Sabbatian Heresy

Writings on Mysticism, Messianism, and the Origins of Jewish Modernity

Pawel Maciejko

• Publisher: Brandeis University Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781512600520, 9781611687279
• eBook ISBN: 9781512600537
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

The pronouncements of Sabbatai Tsevi (1626–76) gave rise to Sabbatianism, a key messianic movement in Judaism that spread across Jewish communities in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The movement, which featured a set of theological doctrines in which Jewish Kabbalistic tradition merged with Muslim and later Christian elements, suffered a setback with Tsevi's conversion to Islam in 1666. Nonetheless, for another hundred and fifty years, Sabbatianism continued to exist as a heretical underground movement. It provoked intense opposition from rabbinic authorities for another century and had a significant impact on central developments of later Judaism, such as the Haskalah, the Reform movement, Hasidism, and the secularization of Jewish society. This volume provides a selection of the most original and influential texts composed by Sabbatai Tsevi and his followers, complemented by fragments of the works of their rabbinic opponents and contemporary observers and some literary works inspired by Sabbatianism. An introduction and annotations by Pawel Maciejko provide historical, political, and social context for the documents.

Index

Abraham’s Morn (Cardozo), 67, 81–82

Adam (first man), Frank on, 160

Agnon, Shmuel Josef, 176, 193–96

Amarillo, Abraham, xxvi

And I Came This Day unto the Fountain (Eibeschütz), 115, 117, 119–22

antinominianism. See entries under transgressive behavior

apostasy of Sabbatians: Cardozo on, 72–73; literary account of, 176, 183–92; Nathan of Gaza on, xi, xxi, 25, 47; as superficial, Gershom Scholem on, xx, xxii. See also Islam, Sabbatians’ conversion to; transreligious (syncretic) facet of Sabbatianism

apostasy of Tsevi. See Islam, Tsevi’s conversion to

art, Tsevi as subject of, xii

Ashkenazi, Nathan Benjamin. See Nathan of Gaza

Ashkenazi, Tsevi Hirsch ben Yaakov. See Tsevi, Hakham

Ayllon, Solomon, 87, 105–6

Bałaban, Majer, xvi

ben David, Abraham, 81–82

ben David, messiah, Cardozo on, 73, 73n6

ben Ephraim, messiah, 73, 73n6

Ben Habib, Moses, testimony before rabbinic court, 31–33

ben Joseph, messiah, Cardozo on, 73, 73n6, 74

ben Lakish, Simon, 65

ben Ozer, Leyb, 2

ben Yohai, Shimon, 12, 82, 105, 109

Berukhiah (leader of the Koniosos): Fleckeles’ critique of, 169, 170; syncretic motif of Sabbatianism and, xxi–xxii

Bet Kodesh ha-Kodashim (Hayon), 110

Book of the Sacred Contention, The (Kohen), 67, 83–86

Bridle for the Deceiver, The (Emden), 145–50

Cardozo, Avraham Miguel: Abraham’s Morn, 67, 81–82; on apostasy of Jews, as foretold, 72–73; and Christian influence on Sabbatianism, xxiii; and conflict among Sabbatians, 67; correspondence with Nathan of Gaza, 67, 83–84; death of, 67, 85–86; disagreements with Nathan of Gaza, 47; Eibeschütz and, 117; on faith of ancestors, 81–82; Hayon and, 87; on Jewish exile, 68–69; Kohen’s critique of, 83–86; letters to Isaac Cardozo, 71–75, 76; letter to Baruch Enriques, 76–80; life of, 67; Meheimenuta de-Khola, 87, 88; Raza de-Meheimenuta, 87, 88; and tension between personal relationship with God and established religious doctrine, xxviii; theological tracts by, 67; and transreligious facet of Sabbatianism, xxiv; on True vs. Jewish God, 68–69; on Tsevi as messiah, xxvii, 76–80; on Tsevi as messiah, fated rejection of, 69, 71–72; on Tsevi’s conversion to Islam, xxvi, 67, 69, 72–74, 79–80, 84

Cardozo, Isaac, 67, 71, 76, 79

Cardozo, Shalom, 85–86

Christianity: Eibeschütz as crypto-Christian, 118, 133–35, 137–38; Nathan of Gaza’s interest in, xxiii; Sabbatians’ engagement with, xxiii–xxiv, xxv; similarities to Sabbatianism as issue, 88. See also transreligious (syncretic) facet of Sabbatianism

Christians, nonconfessional, Sabbatians and, xxx–xxxi

Coenen, Thomas, 2, 8–11

commandments, Dönmeh’s rejection of, 48

Cordovero, Moses, 82

creation: Eibeschü...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• I | Sabbatian Movement prior to Sabbatai Tsevi’s Conversion to Islam
• II | Sabbatai Tsevi’s Conversion and Its Interpretation
• III | Sabbatianism in the Ottoman Empire
• IV | Avraham Miguel Cardozo
• V | The Hayon Controversy
• VI | The Eibeschütz Controversy
• VII | Jacob Frank and the Frankists
• VIII | Literary Accounts of Sabbatianism
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• Index