ABSTRACT
Rabbi Jacob Emden (1697–1776), whose acronym was Ya’avetz, was a leading German rabbi (from Altona, Hamburg) and independent thinking Talmudist who championed Orthodox Judaism in the face of the influence of the Sabbatean movement. His father was a famous scholar, the Hakham Tzvi Ashkenazi. He was by our standards relatively “progressive” for his time, advocating, for example, for a healthy sex life and respect for Christianity and Islam.
