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Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi and the Battlegrounds of the Early Modern Rabbinate 

JL;DR SUMMARY Rabbi Yosie Levine's book on Rabbi Tzvi Ashkenazi, a significant figure in early modern Jewish history, explores the rabbi's intellectual journey and the challenges he faced during his tenure as chief rabbi of Amsterdam. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish DiasporaAmsterdamKabbalahRabbinic AuthoritySabbateanismModern Jewish HistoryRabbi Tzvi AshkenaziAshkenazic Sephardic RelationsHalachic ResponsaChacham Tzvi

Places mentioned

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
"Since the 2024 pogrom in Amsterdam cast a grim shadow over the Dutch citys reputation, this book serves as a poignant reminder of a bygone era when Amsterdam stood as a beacon of religious tolerance."
Budapest, Hungary
"Rabbi Ashkenazi was raised by an Ashkenazi family living in Ottoman-occupied Old Buda (which later became part of Budapest)."
Salonica, Central Macedonia, Greece
"Rabbi Ashkenazi spent much of his early life immersed in Sephardic rabbinic centers elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire (such as Salonica and Constantinople), experiences that informed his unique position at the crossroads of Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions."
Constantinople, Istanbul, Turkey
"Rabbi Ashkenazi spent much of his early life immersed in Sephardic rabbinic centers elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire (such as Salonica and Constantinople), experiences that informed his unique position at the crossroads of Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions."
London, England, United Kingdom
"Although Rabbi Ashkenazi garnered the support of rabbis outside of Amsterdam, the citys lay leadership and the Sephardic rabbinic leadership supported Chayyun, which eventually forced Rabbi Ashkenazi to flee Amsterdam for London."
Lviv, Lvivshchyna, Ukraine
"he eventually took up a prestigious rabbinic position in Lemberg (modern-day Lviv, Ukraine) not long before his death in 1718."
Hamburg, Germany
"This network connected Jews from London all the way in the west to White Russia (modern-day Belarus) and Ukraine in the east, crisscrossing through Amsterdam and Hamburg where Rabbi Ashkenazi served, and including the rest of Germany, Italy and even Crete."
Beitar Illit, Jerusalem, Israel
"Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein is a freelance scholar, author and lecturer living in Beitar Illit, Israel."
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Retrieved 2025-06-25 05:31:24 UTC
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