Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi[1] (Hebrew: שַׁבְּתַי צְבִי, romanized: Šabbĕṯai Ṣĕḇî; Turkish: Sabetay Sevi; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676)[2] was an Ottoman Jewish mystic, and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turkey).[3][4] He was likely of Ashkenazi origin.[5] Active throughout the Ottoman Empire, Zevi claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah and founded the Sabbatean movement.[6]
Sabbatai Zevi
August 1, 1626
c. September 17, 1676 (aged 50)
Ottoman
Upon arriving in Constantinople in February 1666, Sabbatai was imprisoned on the order of the grand vizier Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha. In September of that same year, after being moved from different prisons around the capital to the imperial courts' seat in Adrianople (now Edirne), he was judged on accusations of fomenting sedition. Sabbatai was given the choice of either facing death by some type of ordeal or of converting to Islam by the Grand Vizier representing Sultan Mehmed IV. He seems to have chosen the latter course, donning a turban from that time on. The heads of the Ottoman state then rewarded him with a generous pension for complying with their political and religious plans.[7][5] About 300 families who followed Zevi also converted to Islam and became known as Dönme.[8]
Subsequently, the Ottomans banished him twice, first to Constantinople, and, when he was heard singing Psalms with Jews, to a small town known today as Ulcinj in present-day Montenegro. He later died in isolation.[9][10]
Early life and education[edit]
Sabbatai Zevi was born in the Ottoman city of Smyrna, supposedly on Tisha B'Av 1626, the Jewish holy day of mourning. In Hebrew Sabbatai means Saturn, and in Jewish tradition "the reign of Sabbatai", the highest planet, was often linked to the advent of the Messiah.[11] Zevi's family were Romaniote Jews from Patras; his father, Mordecai, was a poultry dealer in the Morea. During the war between Turkey and Venice, Smyrna became the center of Levantine trade and Mordecai became the Smyrna agent of an English trading house, achieving some wealth in the process.[10]
In accordance with the prevailing Jewish custom of the time, Sabbatai's father had him study the Talmud. He attended a yeshiva under the rabbi of Smyrna, Joseph Escapa. Studies in halakha, or Jewish law, did not appeal to him, but apparently Zevi did attain proficiency in the Talmud. At the same time, he was fascinated by mysticism and the Kabbalah and was influenced by Isaac Luria. The practical Kabbalah, whose devotees used asceticism to communicate with God and the angels, to predict the future and perform all sorts of miracles, was especially appealing to him.[10] As well as Luria's writings, he read the Zohar and practiced asceticism and purification exercises called tikkunim.[4]
Personal history[edit]
Influence of English millenarianism[edit]
During the first half of the 17th century, millenarian ideas about the approach of the messianic time were popular. They included ideas about the redemption of the Jews and their return to the land of Israel, with independent sovereignty. The apocalyptic year was identified by Christian authors as 1666 and millenarianism was widespread in England. This belief was so prevalent that Menasseh Ben Israel, in his letter to Oliver Cromwell and the Rump Parliament, appealed to it as a reason to readmit Jews into England, saying, "[T]he opinions of many Christians and mine do concur herein, that we both believe that the restoring time of our Nation into their native country is very near at hand."[10]
As he was the agent for an English trading house in Smyrna, Sabbatai's father must have had business contact with English people and it is possible that his son learned something about Western millenarian expectations at home.[12] Scholars are still assessing how much influence English and Dutch Calvinist millenarianism had on the messianic movement that developed around Zevi's activities.[13]