Moses Ḥagiz

Moses Ḥagiz, scholar, kabbalist, and staunch opponent of Sabbateanism, was born in Jerusalem. He quarreled with the rabbis of Jerusalem; when he left to collect funds to establish his own yeshiva, damaging letters were sent to the communities he approached. He visited Egypt and then Italy, before arriving in Amsterdam. There he became involved in the struggle against Sabbateanism and, together with Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi, disputed with the elders of the Portuguese community over the excommunication of Nehemiah Ḥayun. After Ḥagiz was forced to leave Amsterdam, he lived in London and then Altona, where he continued his fight against Sabbateanism. He later induced the rabbis of Venice to excommunicate Moses Ḥayim Luzzatto. In 1738, he settled in Safed. Ḥagiz was fluent in several languages and possessed extensive secular knowledge. Among his many works are responsa, novellae on the Shulḥan arukh, ethical treatises, and works on the oral law and kabbalah. He died in Beirut.