The Amulet Controversy - Additional Info Landmarks of Jewish History
In 1751, a protracted dispute threatened to divide the congregation and led to a loss of significance for traditional Jewish institutions and structures. The son of the former chief rabbi, Jakob Emden, accused the new chief rabbi, Jonathan Eibeschütz, of being a secret follower of Sabbatai Zevi’s messianic movement. As supposed proof, Emden cited the texts of amulets that Eibeschütz had given to pregnant women during their confinement. Hence the name Amulet Controversy (or Sabbatean Controversy).
The dispute between the opponents spread ever wider. Both sides mobilized their supporters among rabbis and scholars at home and abroad. The Triple Congregation excommunicated Jakob Emden. The Danish king intervened and a trial was held before the Danish courts. Expert opinions from Christian experts cleared Eibeschütz of the accusation. However, the dispute was not settled during their lifetimes.
1665/5426. Enthusiasm and rejection
At the end of 1665, the Portuguese congregation in Hamburg first heard about Sabbatai Zevi, the supposed Messiah. Further reports filled Jews with religious enthusiasm. In the spring of 1666, the Portuguese congregation board even introduced solemn prayers for Sabbatai Zevi as the messianic king in the synagogues. The Ashkenazi rabbis reacted more negatively to the messianic movement and excommunicated the Sabbateans from the synagogue.
The Sabbatean movement
In 1665, Sabbatai Zevi, a native of Smyrna, had himself proclaimed the Messiah by the Kabbalist Nathan of Gaza. Daily and weekly newspapers created a veritable media hype around Sabbatai Zevi in Europe. His proclamation had a great appeal to Jews, and he gathered a large following behind him. Dealing with the newly emerged Sabbatean movement divided Jewish Europe and presented it with great challenges.
Jonathan Eibeschütz, Rabbi, 1690–1764
Johann Kleinhardt (draftsman) and Johann Jacob Balzer (engraver), copperplate engraving, around 1775, reproduction
SHMH Altona Museum, Inv. No. 1912-43-D1
Eibeschütz was one of the rabbis who excommunicated the followers of Sabbatai Zevi in Prague. In 1741, he became rabbi in Metz and in 1750 Chief Rabbi of the Triple Congregation. In 1751, Rabbi Jacob Emden accused him of being a Sabbatean. The amulet controversy attracted attention throughout Europe.
Sabbatai Zevi Scholar, 1626 – 1676
Copperplate engraving, circa 1666, reproduction
Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library, Frankfurt am Main, 2009:
https://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:1-118485
After Sabbatai Zevi was expelled from the Salonika Jewish Congregation, he made his way via various detours to Gaza, where the rabbi and kabbalist Nathan proclaimed him the Messiah. In Constantinople, the Ottoman authorities arrested him, giving him in September 1666 the choice of converting to Islam or being tortured to death. Sabbatai Zevi converted to Islam.
Jakob Emden, Rabbi and publicist, 1697-1776
Jakob Emden: Igeret Bikoret, document, 1765, reproduction
Institute for the History of German Jews, reference number H Emd
In 1743, Jakob Emden received permission from the Danish king to operate a Hebrew printing press in Altona. He also printed his own writings on religious law and Hebrew grammar, which made him famous as an outstanding scholar.
The Graves of Emden and Eibeschütz
Michael Kohls, photographies, 2025
The graves of Jonathan Eibeschützz and Jakob Emden are located in the row of honor at the Königstrasse cemetery. Even today, they are visited by numerous people, especially on the anniversaries of their deaths.
Quote from the memoirs of Glückel von Hameln
The Memoirs of Glückel of Hamelin, from the Jewish-German
by Bertha Pappenheim, Weinheim 2005, pp. 74–75.
“At that time, people began to talk about Sabbatai Zevi (…) The joy that prevailed when letters were received cannot be described. Most of the letters were received by the Portuguese. They always went to their synagogue and read them aloud there. Germans, young and old, also went to the Portuguese synagogue. The young Portuguese journeymen always put on their best clothes and tied green, wide silk ribbons around themselves – that was the livery of Sabbatai Zevi (…)”
Glossary
Yiddish
Yiddish is a language spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in the Middle Ages and combines elements of medieval German, Hebrew and Slavic languages. Yiddish is written in Hebrew letters.