Sabbateanism Dramatis Personae Isaac Luria 1534 1572 Shabbetai

Sabbateanism: Dramatis Personae • • • Isaac Luria (1534 -1572) Shabbetai Zvi (1626 -1676) Nathan of Gaza (1643 -1680) Abraham Miguel Cardozo Baruchiah Russo, oder Osman Baba (1695 -1740) • Jacob Frank (1726 -1791)

Zwei wichtige Sekte • Dönmeh (wörtlich, „those who turn“ auf Turkish): Muslim in public, Jewish/Sabbatean in private (1666 -early 20 th) • Frankists (followers of Jacob Frank): Catholic in public, Jewish/Sabbatean in private (1759 -19 th)

Key Dates in Sabbatean Movement • • • 1648: First declaration of SZ’s messiahood 1650 s: SZ expelled by community of Izmir 1662: Wanders, settles in J’lem 1664: Marries orphan, prostitute Sarah. 1665 (May): Involvement of Nathan of Gaza; declares SZ Messiah 1665 (Dec): SZ returns to Turkey, publically declares Messiaship in synagogue in Izmir 1666 (Feb): SZ in Gefängnis 1666 (Jun): predicted date of redemption 1666 (Sep): Übertriit von SZ zum Isam 1676 (am Versöhnungstag): Tod von SZ 1683: conversion of several hundred Salonika families to Islam “so as to conquer the kelipah from within” (Scholem, “Redemption through Sin”, p. 114)

When Prophecy Fails “The Sabbatean movement strikingly illustrates the phenomenon we are concerned with: when people are committed to a belief and a course of action, clear, disconfirming evidence may simply result in deepened conviction and increased proselytizing. ” (Zitat aus Leon Festinger, When Prophecy Fails, in Matt Goldish, Sabbatean Prophets, p. 162)

Der Bräutigam ist angekommen “And no sooner had Shabbathai declared himself the Messiah, but Nathan discovers himself to be his prophet, forbidding all the fasts of the Jews of Jerusalem, and declaring that the Bridegroom being come, nothing but joy and triumph ought to dwell in their habitations…Nathan took the courage and boldness to prophesy that in one year [1666]…the Messiah was to appear before the Grand Signior [i. e. the Sultan], and to take from his crown, and lead him in chains like a captive. ” [aus Paul Rycaut]

Nathan von Gaza als Elias der Prophet? “…because it was thought necessary, according to Scripture and ancient prophecies, that Elijah was to precede the Messiah, as St. John Baptist was the forerunner of Christ, Nathan thought no man so proper to act the part of the prophet as himself. ” [aus Paul Rycaut, History of the Turkish Empire]

Rabbi Isaac Luria with the Sefirotic Tree

Shabbetai Zevi False Messiah par excellence

Nathan of Gaza

The Dönmeh

Jacob Frank