Naftali Hertz ben Yaakov Elchanan
German rabbi
Naftali Hertz ben Yaakov Elchanan (Bacharach) (17th century) was a German rabbi, born in Frankfurt, author of the controversial work Emeq HaMelekh (Valley of the King, 1648, Amsterdam) on the subject of the Lurianic Kabbalah.
Works
His most well-known work, Emeq HaMelekh, was based mainly on Israel Sarug's Limmudei Azilut (published 1897), incorporating large portions of that text. It seems very likely that Bacharach borrowed heavily from many sources (including Sarug, Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, and Shabbetai Horowitz) without acknowledging the debt (Scholem 1974). The book had a major impact on later kabbalah as it was regarded among many, including the Chabad Hasidim and the followers of the Vilna Gaon, as an authoritative statement of Luria's kabbala. Its influence is also evident in Ramchal's system. The book indicates that, prior to the conquest of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity, the prophet Jeremiah hid the treasures of Solomon's Temple, with the assistance of five others.
Although Emeq HaMelekh contained approbations from well-respected scholars, it also met with substantial disapproval from contemporary kabbalists such as Hayyim ben Abraham ha-Kohen and Berechiah Berak, and later from Chaim Joseph David Azulai and Moses Hagiz. Ha-Kohen accuses Bacharach of falsely attributing his own ideas to Luria.
The book Emeq HaMelekh is the source for the famous story about the historic Avraham Avinu synagogue in Hebron. According to the introduction, a stranger appeared on the evening of Yom Kippur to serve as the 10th man of the minyan and thus complete the required number of people for a prayer service.
“Naftali Hertz ben Yaakov Elchanan” enters the record as german rabbi. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Naftali, Hertz and Yaakov can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6958227. VIAF identifies the subject as 29419349. The Library of Congress control number is nr94036721. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1648, 1897 and 1974.
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