The Sabbatean Prophets

From Mystical Vision to Prophetic Eruption 103
would ask a member of his retinue who accompanied him, “What deed did
you observe him do, and what wonder did he perform that causes you to
adhere [to him] with such jealousy”, he would answer, “Is not the fire he
displayed a miraculous occurrence Is it not enough of a wonder that the
whole episode ended with no damage or expense” The truth, of course, is
quite the opposite. 38
The image of the pillar of fire is of particular interest because it has a long
career. One source is in Exodus 13:21–22, where a pillar of cloud by day and
of fire by night led the Children of Israel in the desert; and Exodus 14:19–20,
where the same pillar separated the Israelites from the pursuing Egyptians.
(The image of the cadi expelling Shabbatai out of fear also appears to imitate
the story of Moses before Pharaoh.) But there were more proximate associations
as well. Pillars, especially pillars of fire, played an important role in the
Lurianic messianic context. 39 According to Baruch of Arezzo, a pillar of fire
appeared on the sail of the ship bearing Shabbatai Zvi to Istanbul, signaling
its rescue from a fierce storm and miraculous instant transport to the desired
port. 40 Nathan describes seeing such a pillar in his first Sabbatean prophecy,
according to the Pinheiro interview. The Sabbatean Daniel Israel, nephew of
Cardoso, produced pillars of fire as a prodigy to attract believers to Shabbatai
at the end of the seventeenth century. 41 The pillar of fire image turns up
elsewhere in Sabbatean literature as well.
So far, then, we have an incident that shows how signs and wonders
could be created from a mundane incident at the will of the believers. But
this was just the beginning, for in the wake of Shabbatai’s visit to the cadi
came a spate of visionary experiences.
Following the original fire [from Shabbatai’s mouth] and pillar of fire, new
revelations resembling these began. On almost every street corner people
told of seeing pillars of fire. One claimed to have seen a pillar of fire in the
light of day, another that he saw it at night, and a third that the entire moon
appeared to him as if on fire. A fourth dared to claim that he saw the heavens
open up, and within them was a pillar of fire in which was embedded
the image of a man whose appearance resembled that of the sage Shabbatai,
with a crown on his head. A fifth saw a star plummet from the sky into the
sea, and after a short while it was raised back from the sea to the heaven.
Innumerable other vacuous stories circulated, all exactly as true as the first
vision. In any case, it is certain that all these false visions made these unfortunate
people mad at the same time. And although everything I tell here