28 Facts About Jacob Emden

Jacob Emden eventually returned to Altona, where he secured permission from the Jewish community to establish a private synagogue.

Jacob Emden advised that Emden should take the pen name Ya'avetz under the same principles.

Jacob Emden accused Jonathan Eybeschutz of being a secret Sabbatean, a heretical belief.

Jacob Emden maintained that threats initially prevented him from publishing anything against Eybeschutz.

Jacob Emden solemnly declared in his synagogue the writer of the amulets to be a Sabbatean heretic and deserving of herem, shunning by the Jewish community.

Since Jacob Emden continued his philippics against Eybeschutz, he was ordered by the council of the three communities to leave Altona.

Jacob Emden refused to, relying on the strength of the King's charter, and he maintained he had been relentlessly persecuted.

Jacob Emden had many friends there and joined the household of his brother-in-law, Aryeh Leib ben Saul, rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jews there.

Jacob Emden then returned to Altona and took possession of his synagogue and printing establishment, though he was forbidden to continue his agitation against Eybeschutz.

Jacob Emden's works show critical powers rarely found among his contemporaries.

Jacob Emden was strictly orthodox, never deviating the least from tradition, even when the difference in time and circumstance might have warranted a deviation from custom.

Jacob Emden's opinions were often viewed as extremely unconventional from the perspective of strictly traditional mainstream Judaism, though not so unusual in more free-thinking Enlightenment circles.

Jacob Emden had friendly relations with Moses Mendelssohn, founder of Haskalah, and with several Christian scholars.

Jacob Emden referred them to Mendelssohn, who greatly influenced Christian authorities and wrote in excellent German.

Jacob Emden wrote to him in strong terms, saying that it was ludicrous to assert that the custom of the entire Jewish people was blatantly incorrect and told Mendelssohn that this kind of claim would only strengthen rumors of irreligiousness Mendelssohn had aroused by his associations.

Jacob Emden was a traditionalist who responded to the ideals of tolerance being circulated during the 18th-century Enlightenment.

Jacob Emden stretched the traditional inclusivist position into universal directions.

Jacob Emden suggested that ascetic Christian practices provided additional rectification of the soul in the same way that Judaic commandments do.

In many ways, Jacob Emden was a nuanced figure who navigated the tension between rabbinic and external historical sources.

Jacob Emden often tempered the exclusionist approach of scholars like Aviad Sar-Shalom Basilea, who outright rejected non-rabbinic sources, by cautiously engaging with external historical claims.

For example, in addressing contradictions between Talmudic and historical accounts, Jacob Emden sometimes reinterpreted rabbinic texts to align with external evidence, as seen in his treatment of the Talmudic story about Nero's conversion.

Jacob Emden critiqued Azariah dei Rossi for uncritically accepting non-Jewish sources, but stopped short of branding him a heretic, instead viewing him as misguided.

Jacob Emden's approach reflects a balance between preserving the authority of rabbinic literature and cautiously integrating external historical insights, making him a moderate voice in the debate over the historicity of rabbinic claims.

Jacob Emden theoretically advocated the pilegesh, since the Sages stated "the greater the man, the greater his evil inclination", and cited many sources in support.

Jacob Emden suggested it might be permissible under certain circumstances for a Jewish man to cohabit with a single Jewish woman, provided that she is in an exclusive relationship with him that is public knowledge and where she would not be embarrassed to attend the mikveh.

Jacob Emden wished to revoke the ban on polygamy instituted by Gershom ben Judah, believing it erroneously followed Christian morals.

Jacob Emden wrote that he owned books containing secular wisdom written in Hebrew but would read them in the bathroom.

Jacob Emden was opposed to philosophy and maintained that the views contained in The Guide for the Perplexed could not have been authored by Maimonides, but rather by an unknown heretic.