Shabbetaï Tsevi and the Sabbatean movement

Shabbetaï Tsevi (1626–1676), born in Smyrna into a Sephardic merchant family, was at the center of the largest messianic movement in post-biblical Jewish history. Subject to states alternating between exaltation and dejection, he was proclaimed Messiah in 1665 by Nathan de Gaza, a charismatic theologian who elaborated the doctrine justifying his transgressive acts. The announcement aroused an unprecedented messianic enthusiasm throughout the entire Jewish world, from Ottoman communities to Amsterdam, through Poland and Italy, where many sold their possessions in anticipation of the imminent redemption. Summoned to choose by the Ottoman sultan in 1666, Shabbetaï Tsevi converted to Islam, provoking a profound crisis and the consternation of his followers. The Sabbatean movement nonetheless survived underground, notably through the Dönmé, Ottoman crypto-Judaizers, and exerted a lasting influence on antinomian theology and Jewish intellectual history into the twentieth century.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World — Brill