Rabbi Jacob Emden's Iggeret Purim

Abstract

Rabbi Jacob Emden ( 1697-1776) wrote many works defending his position in his heated controversy with Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz in the middle of the eighteenth century. One major treatise, extant but hitherto unpublished, is lggeret Purim. ¶ The manuscript of this work in R. Emden's own hand is presently found in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.(1) Copies are also available on microfilm at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2) and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (3). R. Emden himself refers to this text on a number of occasions (4) and the existence of the work was widely known. (5)...... ¶ It is clear from these selections that a full appreciation of R. Emden's intellectual posture cannot be gained without a careful study of his works relating to the controversy, just as any study of his attitude to Sabbateanism must include a close analysis of his halakhic treatises. (16) It is essential that one be familiar with all of R. Emden's works in order to comment on any one of them.