The Chayun Controversy!
Shever Poshim by Rabbi Moshe Chagiz
London, 1714
The sefer ‘Shever Poshim’ by the famous zealot and fighter Rabbi Moshe Chagiz, against the Sabbatean Nechemiah Chiya Chayun and Rabbi Shlomo Ayllon, Av Beis Din of the Portuguese community in Amsterdam.
The first and main part of the sefer contains extremely sharp attacks against Chayun’s kabbalistic beliefs, and against Rabbi Ayllon who supported him.
The second part of the sefer contains a collection of letters from Rabbanim of communities worldwide supporting Rabbi Moshe Chagiz (including from Rabbi Ayllon himself, before the controversy).
Shortly after being printed, the Batei Din of both the Portuguese community and the Ashkenazi community ruled that the sefer ‘Shever Poshim’ must be burned and destroyed!
Due to the sefer’s explosive content, some pages were urgently sent to various Rabbanim and individuals before the printing was completed. Therefore, complete copies are extremely rare. In the Institute for Hebrew Bibliography, a complete copy is recorded only based on the British Library’s copy.
See in catalog additional rare pamphlets from this controversy.
Rabbi Moshe Chagiz, also known as HaMeniach (1672 – c. 1760), is the author of ‘Leket HaKemach’ and ‘Mishnas Chachamim’. He was the son of Rabbi Yaakov Chagiz, author of ‘Etz Chaim’ and ‘Halachos Ketanos’ and a grandson and disciple of Rabbi Moshe Galanti, the Rav Hamagen. He was brother-in-law of the great scholars of the generation, the author of ‘Pri Chadash’ and the author of ‘Get Pashut’. In 1694 he left Eretz Yisrael for the Diaspora where he dwelt for close to half a century before returning to the Holy Land.
Rabbi Moshe Chagiz gained worldwide repute for his fierce battle, together with the Chacham Tzvi, against the notorious Sabbatean Nechemiah Chayun.
London, 1714. Singular edition. Page Count: [56] leaves.
Size: 19 cm.
Condition: Good. Slight wear to title page margins. New binding.
The "Nachash" Controversy (Nechemiah Chiya Chayun)
Before his Sabbatean nature became known to the world, Nechemiah Chiya Chayun (c. 1668-1730) earned the respect of many great Rabbanim in Europe of that time and even received haskamas for his writings from Rabbi David Oppenheim of Prague and the kabbalist Rabbi Naftali Katz, author of ‘Semichas Chachamim’.
In 1713 he printed his work ‘Oz L’Elokim’ containing Sabbatean heresy and apostasy, and afterwards arrived in Amsterdam and only distributed this work to his close associates.
After one copy was secretly smuggled for review by the Chacham Tzvi and Rabbi Moshe Chagiz, these Rabbanim began to wage a total war against him. A major battle began to develop between Chayun’s opponents on one side, and the Portuguese community in Amsterdam on the other which supported Chayun. Due to the controversy, the Chacham Tzvi was forced to resign from his position as Av Beis Din of the city’s Ashkenazi community.
After some time, Chayun too was forced to abandon the city, and wandered throughout Europe until he died in 1730 in an unknown location. Though this calmed the controversy, its echoes persisted for many years.
During the passionate controversy, many polemic pamphlets were printed, and stormy letters were sent to Rabbanim in all corners of the world. Halachic rulings were issued on some of the controversial writings, instructing them to be burned (such as the present sefer ‘Shever Poshim’). This is why almost no original documents from this controversy have survived.
Apparently, due to the strong control of the Portuguese community in Dutch Amsterdam, it was not possible to print material there against Chayun, and therefore the pamphlets were sent to London to be printed.
