Le-‘eyne kol Yisra’el (In the Sight of All Israel)
Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi
1714
They distort the words of the living God. It is a clear Torah lesson, as the sages have taught: “Whosoever speculates on four things, a pity for him! He is as though he had not come into the world.”
This quarrelsome individual raised his hand against the King of the world, and the King commanded that he be split in two. Half to be consumed by fire…
Creator Bio
Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi
Tzvi Hirsch ben Jacob Ashkenazi, the descendant of a rabbinic family, was born in Moravia, and grew up in Alt-Ofen (Budapest). He wrote his first responsa as early as 1676. In 1678, he studied in Salonika and subsequently took the title ḥakham (rabbi). In 1680, he returned to Alt-Ofen but fled the town during the imperial siege (in which his wife and daughter were killed). He escaped to Sarajevo and served as rabbi of the Sephardic community. He later married the daughter of Meshullam Zalman Neumark-Mirels, head of the bet din of the “Three Communities” (Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbek), and succeeded him as rabbi of the latter two. He was a staunch opponent of the Sabbatean movement. Throughout his life he was involved in numerous controversies. He was forced to resign as rabbi of the Ashkenazic community in Amsterdam due to a controversy concerning the writings of the Sabbatean author Nehemiah Ḥiya Ḥayun. He then spent brief periods in London, Emden, and Opatów before being appointed rabbi of Lemberg in 1718. His main work is a volume of responsa to halakhic questions from all over Europe, Ḥakham Tsevi.
Related Guide
Early Modern Rabbis and Intellectuals on the Move
Carrying books and knowledge, itinerant rabbis and scholars traveled between communities, facilitating cultural exchange.
Related Guide
The Rise of Kabbalah, 1500–1750
Kabbalah spread widely after the Spanish expulsion. The Zohar's printing in Italy, Safed's influential kabbalistic center, and Shabbetai Tzvi's messianic movement popularized mystical ideas across Jewish communities.
Related Guide
Spiritual Ideologies, 1500–1750
Early modern Jewish spiritual life encompassed diverse elements, including theology, ethics, liturgy, and messianism.