Shabbetai Tzevi

Jewish mystic

• Born: August 1, 1626
• Birthplace: Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now İzmir, Turkey)
• Died: September 17, 1676
• Place of death: Dulcigno, Albania (now Ulcinj, Montenegro)

Shabbetai, considered the most important of Judaism’s false messiahs, founded the Shabbetian movement, which had eager followers during an era of renewed persecution of Jews. He taught a Kabbala type of mysticism that emphasized inner union with the divine. Imprisoned by the Turks in 1666, he converted to Islam to save his life.

Early Life

Shabbetai Tzevi (SHAHB-beh-tit-SAY-vee) was born into a family of merchants in İzmir, a prosperous city on the western coast of what is now Turkey. One has to be careful in evaluating details of his life as legendary or authentic. Such is the case with his birth date. It was common for someone born on the Sabbath to receive the name Shabbetai.

It was also common that a bright child in such a well-to-do family be dedicated to the study of the Torah. By the age of eighteen, Shabbetai was ordained a rabbi, though he never had a congregation of his own. Instead, he continued to study the Zohar and other writings of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalism. He especially focused on the writings of Isaac ben Solomon Luria, who a century earlier had offered messianic interpretations.

Shabbetai was never much of a writer, but he was able to gather a following through his charismatic personality. Many people flocked to the synagogues to hear his melodious voice as he chanted the daily prayers. His dedication and piety were unrivaled. His asceticism was so extreme that two marriages were annulled when he failed to consummate them. He spent long hours in prayer and often took part in midnight ritual baths in the sea.

Also, he gained the reputation of an eccentric. Scholar Gershom Scholem has suggested that he had bipolar disorder (manic-depression). During his higher periods of illumination he had visions of the shekinah, the divine presence, and responded by uttering the divine name, an act that was blasphemous for practicing Jews. In response to criticism, he began to speak of a newfound freedom from the law. In 1651, by a decision of local rabbis, he was exiled from İzmir, and he spent the next decade traveling; he continued to gather a following in Salonica and Istanbul.

Life’s Work

The expectation of the coming of the Messiah was high in Shabbetai’s day. It was a time of renewed suffering among Jews. A number of Jewish scholars had speculated about the Messiah’s appearance in 1648. Instead, 1648-1649 was marked by the Chmielnicki massacres in Poland, where thousands of Polish Jews were killed by the region’s Cossacks. Because the Messiah was expected to arrive after a terrible disaster, hopes of his arrival continued to grow, and the date was pushed back to 1666. The date of 1666 also fascinated European Christians, who believed in the possible return of Jesus the Messiah; the number 666 is in the book of Revelation.

In the Gaza region of Palestine, a young Jewish rabbi named Nathan Ghazzati (later called Nathan the Prophet of Gaza) announced in January, 1665, that he had experienced a vision revealing to him the identity of the Messiah. Because of his character as a scholar and as a well-respected preacher of repentance, his word was taken seriously. He reported that the vision was a bright light that continued for twenty-four hours, adding that words came to him from heaven: “Thus says the Lord, behold your savior comes, Shabbetai Tzevi.” However, his instructions were not to reveal Shabbetai’s name until the following summer.

Shabbetai had come to Jerusalem in 1662, but he and Nathan had never met. Nathan had been engaged in rabbinic study while Shabbetai had devoted himself to the ascetic life and prayer with long trips in the Judean wilderness. When Jerusalem’s Jewish community fell upon hard times because of demands to pay the Turkish government exorbitant sums of money, Shabbetai was sent to Egypt to raise funds. He remained there two years, developed a close relationship with members of the Jewish community there, and was apparently successful in his mission. Only after word of Nathan’s vision arrived in Cairo was Shabbetai sent to Gaza along with two other delegates to investigate who this newly revealed Messiah might be. Shabbetai was said to have laughed in response to the word that he was the one, but he was soon convinced of its truth.

For many this independent declaration of Shabbetai’s messiahship was proof of its authenticity. Others claimed it was an orchestrated event. Shabbetai had earlier reported his own visions. In one vision, the biblical patriarchs appeared anointing him as Messiah. On March 31, 1664, in Cairo, Shabbetai had taken part in a controversial symbolic marriage. His new wife, Sarah, had been a survivor of the Chmielnicki massacre, and as a child also had gained the reputation as a prophet. Moving to Amsterdam in the Netherlands as an orphan, she announced her destiny to marry the Messiah. For some, the marriage in Cairo between Sarah and Shabbetai was a sign. For others, it was another dramatic action by Shabbetai.

At the festival of Pentecost on May 31, 1665, the declaration of Shabbetai as Messiah was made public. During the synagogue worship, Nathan began chanting over and over, “Heed Nathan. Heed Shabbetai Tzevi, my beloved.” Shabbetai took for himself the titles Anointed of the God of Jacob and AMIRAH (our lord and king, his majesty be exalted) and signed his named with the symbol of a holy serpent, the numerical equivalent of the word “messiah.” His first declaration was that the traditional Jewish fasts should be abolished and that people should instead celebrate. After years of disappointment and rejection, Jews everywhere rejoiced that the Messiah had come. Nathan called for repentance and set a date in June, 1666, for the culmination of Messianic activity.

Initial opposition came primarily from the Jewish rabbis of Jerusalem, who excommunicated him and banned him from the holy city. By the time Shabbetai arrived back in İzmir in December, 1665, reports circulated of prophetic activity in various Jewish communities from Cairo to Aleppo in Syria and from Constantinople to Amsterdam and Hamburg. Women were encouraged to read the Torah in synagogue services. There also were rumors of migration of Jews, including the lost ten tribes of Israel, back to Palestine. Shabbetai showered royal titles on fellow believers and spoke of taking the rule from the Turks. Nathan’s own writings, however, emphasized that this was a peaceful movement. There would be no warfare, only the singing of hymns and praying.

After a celebratory Hanukkah in İzmir in which Shabbetai appeared at the synagogue in royal robes, banqueted with forbidden foods, and spoke aloud the name of God, he set sail for Constantinople. However, Shabbetai never arrived. His boat was intercepted by Turkish troops, and he was arrested. For nine months he was imprisoned at Gallipoli, a seaport along the Italian coast, where he continued to issue edicts to a growing mass of followers.

His showdown with the Turkish sultan occurred on September 16, 1666. Some speculated that he would take the crown for himself. Instead, he announced his conversion to Islam, taking the name Kapici Bashi, and accepted a position as a gatekeeper for the sultan. This action has led to continued debate. For his opponents, this was evidence enough that he was a fraud. For some of his followers, their newfound hopes crumbled; some apostatized. Other followers defended his actions, saying that Shabbetai was willing to give himself up rather than to bring further suffering on his people. Others, such as Nathan of Gaza, explained that this was all part of the divine plan, as the now-hidden Messiah worked to bring about the redemption of Gentiles while the Jewish community dedicated itself to repentance and deeper faith.

For the next decade, Shabbetai remained a mysterious character, keeping both Jewish and Muslim prayers—a Muslim for the Turks and a Jew for his followers. The Shabbetian movement continued to flourish. Shabbetai was eventually exiled to Dulcigno in Albania until his death in 1676.

Significance

Many look at the story of Shabbetai Tzevi as a tragedy. Others see it as an example of the dark side of religion, suggesting his deceptive and self-serving character. Yet the Shabbetian movement continued to thrive even after the demise of its leader.

Shabbetai managed to offer hope in a time of extreme difficulties, while the Jews of Europe continued to experience exile, alienation, and persecution. His focus on faith and inner feeling rather than legal prescriptions and external actions attracted people to his message, a message that superseded his character flaws. For many, his message helped them succeed even in the face of external failure.

Bibliography

Freely, John. The Lost Messiah: In Search of the Mystical Rabbi Sabbatai Sevi. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2003. A popular account based primarily on the work of scholar Gershom Scholem. The author, a travel writer, makes the story interesting through his own acquaintance with the cities where Shabbetai flourished.

Schaefer, Peter, and Mark R. Cohen, eds. Toward the Millennium: Messianic Expectations from the Bible to Waco. Leiden, the Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1998. A collection of sixteen scholarly presentations, including several specifically on Shabbetai, from a symposium on messianic movements.

Scholem, Gershom. Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah. New York: Littman, 1997. Originally written in Hebrew in 1957 and published in English in 1976, this volume remains the standard resource on this topic. The author takes a scholarly approach, evaluating every contemporary letter, document, and liturgical book written in response to Shabbetai and the movement.