The Sabbatean Prophets

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Opponents and Observers Respond 161 who would “convert” to Sabbateanism and turn their backs on Christian authority. Sabbatean prophets continued to appear throughout the movement until Shabbatai’s apostasy, and afterward as well. The enormous wave of popular prophecy in Izmir and Istanbul petered out, but some figures, like Suriel, continued the practice for many months. It is ironic that Shabbatai’s eventual downfall, his forced appearance before the vizier for the second time in the summer of 1666, was the direct result of another prophetic interlocutor, R. Nehemiah Kohen. The details about this figure are shrouded in mystery, but many accounts say he was taken as a prophet in Poland, and that Shabbatai sent for him because of this. Kohen argued with Shabbatai, apparently about the respective messianic identities of the two men, then went and denounced Shabbatai to the authorities. 97 Messianic prophecy thus closed the exoteric period of the Sabbatean movement, just as it had opened it.
CHAPTER 6 Prophecy after Shabbatai’s Apostasy The Sabbataean 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. —L. Festinger et al., When Prophecy Fails, 12 When Shabbatai Zvi accepted Islam before the sultan in 1666, the majority of the Jewish world turned its back on the would-be messiah and returned to normal life. Yet a great many followers could not accept the idea that their deep emotional investment had been futile. The embarrassed leaders of the Jewish community sought to eradicate the traces of their error, and over time they turned sharply against these remaining believers. Like a minority of followers in most failed messianic movements, however, the loyal Sabbateans went underground and kept up the faith in secret. 1 Several hundred of them converted to Islam during the 1680s to follow the example of Shabbatai, but most remained within Judaism. Cells developed in the Ottoman Empire and Europe. As long as Shabbatai and Nathan were alive, they kept in touch with the believers. One might expect that in such circumstances the prophecies about Shabbatai would cease; or they might be studied and interpreted, but no new revelations would emerge. In fact, the prophetic activity of Sabbatean believers seems to have grown after the apostasy. In a related trend, although numerous authors have written about the negative repercussions caused by the movement on the study and practice of Kabbalah, there is more evidence to show that interest in Kabbalah in the generation after Shabbatai’s apostasy dramatically increased. Along with Kabbalah studies came a surge of non- Sabbatean prophecy that was also rife in kabbalistic circles for a long time afterward. 162
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The Sabbatean Prophets
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Copyright © 2004 by the President
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Contents Preface ix Prologue 1 1 Me
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x Preface of Jewish mysticism, but,
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xii Preface into sleep. My daughter
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Prologue In the spring of 1665, Rab
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Prologue 3 academies), and in his e
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Prologue 5 who would always pursue
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Prologue 7 messiah, like the accept
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The Early Modern Context 9 liefs wa
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The Early Modern Context 11 curring
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The Early Modern Context 13 ment an
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The Early Modern Context 15 cess of
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The Early Modern Context 17 Nathani
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The Early Modern Context 19 faiths.
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The Early Modern Context 21 terpret
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The Early Modern Context 23 ing, so
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The Early Modern Context 25 mists,
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The Early Modern Context 27 Renewed
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The Early Modern Context 29 istence
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The Early Modern Context 31 fluenti
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The Early Modern Context 33 miah, a
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The Early Modern Context 35 than Je
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gatekeeper—the same office given
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The Early Modern Context 39 messian
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CHAPTER 2 Messianism and Prophecy i
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The Jewish Tradition 43 anic age. 1
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The Jewish Tradition 45 Converso Me
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The Jewish Tradition 47 messianic t
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The Jewish Tradition 49 ence on the
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The Jewish Tradition 51 balah broug
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The Jewish Tradition 53 was itself
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The Jewish Tradition 55 Sarah, like
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Nathan of Gaza 57 Each claimed to b
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Nathan of Gaza 59 prolonged fast [h
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Nathan of Gaza 61 who also appears
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Nathan of Gaza 63 In both Nathan’
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Nathan of Gaza 65 streets and house
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Nathan of Gaza 67 may his light shi
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Nathan of Gaza 69 riod in Safed. 43
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Nathan of Gaza 71 messianic pretend
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Nathan of Gaza 73 a member of the T
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Nathan of Gaza 75 jah and Joseph So
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Nathan of Gaza 77 without war, for
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Nathan of Gaza 79 coming the Sabbat
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Nathan of Gaza 81 the Land of Israe
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Nathan of Gaza 83 public prophecy o
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Nathan of Gaza 85 Shabbatai Zvi ...
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Nathan of Gaza 87 but the general i
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CHAPTER 4 From Mystical Vision to P
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From Mystical Vision to Prophetic E
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Page 126 and 127: From Mystical Vision to Prophetic E
Page 146 and 147: Opponents and Observers Respond 131
Page 178 and 179: Prophecy after Shabbatai’s Aposta
Page 186: NOTES INDEX
Page 189 and 190: 174 Notes to Pages 3-8 8. See Rapha
Page 191 and 192: 176 Notes to Pages 12-14 Early Mode
Page 193 and 194: 178 Notes to Pages 15-16 35. See Mi
Page 195 and 196: 180 Notes to Pages 17-18 Eighteenth
Page 197 and 198: 182 Notes to Pages 21-24 This Resti
Page 199 and 200: 184 Notes to Pages 26-29 and Though
Page 201 and 202: 186 Notes to Pages 33-36 First Two
Page 203 and 204: 188 Notes to Pages 38-43 Influences
Page 205 and 206: 190 Notes to Pages 46-49 Mysticism,
Page 207 and 208: 192 Notes to Pages 59-62 duced and
Page 209 and 210: 194 Notes to Pages 63-68 tors,” I
Page 211 and 212: 196 Notes to Pages 72-73 to refer t
Page 213 and 214: 198 Notes to Pages 79-85 in previou
Page 215 and 216: 200 Notes to Pages 94-97 legend. Th
Page 217 and 218: 202 Notes to Pages 105-112 45. Ziza
Page 219 and 220: 204 Notes to Pages 117-130 sion, an
Page 221 and 222: 206 Notes to Pages 137-140 22. Ibid
Page 223 and 224: 208 Notes to Pages 147-153 71. Yosh
Page 225 and 226: 210 Notes to Pages 167-170 Papers,
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212 Index astrology (continued) 100
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214 Index English Revolution, 16 En
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216 Index Judaism (continued) 157;
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218 Index Oral Law, 74, 132, 144, 1
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220 Index Sefer Haredim (R. Azikri)
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The Sabbatean Prophets

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