Sabbetai Zevi

Setting the Scene

Jewish tradition proclaims that the Messiah will come at a time following great war and pestilence. For Sabbetai Zevi, the self-proclaimed messiah who gained the largest messianic following in Jewish history, the stage was set by the Thirty Years' War. The misfortunes in Central and Eastern Europe made believers vulnerable to the hope of redemption promised by the very convincing and charismatic Sabbatei Zevi. Adding to the expectations, some Jewish Kabbalists had already fixed on the year 1648 for their messianic year, while some Christians were focusing on the year 1666 for the Second Coming of Christ. The stage was completely set, all that was needed was the Messiah.

Biographical Info

On the 9th of Av (Ab) in the year 1626, a third son was born to a Spanish-Jewish family in Smyrna, Turkey, and he was named Sabbetai Zevi (Shabbetai Zevi or Sabbetai Sevi). The day of Zevi's birth is a very holy one for Jews since it is the day that they commemorate and mourn for the destruction of the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. It is also common knowledge in Jewish tradition that the Messiah's birth date will somehow be connected to the destruction of the Temple.

Zevi was predestined to become a rabbi because of his placement in the family as the third son. He was sent to the yeshiva where he received an education in the Talmud and the Torah. During his years of study, he became more interested in the Zohar and Kabbalism, Jewish mysticism, than in his talmudic studies. At age fifteen, Sabbetai left the yeshiva, abandoning his studies to roam the countryside.

After leaving the yeshiva, Zevi started to proclaim himself as the Jewish Messiah. In 1648 he took a step that he had probably been planning for some time and that would shock the entire Jewish community. He stood up at an altar, in front of the Torah, and spoke God's name, YHWH, as it is written. No Jew would dare say God's name because it is thought that upon pronouncing the personal name of God, he or she would be struck by lightning on the spot. Zevi's bold action was symbolic to the beginning of his messianic career.

As part of his claim of being the Messiah, Zevi shunned marriage saying that he was too pure. Most Jews found this odd since God commands that all Jews should marry and procreate. Even though he didn't believe he should marry, Sabbetai did eventually wed a woman named Sarah. She was well known in Jewish communities due to her freqent wanderings from town to town to tell her story. According to Sarah, her father kidnapped her from a nunnery and raised her telling her that she would be the wife of the Messiah. After both of her parents were killed, Sarah became a prostitute. When Zevi heard of this woman, he immediately sought her out and married her. The fact that she was a prostitute even gave credit to Sabbetai Zevi's claims. Several biblical figures married prostitutes, for example, Hosea and Gomer. Jewish legend also says that the Messiah will marry a prostitute. Unfortunately, Zevi's marriage to Sarah ended in divorce because the marriage was never consumated.

Sabbetian Followers

Upon pronouncing God's holy name, Sabbetai Zevi was excommunicated from Smyrna for blasphemy, as he most likely expected he would be. He travelled to Cairo where he found a place for himself among the followers of Ari. Within this group and among adherents to Zevi's proclamations and ideologies, Zevi won followers who were attracted to his boldness and rash actions. In order to convince his followers even further, he used Kabbalistic evidence to substantiate his claim of being the Messiah. The followers themselves were individuals who were ready for redemption; they felt that their age of misery was over. At the peak of his movement, Sabbetai Zevi had more than one million followers.

Sabbetai Zevi, as portrayed in an Amsterdam prayer book in 1666. The above section shows him enthroned as the Messiah. The image below is Zevi surrounded by his twelve disciples.

Sabbetai Zevi was eventually sent to Jerusalem as a missionary; some even thought of him as a divine messenger. The self-proclaimed messiah was anxious to go because he knew that in Jewish thought, the real Messiah must show himself in Jerusalem.

The Downfall of Sabbetai Zevi

As 1666 approached, the year Christians predicted the Second Coming of Christ, Zevi proclaimed that he would become the king of kings. He said that he would sail to Constantinople and upon arriving in Turkey, the sultan would give up his throne to him, the Messiah. It didn't go exactly as Zevi had planned. When he arrived in Turkey he was arrested and thrown into a fortress. Even from his fortress, however, he continued to make proclamations to the Jews and his followers. The Turkish sultan eventually came to Sabbetai Zevi and gave him an ultimatum. He said that under the threat of suffering death, Zevi had to either prove his claims by performing a miracle or convert to the religion of Islam. Under such a threat, Zevi abandoned his proclamations and claimed his allegiance to Allah.

Aftermath of Disappointment

Sabbetai Zevi's conversion to Islam was an enormous blow to his believers. In the aftermath, the believers broke off into three different belief areas based on their interpretation of his conversion: the majority abandoned him completely, some thought he was actually in Heaven and awaited his return, while others still followed him into conversion.

Some Sabbetians believed that Zevi's conversion was all part of a secret mission. In fact, it really wasn't him who converted to Islam, simply a human image of him. The real Sabbetai Zevi was in Heaven awaiting the time for redemption. This group interpreted that the time was not ripe enough for redemption; there were not enough believers and too many sins. Zevi would wait in Heaven until the appropriate time to descend and lead the believers into redemption.

Another group believed that Zevi's conversion was actually a form of exile to atone for humanity's sins. This group followed Sabbetai and converted to Islam themselves. For generations and generations they awaited his return. That group of converted Sabbetians became a sect of Islam called Donmeh.

Obituary

Sabbetai Zevi "disappeared" in 1676 with some followers still believing he was the Messiah. A small sect of Sabbetians still await his second coming today. Unfortunately, Sabbetai Zevi is the example of both the largest messianic movement in Judaism and the largest disappointment and failure of a Jewish messianic movement.

Home