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.