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Loading... The Pursuit of Heresy: Rabbi Moses Hagiz and the Sabbatian Controversies (1990)by Elisheva Carlebach
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Rabbi Moses Hagiz, one of the most prominent and influential Jewish leaders of seventeenth-century Amsterdam, devoted his career to restoring rabbinic authority. His most prominent talent was as a polemicist, and he campaigned ceaselessly against Jewish heresy in an attempt to unify the rabbinate. During Hagiz's lifetime there was an overall decline in rabbinic authority, which the author argues was the result of migration and assimilation. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)296.092Religions Other Religions Judaism Judaism Biography And History BiographyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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I found the book very interesting. It is much more than a biography of R. Moses Hagiz (of whom I had never heard) or of the controversies surrounding the followers of Shabbatai Zvi. It looks at Jewish communities of the time and the leadership struggles between the local rabbinic authorities and the lay leadership; also the influence of non-pulpit rabbis; fundraising for Jerusalem and Jewish schools; and more. The book is slow going and (see the quote on the Main Page), Dr. Carlebach refers to words of Gershom Scholem, which are from Hallel, the series of Psalms included in holiday services; I'm sure she knows this, but I wonder who her target audience is and are they presumed to know it as well.
The transliteration is interesting and, again I'm guessing, but I assume there is some formal set of rules for writing Hebrew letters in English that does not conform to the way things are actually pronounced nowadays.
I had always thought that the followers of Shabbatai Zvi were as crazy as he was, but this book suggests that there was an interest among normal Jews in a more spiritual and personally meaningful approach to Judaism that Shabbatai Zvi tapped into. That is, not every follower believed what was preached, but the movement opened up new ways of looking at things. ( )