Moses Hagiz
Moses Hagiz (1671 – c. 1750) (
Biography
Moses' father,
Returning to Jerusalem, he was given letters of recommendation nominating him as a rabbinical emissary or
Until 1738 he resided at Altona; he then returned to Palestine, settling first at Sidon, and later at Safed, where he died sometime after 1750. He married a daughter of Raphael Mordecai Malachi, and was therefore a brother-in-law of Hezekiah da Silva. He had no children.
Anti-Sabbateanism
From an early age, Hagiz was exposed to both Sabbatean and anti-Sabbatean leaders. Moses's father Jacob was the leading rabbi in Jerusalem in 1666 and issued a ban against Sabbatai Zevi. His teacher Abraham Yitzchaki was a fierce anti-Sabbatean after the apostasy. Moses's maternal grandfather was probably a Sabbatean prophet, and under his leadership in Jerusalem the Sabbatean community grew. Moses' father-in-law Raphael Mordecai Malachi was a crypto-Sabbatean leader in Jerusalem and this perhaps led to his falling out with Hagiz. For much of Moses's travels after leaving Jerusalem, Malachi caused immense problems.
When Hagiz came to Amsterdam he immediately became embroiled in disputes with the Sephardic lay leadership, criticizing their lax religious observance and their anti-Rabbinic attitudes. When
Hagiz was instrumental in the Eastern European anti-Sabbatean campaigns of the 1720s and 1730s, writing letters and books against Sabbatean thinking, and rallying the support of communities throughout the Jewish world. Later, Hagiz would also be a major figure in the controversies concerning Moses Chaim Luzzatto.[1]
Works
Moses Hagiz was not only a great Talmudic scholar, but also a man of wider secular learning than most of the rabbis of his time. According to Wolf, who knew him personally,[2] he understood several languages and was somewhat familiar with modern history (see his Mishnat Hakamim, Nos. 627 and 682); he advocated the study of secular sciences (ib. No. 114), and admitted that the Zohar has been interpolated by later scribes (ib. No. 108). In regard to his character reports differ; some represent him as filled with sincere religious zeal, others as a contentious wrangler.[3] Rabbi Yeshayahu Basan the mentor and staunchest defender of Luzzato describes Hagiz in one letter as a person who loves to quarrel and eager to criticize people's works, and that in one instance he criticized an author in regards to a claim that turned out to be an old Jewish tradition predating the author many hundreds of years.[4] Jacob Emden describes him as a time-server, and even as religiously insincere, though he respected him as a friend of his father.[5]
Hagiz wrote:
- Lekeṭ ha-Kemah, novellae to the Shulhan Arukh(OraH Hayyim and Yoreh De'ah, Amsterdam, 1697 and 1707; Eben ha-'Ezer, Hamburg, 1711 and 1715)
- Sefat Emet, on the religious significance of Palestinefor Jews (Amsterdam, 1697 and 1707)
- Eleh haMitsvot, on the 613 commandments(Amsterdam, 1713 and Wandsbeck, 1727)
- Sheber Posh'im, polemics against Hayyun(London, 1714)
- Lekeṭ ha-Kemaḥ, commentary on the Mishnah (Wandsbeck, 1726)
- Perurei Pat haKemaḥ, commentary to Book of Daniel (Amsterdam, 1727)
- Zeror ha-Hayyim, ethics (Wandsbeck, 1728)
- Mishnaṭ Hakhamim, ethics (ib. 1733)
- Shetei ha-Leḥem, responsa (ib. 1733)
- Parashat Eleh Mas'ei, on the land of Yisrael (ib. 1733)
Other works of his remained unpublished. He also wrote numerous prefaces to the books of others. His writings are signed "המני"ח", the letters of "Moses ibn Jacob Hagiz." (Among Sephardic Jews the Nun (letter) was used in its ending form to represent the Arabic word "ibn", meaning son of)
References
- ISBN 978-0-231-07190-1, archived from the originalon April 27, 2005
- ^ Bibl. Hebr. iii. 908
- Grätz, Gesch. 3d ed., x. 479-482
- ^ Igros Ramchal, Igeres No. 145
- ^ Megillat Sefer, pp. 117–122, Warsaw, 1896
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Hagiz, Moses". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Its bibliography:
- Grätz, Gesch.x., passim, especially pp. 479–482, where the older sources are quoted;
- Jacob Emden, Megillat Sefer, Warsaw, 1896.