June 10, 2025|י"ד סיון ה' אלפים תשפ"ה From Printing Press to X, When Instant Can Become Insidious
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It was a clash between two respected and prolific people with elevated positions. Nobody knew what to expect next, and everybody was shocked by how intense and at times vicious this back-and-forth was.
Rav Yaakov Emden (1697-1776), also known as the Ya’avetz, was one of the greatest halachic decisors of his time, and his opinions continue to be quoted every day around the world. In 1728, he answered the call to serve as the Rabbi of Emden, the German city from which he ultimately took his surname. In an effort to preserve his independence and ability to speak freely, he resigned after only four years and moved back to his hometown of Altona, refusing to take another official rabbinic position ever again. Soon after, he obtained permission from the King of Denmark to own a printing press, which he established in his home and used to publish his countless writings.
Rav Yonasan Eibshutz (1690-1764) was a child prodigy and became the head of the Yeshiva of Prague at only twenty-one years old. He became well known for his brilliance, scholarship, and oratory ability and ultimately became the Chief Rabbi of the "Three Communities" of Altona-Hamburg-Wandsbek.
At the time, Rav Emden was dedicated to opposing and fighting the growing movement claiming that the recently deceased Shabtai Tzvi was the messiah. In the early 1750s, amulets prepared by Rav Eibshutz were presented to him with the claim that its author was secretly a Sabbatian and had embedded heretical messages in them. Rav Emden examined them and concluded that indeed, the author of the amulets was a follower of Shabtai Tzvi, a heretic who must be opposed. Rav Eibschutz denied the allegations and accused Rav Emden of misreading and misinterpreting the amulet.
An enormous controversy erupted throughout Germany and beyond, creating a major split, with the greatest rabbis of the generation taking sides. Rav Yaakov Emden wrote and published relentlessly, leveling suspicions and accusations against Rav Yonasan Eibshutz, not only about following Shabtai Tzvi but of other outrageous and deviant behavior. In addition to many letters and pamphlets, in 1753, he published Lema’an Da’as, a collection of letters and evidence about Sabbateans in general and Rav Eibshutz in particular. In 1755, he published a polemic called Vayakem Edus B’Yaakov. In 1759, he published Sheviras Luchos HaAven, a refutation of Rav Eibshutz’s defense. (Our own Rabbi Yosef Kassorla once gave a wonderful class at BRS that delved into a detailed history of this famous episode, click here to listen to it.)
In the cemetery of Altona, Germany, only four headstones apart, are the graves of Rav Yaakov Emden and Rav Yonasan Eibshutz. Vicious public adversaries in their lifetime, these two Torah giants are buried for eternity, essentially side by side. It is said that before he passed away, members of the Chevra Kaddisha saw Rav Emden greeting his ancestors before he joined them in the Olam Ha’emes, the world of truth. And then, to the astonishment of the members of the Chevra Kaddish, he continued and said, “And Shalom Aleicha, Rav Yonasan Eibshutz.” The man whom he had opposed so vocally and vociferously had passed away twelve years earlier and was now coming to greet him and welcome him into the next world. When he learned about this, the Noda B’Yehudah, Rav Yechezkel Landau, instrusted the Chevra Kaddish to find the closest grave possible so the two who had made up and reconciled in the next world, would forever lie together in this one.
While this controversy has a heartwarming end, it threatened to tear apart the Jewish community while it raged. The conflict had grown so intense, the Emperor Frederick of Denmark, the kingdom which controlled the relevant cities, got involved. At first, he sided with Rabbi Yaakov Emden and removed Rabbi Yonasan Eibschutz from his position, but he later reversed himself, and restored him. The controversy lasted for years and led to a series of excommunications and counter-excommunications.
Much of the controversy and conflict was the result of the published polemics that spread widely. It has been pointed out that if only Rav Yaakov Emden didn’t have a printing press in his home, perhaps the harshness of the controversy could have been mitigated or avoided. If he had to enlist a publisher, have his works edited and taken time to publish, it is likely that the whole story wouldn’t have been. Instead, each time Rav Emden had a thought, a reaction, something he wanted to say, he was able to write and share almost instantaneously. Time to think, reflect, and consider would have been helpful in avoiding a conflict that continues to reverberate until today.
To be clear, Rav Emden and Rav Eibshutz were Torah giants, leaders whose words we continue to study and whose lessons we continue to learn. Their machlokes was certainly l’shem Shomayim, sincerely driven, and their places in the cemetery testifies to how much more in common they had than that which separated them and their shared legacy and place among our people. We must not trivialize this episode or minimize their greatness with comparisons to others, particularly to those who shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as them.
Yet, I thought about the particular observation of the role of the printing press as we all watched the unravelling of the partnership and bromance between the wealthiest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world in real time. Disagreeing with President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Elon Musk took to X to express his criticism. It didn’t take long for their public spat to escalate with each side responding in real time with insults, accusations, and behavior that frankly we might expect more from dueling children than from the most high-profile people in the world.
For now, it seems the spat has simmered, with Musk publicly supporting President Trump’s actions supporting ICE raids in Los Angeles. But the conflict brought us (and may still bring us again) dangerously close to impacting politics, policies, and the economy. As the tweets were flying, all I could think to myself was how this could have been avoided if they didn’t each have keyboards, phones, and internet access at their fingertips. Imagine if they had to convene their public relations teams, work with their PR experts to decide if they should issue this statement and publish this response? Surely they would have been counseled to slow down, catch their breath, express themselves maturely and productively.
There is no question that technology, including AI, have brought enormous blessings and gifts in the dissemination of Torah, in connecting us, and in a variety of productive ways. This spat, however, is a startling reminder of how these innovations have a much darker side: they can be dangerous and damaging and wreak havoc. As they are developed and in choosing how to engage them, one must be tremendously judicious, careful, thoughtful, and guarded.
The Kotzker Rebbe was once asked, if Shlomo HaMelech was truly the wisest of all men, the most brilliant of all time, why didn’t he invent the train? The Kotzker’s answer is penetrating and prescient. He said that surely Shlomo thought of the train and could have introduced it to the world but he understood the downside, the risk, how it could be used negatively, and he determined it wasn’t worth it, better to keep it to himself.
AI can expedite efficiency and productivity, but it can also introduce endless deceptions and lies, leaving us all wondering which correspondence, image, and video are even real.
Of course this hypothetical is too late, but knowing what we know now about the negative impact of the internet and social media on mental illness and happiness, how it is used to spread hate, would we bring it to the world anyway or would we have concluded the world is better without it?
The conclusion is not clear or black and white. The answer is debatable but as we plow forward with technological innovation, the question must be asked and considered.
The Chafetz Chaim, R’ Yisrael Meir HaKohen, (Shem Olam, Volume I) writes that while technology adds efficiency, ease, and comfort to our lives, its ultimate purpose is to serve as a metaphor that can strengthen our Emunah, our faith in Hashem and in His hashgacha, His providence in the world and in our lives.
Writing a century ago, and relating to the new inventions of his time, the Chafetz Chaim says they can help us understand and apply the Mishna (Avos 2:1), “Contemplate three things and you will not come to make mistakes: Know what is above you: a seeing eye, a listening ear, and all your deeds being inscribed in a book.”
Earlier generations were stronger in their basic Emunah and didn’t need these illustrations to bolster their faith but in the last few hundred years, he writes, when our faith has weakened and our doubt has increased, Hashem sends us these amazing technologies, each designed to help us connect with another aspect of living with Emunah.
For example, the telescope enables us to understand that Hashem sees and observes everything we do here on Earth, even though He may be very far away. The wonder of the phone enriches our belief in prayer. Just like we can talk in the phone on one side of the world and be heard on the other, Hashem hears all our prayers, even though there is a great distance for them to travel. Says the Chafetz Chaim, the photograph is a recorded picture of someone who may not even be aware they are being watched or that their picture is being taken. It lasts long after the person is gone. One day, we will appear before our Creator, Who will review the recorded life we led that exists even after we are gone. The phonograph, which is the recording of a person’s voice that can be captured and played back later, is a metaphor for how one day we will be accountable for all the ways we used our speech inappropriately to gossip, criticize, or slander.
In many ways we are beneficiaries of the printing press, the internet and AI but the controversies of the past and l’havdil, the present are reminders to be thoughtful and judicious in how we use them and to always ask ourselves how they can enhance our relationship with Hashem.