation is praying; (9) One must not stand on a raised platform for prayer; (10) During prayer, the feet must be directed straight ahead.
With a smile, Rabbi Yaakov concluded as follows: "So here are 10 things we are warned about in the verse: 'Guard your foot when you go to the House of G-d,' yet we were not warned that our feet should not go to synagogue because we might catch cold. However, this is exactly what my father taught me: the verse says, 'be-veit Elokim nehalech be-rages' - (we walked to the House of G-d in company) [Tehillim 55:15]. The word 'berages' [in company] is formed from the initial letters of 'barad' (hail), 'geshem' (rain), and 'sheleg' (snow), for even on such days we must make our way to the synagogue."
Rabbi Yaakov Emden studied all areas of Torah and wisdom in depth, and over his lifetime wrote more than 60 books. He wanted to live in peace, but was constantly besieged by conflict, sorrow, and pain. The wife of his youth died while he was still young, and his beloved son Tzvi was taken from him in the prime of his life.
Rabbi Yaakov died at the age of 80, having endured his share of pain. He was survived by three sons: Rabbi Meshulam Zalman (Rav of the Hambro Synagogue in London), Rabbi Meir (Rav of Constantinople), and Rabbi Aryeh Yehuda.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/821-Rabbi-Jacob-Emden, https://hevratpinto.org/tzadikim_eng/095_rabbi_yaacov_emden_the_yavetz.html)
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Grave: Yaavetz