Shabbetai Tzvi's False Messiahs

Shabbetai Tzvi is one of the most well-known false Messiahs in Jewish history. He was born in Smyrna, Turkey in 1626. He is said to have been born on the ninth of Av, which coincides with the date the Messiah is predicted to be born on as it is the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction. Some say his birthdate was manipulated to align with this prediction. Shabbetai Tzvi was extremely studious and mastered the Bible and Talmud by age fifteen. He was a chacham at eighteen and announced himself as the Messiah when he was twenty. He taught religious beliefs, though he also fancied secular activities. He suffered from a type of manic depressive disorder in which he had periods of “illumination”, “fall”, and “hiding of the face”. These are biblical
terms describing his different episodes. He often felt the need to go against Chasidic law while in these states, which is a fundamental character trait of his. An example of this was his pronunciation of the ineffable full name of God, which ended in his excommunication. While many people could detect Shabbetai Tzvi’s fraudulence from the start, he had many followers ready to protect him from anyone who went against him. Shabbetai Tzvi’s self-confidence bolstered by his devotion to Kabbalah played a major role in making him so successful in claiming his Messiahship. Other factors of his success and large following are rooted in the timing of the movement as well as support from other important figures of the time.

A significant portion of Shabbetai Tzvi’s success comes based on his practice of Lurianic Kabbalah.
He was able to draw people into a mystical aspect of their religion they may not have fully understood. At the time of Shabbetai Tzvi, Lurianic Kabbalah was a fairly new Kabbalah practice in which the relationship between religious activity and the Messiahship is a key aspect. According to Lurianic Kabbalah, the way to achieve the original Divine soul is to redeem it from evil power. Kabbalah dictates that redemption can only occur with the collective work of many people doing many projects to restore the world to its harmonious and peaceful state. These are the first ideas of Tikkun Olam. Shabbetai Tzvi used these ideas in his Messianic expedition, evident in his charitable campaign for the impoverished Palestinian community. However, Shabbetai Tzvi did not always use Kabbalah in a way that was for the benefit for his followers. He once invited rabbis and all of his friends to a banquet, at which he married a Torah in a “mystic marriage ceremony”. The marriage was annulled as it was never consummated. The popularity of Lurianic Kabbalah is strongly based on the use of it in the Sabbatean movement, which shows how influential and effective the movement was. However, when Shabbetai Tzvi was revealed to be a false Messiah, some backlash ensued for Kabbalists, who were blamed for the false hope the Jews had collectively gathered as well as the financial strain laid upon the Jews
who had sold their land and belongings in preparation for redemption. Shabbetai Tzvi’s use of Kabbalah as a platform for his rise in popularity is a significant aspect of the rise and popularity of the Sabbatean movement.

Shabbetai Tzvi’s Messianic claim could not have come at a better time for Jews living in post-Renaissance Europe. The Jews were desperately hoping for a political and spiritual redemption. They were living in a constant state of exile. In an account from Glückel of Hameln, a widow living in Germany in the seventeenth century, she describes the mass excitement of the people in her home town with news of the pseudo-Messiah. Her own father-in-law sold all of his land and possessions in preparation for redemption. The Jews desperately needed an authority figure to look up to, and Shabbetai Tzvi was there to fill the position. In Ukraine, Chmielnicki’s Cossacks were destroying large Jewish communities in a short amount of time, leaving the surviving Jews vulnerable and afraid. Once again they were struck with catastrophe when the areas not destroyed by Chmielnicki’s attacks were destroyed in the Russian-Swedish War in 1655. Many pious Jews saw these events as a precursor to the coming of the Messiah, making it easier for Shabbetai Tzvi’s claims to be believed. Leyb ben Ozer wrote and compiled a book of documents pertaining to the Sabbatean movement in 1718. He recalls the encouraging and comforting feeling of good news, that of which being the arrival of the Messiah, in a dire time of need for Jews everywhere, but especially in Poland where the situation was becoming more and more critical. Shabbetai Tzvi’s wife Sarah, a survivor of the attacks, lived as a prostitute but believed she would marry the Messiah. She among many others truly believed in Shabbetai Tzvi’s Messiahship, especially after such tragedy. He helped Jews regain control of their lives, so to speak. They were still constantly in danger of persecution, but Shabbetai Tzvi had given them building blocks to rebuild their own sense of belonging in the Jewish community. However, he gave little and sometimes no regard to Jewish law. For example, he publicly pronounced the forbidden name of God, violated laws of kashrut, and announced that he and his followers no longer would abide by Chasidic sexual restrictions. This made him more popular as Jews were told they were allowed to do these acts which were previously forbidden. Shabbetai Tzvi’s propositions of redemption were appealing to many Jews who were constantly living in fear of their lives and were longing for the Messiah’s arrival.

Shabbetai Tzvi was heavily endorsed by other leading figures of his time; also contributing greatly to his success and large following.
Shabbetai Tzvi’s strongest believer was Nathan of Gaza. Nathan of Gaza was already known for his religiosity and visionary powers when he met Shabbetai Tzvi in 1663. Nathan had a vision of Shabbetai Tzvi as the Messiah and one Shavuot, he fell into a trance and publically announced Shabbetai Tzvi as the Messiah. Nathan spread the word of coming redemption to Jewish communities all over Europe. In a prophetic dream, he saw the year 1666 as being the year of redemption. After Shabbetai Tzvi’s impromptu conversion to Islam, Nathan worked tirelessly to keep the Sabbatean ideologies alive for years to come. Raphael Joseph Chelebi was a very wealthy and pious Jew living in Cairo in the time of Shabbetai Tzvi. He held the prestigious Turkish title of chelebi, meaning gentleman. He became one of Shabbetai Tzvi’s most prominent supporters, going as far as to house the latter for two years. While Nathan of Gaza and Raphael Joseph Chelebi are examples of believers in Shabbetai Tzvi as the Messiah since the beginning, some followers came to be through other means. Chaim Pegna was a vocal disbeliever in Shabbetai Tzvi who was almost killed by an angry mob of believers. He eventually changed his loyalties when his daughter had a vision of Shabbetai Tzvi’s Messianic power. Shabbetai Tzvi’s movement gained so much momentum that at times, people could not
oppose him without facing punishment. Shabbetai Tzvi’s elite and wealthy supporters were a great aid in his rise to power within the Jewish community.

Shabbetai Tzvi was a colourful and confident man. He used Kabbalah as a method of drawing people into his claims of being the Messiah. His timing in claiming to be the Messiah was a big part of his success as well; as were his supporters, many of whom were leading figures of the time period. He was largely influenced by other people in his Messianic claims. Had he not had such a strong backing, he would not have reached his height in power. His mental state played a major role in his Messiahship, as many of his greatest triumphs as Messiah were made while he was in his elevated states. He was not taken seriously when he first began claiming to be the Messiah due to his mental inflictions. His affiliation with Kabbalah proved very important in his Messianic claim as well. The mysterious aspect of Judaism was still fairly young, and many Jews were interested in it albeit not knowing much about it. Shabbetai Tzvi and his story is relevant to today as well. People living in countries in the Middle East are facing some of the same hardships the Jewish people faced in the seventeenth century. There are many people looking for someone or something to turn to in this time of need, much like the Jews were before the rise of Shabbetai Tzvi.