Sabbateans

TheSabbateans(orSabbatians) were a variety ofJewishfollowers, disciples, and believers inSabbatai Zevi(1626–1676),^[1]^[2]^[3]anOttoman Jewish rabbiandKabbalistwho wasproclaimed to be the Jewish Messiahin 1666 byNathan of Gaza.^[1]^[2]

Vast numbers of Jews in theJewish diasporaaccepted his claims, even after he outwardly became anapostatedue to hisforced conversion to Islamin the same year.^[1]^[2]^[3]Sabbatai Zevi's followers, both during his proclaimed messiahship and after his forced conversion to Islam, are known as Sabbateans.^[1]^[3]

In the late 17th century, northern Italy experienced a surge of Sabbatean activity, driven by the missionary efforts ofAbraham Miguel Cardoso.Around 1700, a radical faction within theDönmehmovement, led by Baruchiah Russo, emerged, which sought to abolish manybiblical prohibitions.During the same period, Sabbatean groups from Poland migrated to theLand of Israel.The Sabbatean movement continued to disseminate throughout central Europe and northern Italy during the 18th century, propelled by "prophets" and "believers." Concurrently, anti-Sabbatean literature emerged, leading to a notable dispute between RabbiJacob Emden(Ya'avetz) andJonathan Eybeschuetz.Additionally, a successor movement known asFrankism,led byJacob Frank,began in Eastern Europe during this century.^[4]Part of the Sabbateans lived on until well into 21st-centuryTurkeyas descendants of the Dönmeh.^[1]

Sabbatai Zevi

Sabbatai Zevi was aSephardicordainedrabbifromSmyrna(nowİzmir,Turkey).^[5]^[6]AkabbalistofRomaniote origin,^[7]Zevi, who was active throughout theOttoman Empire,claimed to be the long-awaitedJewish Messiah.He was the founder of the Sabbatean movement, whose followers subsequently were to be known asDönmeh"converts" or crypto-Jews.^[8]

Conversion to Islam

Former followers of Sabbatai do penance for their support of him.

In February 1666, upon arriving inConstantinople,Sabbatai was imprisoned on the order of thegrand vizier Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha;in September of that same year, after being moved from different prisons around the capital toAdrianople(the imperial court's seat) for judgment on accusations of fomentingsedition,Sabbatai was given by the Grand Vizier, in the name of theSultan of the Ottoman Empire,Mehmed IV,the choice of either facing death by some type of ordeal, or ofconverting to Islam.Sabbatai seems to have chosen the latter by donning from then on aturban.He was then also rewarded by the heads of the Ottoman state with a generous pension for his compliance with their political and religious plans.^[9]

Sabbatai's conversion to Islam was extremely disheartening for the world's Jewish communities. In addition to the misery and disappointment from within, Muslims and Christians jeered at and scorned the credulous and duped Jews.^[10]

In spite of Sabbatai's apostasy, many of his adherents still tenaciously clung to him, claiming that his conversion was a part of the Messianic scheme.^[10]This belief was further upheld and strengthened by the likes of Nathan of Gaza andSamuel Primo,who were interested in maintaining the movement.^[11]

Many within Zevi's inner circle followed him into Islam, including his wifeSarahand most of his closest relatives and friends.^{[citation needed]}Nathan of Gaza,the scholar closest to Zevi, who had caused Zevi to reveal his Messiahship and in turn became his prophet, never followed his master into Islam but remained a Jew, albeit excommunicated by his Jewish brethren.^{[citation needed]}

After Sabbatai Zevi's apostasy, many Jews, although horrified, clung to the belief that Zevi could still be regarded as the trueJewish Messiah.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[12]They constituted the largest number of Sabbateans during the 17th and 18th centuries. By the 19th century, Jewish Sabbateans had been reduced to small groups of hidden followers who feared being discovered for their beliefs, that were deemed to be entirelyhereticaland antithetical toRabbinic Judaism.These very Jews fell under the category of "sectarian" Sabbateans, which originated when many Sabbateans refused to accept that Zevi's feigned apostasy might have been indicative of the fact that their faith was genuinely an illusion.^[12]

Another large group of Sabbateans after Zevi's apostasy began to view Islam in an extremely negative light.^[13]Polemics against Islamerupted directly after Zevi's forced conversion. Some of these attacks were considered part of a largely anti-Sabbatean agenda.^[13]Accusations coming from anti-Sabbatean Jews revolved around the idea that Sabbatai Zevi's feigned conversion to Islam was rightfully an indicator of a false claim of Messianship.^[13]

Inside theOttoman Empire,those followers of Zevi who had converted to Islam but who secretly continued Jewish observances andbrit milahbecame known as theDönmeh(Turkish:dönme"convert" ). There were some internal sub-divisions within the sect, according to the geographical locations of the group, and according to who the leaders of these groups were after the death of Sabbatai Zevi.^[14]

Sabbatean-related controversies in Jewish history

Sabbatai Zevi "enthroned" as theJewish Messiah,fromTikkun,Amsterdam,1666

The Emden-Eybeschutz controversy

TheEmden-Eybeschutz controversywas a serious rabbinical disputation with wider political ramifications in Europe that followed the accusations by RabbiJacob Emden(1697–1776), a fierce opponent of the Sabbateans, against RabbiJonathan Eybeschutz(1690–1764) whom he accused of being a secret Sabbatean.^{[citation needed]}

The Emden-Eybeschutz controversy arose concerning theamuletswhich Emden suspected Eybeschutz of issuing. It was alleged that these amulets recognized the messianic claims of Sabbatai Zevi.^{[citation needed]}Emden then accused Eybeschutz of heresy. Emden was known for his attacks directed against the adherents, or those he supposed to be adherents, of Sabbatai Zevi. In Emden's eyes, Eybeschutz was a convicted Sabbatean.^{[citation needed]}The controversy lasted several years, continuing even after Eybeschutz's death.^{[citation needed]}

Emden's assertion ofheresywas chiefly based on the interpretation of some amulets prepared by Eybeschutz, in which Emden professed to see Sabbatean allusions. Hostilities began before Eybeschutz leftPrague;when Eybeschutz was named chief rabbi of the three communities ofAltona,Hamburg,andWandsbekin 1751, the controversy reached the stage of intense and bitter antagonism. Emden maintained that he was at first prevented by threats from publishing anything against Eybeschutz. He solemnly declared in his synagogue the writer of the amulets to be a Sabbatean heretic and deserving ofḥerem(excommunication).^{[citation needed]}

The majority of the rabbis inPoland,Moravia,andBohemia,as well as the leaders of the Three Communities, supported Eybeschutz:^{[citation needed]}the accusation was "utterly incredible".

In July 1725, the Ashkenazicbeth dinof Amsterdam had issued a ban of excommunication on the entire Sabbatian sect (kat ha-ma’aminim). Writings of Sabbatian nature found by the beit Din at that time were attributed to Eybeschutz.^[15]In early September, similar proclamations were issued by thebatei dinof Frankfurt and the triple community of Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbeck. The three bans were printed and circulated in other Jewish communities throughout Europe.^[16]Rabbi Ezekiel Katzenellenbogen,the chief rabbi of the Triple Community andRabbi Moses Hagiz^[17]were unwilling to attack Eybeschütz publicly, mentioning that "greater than him have fallen and crumbled" and that "there is nothing we can do to him".^[17]However, Rabbi Katzenelenbogen stated that one of the texts found by the Amsterdam beit dinVa'avo Hayom el Ha'Ayin"And I Came This Day into the Fountain" was authored by Jonathan Eybeschütz and declared that the all copies of the work that were in circulation should be immediately burned.^[18]^[19]Emden later suggested that the rabbis decided against attacking Eybeschutz out of a reluctance to offend his powerful family and a fear of rich supporters of his living in their communities.^[20]As a result of Eyberschutz and other rabbis in Prague formulating a new (and different) ban against Sabbatianism in September of that year his reputation was restored and Eybeschutz was regarded as having been totally vindicated.^[21]The issue was to arise again, albeit tangentially, in the 1751 dispute between Emden and Eyberschutz.

The controversy was a momentous incident inJewish historyof the period, involving bothYechezkel Landauand theVilna Gaon,and may be credited with having crushed the lingering belief in Sabbatai current even in some Orthodox circles. In 1760 the quarrel broke out once more when some Sabbatean elements were discovered among the students of Eybeschutz'yeshiva.At the same time his younger son, Wolf, presented himself as a Sabbatean prophet, with the result that the yeshiva was closed.^{[citation needed]}

Sabbateans and early Hasidism

Some scholars see seeds of theHasidic movementwithin the Sabbatean movement.^[22]When Hasidism began to spread its influence, a serious schism evolved between the Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews. Those who rejected the Hasidic movement dubbed themselves asmisnagdim( "opponents" ).

Critics of Hasidic Judaism^[who?]expressed concern that Hasidism might become a messianic sect as had occurred among the followers of bothSabbatai ZeviandJacob Frank.However theBaal Shem Tov,the founder of Hasidism, came at a time when the Jewish masses of Eastern Europe were reeling in bewilderment and disappointment engendered by the two Jewishfalse messiahsSabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) and Jacob Frank (1726–1791) in particular.

Sabbateans and modern secularism

Some scholars have claimed that the Sabbatean movement in general fostered and connected well with the principles of modernsecularism.^[23]Related to this is the drive of theDönmehin Turkey for secularizing their society just as European Jews promoted the values ofAge of Enlightenmentand its Jewish equivalent thehaskalah.^{[citation needed]}

Rabbis who opposed the Sabbateans

Joseph Escapa(1572–1662) was especially known for having been the teacher of Zevi and for having afterward excommunicated him.^[24]
Aaron Lapapa(1590–1674) was the rabbi atSmyrnain 1665, when Zevi's movement was at its height there. He was one of the few rabbis to oppose andexcommunicateZevi. Zevi and his adherents retorted by deposing him and forcing him to leave the city, and his office was given to his colleague, Hayyim Benveniste, at that time one of Sabbatai's followers. After Sabbatai's conversion toIslam,Lapapa seems to have been reinstated.^{[citation needed]}
Jacob ben Aaron Sasportas(1610–1698) was one of the fiercest opponents of the Sabbatean movement. He wrote many letters to various communities in Europe, Asia, and Africa, exhorting them to unmask the impostors and to warn the people against them. He documented his struggle in his bookTzitzat Novel Tzvi,the title being based on Isaiah 28:4. He wrote a number of works, such asToledot Ya'akob(1652), an index of Biblical passages found in thehaggadahof theJerusalem Talmud,similar to Aaron Pesaro'sToledot Aharon,which relates to the BabylonianTalmudonly; andOhel Ya'akov(1737), a volume of halachicresponsawhich includes polemical correspondence against Zevi and his followers.
Jacob Hagis(1620–1674) was one of Zevi's chief opponents, who put him under theban.About 1673 Hagis went toConstantinopleto publish hisLehem ha-Panim,but he died there before this was accomplished. This book, as well as many others of his, was lost.
Naphtali Cohen(1649–1718) was akabbalistwho was tricked into giving anapprobationto a book by the SabbateanNehemiah Hayyun.Provided with this and with other recommendations secured in the same way, Hayyun traveled throughoutMoraviaandSilesia,propagating everywhere his Sabbatean teachings. Cohen soon discovered his mistake, and endeavored, without success, to recover his approbation, although he did not as yet realize the full import of the book. It was in 1713, while Cohen was staying atBreslau(where he acted as a rabbi until 1716), that HahamTzvi AshkenaziofAmsterdaminformed him of its tenets. Cohen thereupon acted rigorously. He launched a ban against the author and his book, and became one of the most zealous supporters of Haham Tzvi in his campaign against Hayyun.
David Nieto(1654–1728) was thehahamof theSpanish and Portuguese Jewishcommunity inLondon.He waged war untiringly on the Sabbateans, which he regarded as dangerous to the best interests of Judaism, and in this connection wrote hisEsh Dat(London, 1715) againstNehemiah Hayyun(who supported Zevi).
Tzvi Ashkenazi(1656–1718) known as theChacham Tzvi,for some timerabbiofAmsterdam,was a resolute opponent of the followers of Sabbatai Zevi. In Salonica he also witnessed the impact of theSabbatai Zevimovement on the community, and this experience became a determining factor in his whole career. His sonJacob Emdenserved as rabbi inEmdenand followed in his father's footsteps in combating the Sabbatean movement.
Moses Hagiz(1671- c. 1750) was born inJerusalemand waged a campaign againstSabbateanemissaries during 1725-1726.^{[citation needed]}
Jacob Emden(1697–1776) wasTalmudicscholar and leading opponent of theSabbatians.He is best known as the opponent of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz, whom he accused of being a Sabbatean duringThe Emden-Eybeschütz Controversy.

References

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Judaism - The Lurianic Kabbalah: Shabbetaianism".Encyclopædia Britannica.Edinburgh:Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.23 January 2020.Retrieved6 October2020.RabbiShabbetai TzeviofSmyrna(1626–76), whoproclaimed himself messiahin 1665. Although the "messiah" wasforcibly converted to Islamin 1666 and ended his life in exile 10 years later, he continued to have faithful followers. A sect was thus born and survived, largely thanks to the activity ofNathan of Gaza(c. 1644–90), an unwearying propagandist who justified the actions of Shabbetai Tzevi, including his final apostasy, with theories based on theLurian doctrine of "repair".Tzevi's actions, according to Nathan, should be understood as the descent of the just into the abyss of the "shells" in order to liberate the captive particles of divine light. The Shabbetaian crisis lasted nearly a century, and some of its aftereffects lasted even longer. It led to the formation of sects whose members were externally converted to Islam—e.g., theDönmeh(Turkish: "Apostates" ) ofSalonika,whose descendants still live inTurkey—or toRoman Catholicism—e.g., thePolish supportersofJacob Frank(1726–91), the self-proclaimed messiah andCatholic convert(inBohemia-Moravia,however, the Frankists outwardly remained Jews). This crisis did not discredit Kabbalah, but it did lead Jewish spiritual authorities to monitor and severely curtail its spread and to use censorship and other acts of repression against anyone—even a person of tested piety and recognized knowledge—who was suspected of Shabbetaian sympathies or messianic pretensions.
^^a ^b ^c ^dKarp, Abraham J. (2017).""Witnesses to History": Shabbetai Zvi - False Messiah (Judaic Treasures) ".Jewish Virtual Library.American–Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE).Archivedfrom the original on 16 October 2017.Retrieved6 October2020.Born in Smyrna in 1626, he showed early promise as aTalmudic scholar,and even more as a student and devotee ofKabbalah.More pronounced than his scholarship were his strange mystical speculations and religious ecstasies. He traveled to various cities, his strong personality and his alternatelyasceticandself-indulgentbehavior attracting and repelling rabbis and populace alike. He was expelled from Salonica by its rabbis for having staged a wedding service with himself as bridegroom and theTorahas bride. His erratic behavior continued. For long periods, he was a respected student and teacher of Kabbalah; at other times, he was given to messianic fantasies and bizarre acts. At one point, living inJerusalemseeking "peace for his soul," he sought out a self-proclaimed "man of God,"Nathan of Gaza,who declared Shabbetai Zvi to be the Messiah. Then Shabbetai Zvi began to act the part [...] On September 15, 1666, Shabbetai Zvi, brought before the sultan and given the choice of death or apostasy, prudently chose the latter, setting a turban on his head to signify his conversion to Islam, for which he was rewarded with the honorary title "Keeper of the Palace Gates" and a pension of 150 piasters a day. The apostasy shocked the Jewish world. Leaders and followers alike refused to believe it. Many continued to anticipate a second coming, and faith in false messiahs continued through the eighteenth century. In the vast majority of believers revulsion and remorse set in and there was an active endeavor to erase all evidence, even mention of the pseudo messiah. Pages were removed from communal registers, and documents were destroyed. Few copies of the books that celebrated Shabbetai Zvi survived, and those that did have become rarities much sought after by libraries and collectors.
^^a ^b ^c ^dKohler, Kaufmann;Malter, Henry(1906)."Shabbetai Ẓevi".Jewish Encyclopedia.Kopelman Foundation.Retrieved6 October2020.At the command [of the sultan], Shabbetai was now taken fromAbydostoAdrianople,where the sultan's physician, a former Jew, advised Shabbetai to embrace Islam as the only means of saving his life. Shabbetai realized the danger of his situation and adopted the physician's advice. On the following day [...] being brought before the sultan, he cast off his Jewish garb and put a Turkish turban on his head; and thus his conversion to Islam was accomplished. The sultan was much pleased, and rewarded Shabbetai by conferring on him the title (Mahmed) "Effendi" and appointing him as his doorkeeper with a high salary. [...] To complete his acceptance of Mohammedanism, Shabbetai was ordered totake an additional wife,a Mohammedanslave,which order he obeyed. [...] Meanwhile, Shabbetai secretly continued his plots, playing a double game. At times he would assume the role of a pious Mohammedan and revile Judaism; at others he would enter into relations with Jews as one of their own faith. Thus in March, 1668, he gave out anew that he had been filled with theHoly SpiritatPassoverand had received a revelation. He, or one of his followers, published a mystic work addressed to the Jews in which the most fantastic notions were set forth, e.g., that he was the true Redeemer, in spite of his conversion, his object being to bring over thousands of Mohammedans to Judaism. To the sultan he said that his activity among the Jews was to bring them over to Islam. He therefore received permission to associate with his former coreligionists, and even to preach in their synagogues. He thus succeeded in bringing over a number of Mohammedans to hiscabalistic views,and, on the other hand, in converting many Jews to Islam, thus forming a Judæo-Turkish sect (seeDönmeh), whose followers implicitly believed in him [as theJewish Messiah]. This double-dealing with Jews and Mohammedans, however, could not last very long. Gradually the Turks tired of Shabbetai's schemes. He was deprived of his salary, and banished from Adrianople toConstantinople.In a village near the latter city he was one day surprised whilesinging psalmsin a tent with Jews, whereupon the grand vizier ordered his banishment toDulcigno,a small place inAlbania,where he died in loneliness and obscurity.
^Barnavi, Eli, ed. (1992). "The Era of False Messiahs".The Historical Atlas of the Jewish People.Hutchinson. pp. 148–149.ISBN 0 09 177593 0.
^Scholem,op. cit.,p. 111, mentions, among other evidence of Sabbatai's early rabbinic training andsemikhahby Rabbi Joseph Eskapha of his native town of Smyrna: "According to the testimony of Leib b. Ozer, the notary of the notary of the Ashkenazi community of Amsterdam..., Sabbatai was eighteen years old when he was ordained ahakham."Scholem also writes, in the previous sentence:" Thomas Coenen, the Protestant minister serving the Dutch congregation in Smyrna, tells us... that he received the titlehakham,the Sephardi honorific for a rabbi, when still an adolescent. "
^Wigoder, Geoffrey (1972).Jewish Art and Civilization.p. 44.
^Goldish, M. Jewish Questions: Responsa on Sephardic Life in the Early Modern Period, esp. p. Introduction XXXI, 2008 (The author describes him as a Romaniote Jew)
^Rifa N. Bali (2008), pp. 91-92
^Scholem,op cit.,pp. 678–681; Scholem, Gershom. "Shabbetai Zevi." Encyclopaedia Judaica, pp. 348–350
^^a ^bScholem, Gershom (1973).Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah.Princeton University Press. pp. 821–828.
^Kahana, Maoz (2012). "The Allure of Forbidden Knowledge: The Temptation of Sabbatean Literature for Mainstream Rabbis in the Frankist Moment, 1756–1761".The Jewish Quarterly Review.102(4): 589–616.doi:10.1353/jqr.2012.0033.JSTOR 41681764.S2CID 162409618.
^^a ^bScholem, Gershom (1973).Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah.Princeton University Press. pp. 687–693.
^^a ^b ^cJacobs, Martin (2007). "An Ex-Sabbatean's Remorse? Sambari's Polemics against Islam".The Jewish Quarterly Review.97(3): 347–378.doi:10.1353/jqr.2007.0038.JSTOR 25470213.S2CID 162896245.
^"A Strange Sect in Saloniki"(PDF).The New York Times.January 26, 1919.
^Emden, Beit Yehonatan ha-Sofer, fol. 4.
^Excerpts from the testimonies were printed by Emden in his Beit Yehonatan ha-Sofer, Altona 1762, fol. 4v; the full text of the testimonies, letters, and proclamations pertaining to the investigation can be found in [Josef Prager], Gahalei Esh, Oxford, Bodleian Library. Ms. 2186, Vol. I, fols. 70r -129
^^a ^bGahalei Esh, Vol. I, fol. 54
^Prager, Gahalei Esh, Vol. I, fol. 54v.
^Maciejko, Paweł (2014). "The Rabbi and the Jesuit: On Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschütz and Father Franciscus Haselbauer Editing the Talmud".Jewish Social Studies.20(2): 147.doi:10.2979/jewisocistud.20.2.147.S2CID 161462387.
^Emden, Sefer Hitabbkut, fos. 1v-2r
^[Prager], Gahalei Esh, fol.112r
^"Post Sabbatian Sabbatianism".Bezalel Naor (Rav Kook on Sabbatianism). December 12, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon December 5, 2006.
^"Sabbatean Messianism as Proto Secularism".M. Avrum Ehrlich. December 12, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon January 14, 2007.
^Goldstein, M.B. (2013).The Newest Testament: A Secular Bible.Archway Publishing. p. 468.ISBN 9781480801554.