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‫מצורע‬-‫פרשת תזריע‬ 25th April ‘15 ‫ו' אייר תשע”ה‬ For Questions on Divrei Torah or articles, to receive this via email or for sponsorship opportunities please email mc@markittech.com Now in Yerushalayim, Antwerp, Baltimore, Bet Shemesh, Borehamwood, Cyprus, Edgware, Elstree, Gibraltar, Hale, Holland, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, South Tottenham, Toronto, Vienna, Zurich

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Views from History A Seven Part Series

Rabbi Aubrey Hersh

Senior lecturer & European Heritage tour guide : JLE

Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi – ‫חכם צבי‬ Although born in Moravia in 1660 - after his grandparents fled Vilna to escape the Cossack massacres - his family moved to Budapest when he was quite young and subsequently he would learn in Rav Eliyahu Kobo’s yeshiva in Salonika. On his return to Hungary he passed through Constantinople where he received semicha from the Sefardi kehilla as well as the title that he would always be known by: Chacham Tzvi. Interestingly, he signed his teshuvos ‫ ס"ט‬which many translate as Sefardi Tahor (others say it means ‫ )סופו טוב‬and may reflect his early years amongst Sefardim. He got married in Budapest but during the Austrian invasion his wife and daughter were killed and his parents taken captive by the Prussians. He fled Budapest, ending up in Sarajevo in 1686 where he became the Rav. Whilst living in Southern Europe, he saw the terrible impact of the Shabbetai Zvi movement, and this experience had a strong effect on him. In 1689 he moved to Germany, where he remarried and took up the rabbonus in Altona and in 1710 he came to Amsterdam. His 4 year stay there would prove very challenging. Amsterdam’s kehilla was unique in that it was founded later than most European kehillos – in 1602 - by Jews who had very little familiarity with regular Jewish practice or text, as they had unfortunately been forced to live a Marrano life for over a century, both in Portugal and in the Netherlands. Related to this were their strong messianic hopes and an emphasis on Kabbalah. Within a short space of time they had become quite affluent but were plagued by internal dissent. In the 1660s Shabbetai Zvi would find strong support in Amsterdam, and the heretic Spinoza was originally a member of the Talmud Torah. Records show that between 1622-1683, thirty-six members were excommunicated; some for days and others – including Spinoza – for life. Remarkably, they were placed in cherem not by the Rabbi, but by the lay leadership, who controlled (too) much of Jewish life in Amsterdam. A witness to much of this in-fighting was the painter Rembrandt who lived in the heart of the Jewish quarter for almost 25 years and whose art reflects his familiarity with Jewish life there. The Ashkenazi community originated 30 years later and was less affluent but more knowledgeable, and it was this kehilla that the Chacham Tzvi served as Chief Rabbi. Tensions were evident in 1712 but it was the arrival of Nehemiah Chayun in 1713 that brought everything into the open. The Chacham Tzvi knew Chayun to be a Sabbetean and asked the Sefradi rov - Rav Ayallon - to deny him any opportunity

to speak in public. Meanwhile several members of the Portuguese congregation submitted Chayun's writings to the judgment of Rav Moshe Chagiz (who happened to be in Amsterdam) and he too found strong Sabbetean ideas and concepts in them. Nevertheless the Portuguese community allowed Chayun to teach. The Chacham Tzvi then declared a cherem against Chayun1, as a result of which both he and Rav Moshe Chagiz were attacked in the street. Furthermore, both of them were placed in cherem by the Portuguese community (through the Parnassim) and the Chacham Tzvi was placed under house arrest. The magistrates were then asked to banish the Chacham Tzvi from Amsterdam, but in early 1714, he resigned his rabbonus and fled to London following an invitation by the Sefardi kehilla there (ironically), for whom he had written a teshuva in 1705, after their Rabbi (R’ David Nieto) had given a drosho in which he spoke of Hashem being within ‘Tevah’, which some members questioned as being heretical. The Chacham Tzvi defended him as simply following the Kuzari and declared his words to be divrei emes. More currently, Rav Nieto’s sefer Sefer printed in Amsterdam showing received approval from the Steipler (in Shabbetai Zvi as Melech (under the Sefer Chayei Olam). crown ‘Ateres Zvi’). He then took up the rabbonus in Lvov, but died four months after his arrival in 1718, on Rosh Chodesh Iyar. The Yahrzeit of his son – Rav Yaakov Emden – is also Rosh Chodesh Iyar (5536/1776). He is famous for many of his teshuvos. Amongst them is his psak for visitors in Eretz Yisroel over Yomtov, whom he says must keep only one day Yomtov. He was also asked whether it was permissible to view the whole of ‘England’ as having preexisting mechitzos, principally on the basis of the sea surrounding the country, and also whether a Golem made by following Sefer Yetzirah could be part of a minyan of 10 for kedusha and kaddish - both of these he dismissed. In an interesting turn of events, his son-in-law was the Ashkenazi rov in Amsterdam for 15 years and his grandson for 35 years. 1 Chayun would be excommunicated in various cities including Yerushalayim. Whilst it is unclear if he converted to Christianity, his son clearly did, and wrote polemics against the Jews.