Jonathan Eybeschutz - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

JONATHAN EYBESCHUTZ (1690-1764), German rabbi, was from 1750 rabbi in Altona. He was a man of erudition, but he owed his fame chiefly to his personality. Few men of the period so profoundly impressed their mark on Jewish life. He became specially notorious because of a curious controversy that arose concerning the amulets which Eybeschiitz was suspected of issuing. These amulets recognized the Messianic claims of Sabbatai Sebi, and a famous rabbinic contemporary of Eybeschiitz, Jacob Emden, boldly accused him of heresy. The controversy was a momentous incident in the Jewish life of the period, and though there is insufficient evidence against Eybeschiitz, Emden may be credited with having crushed the lingering belief in Sabbatai current even in some orthodox circles. (I. A.)