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SABBATAI SEBI (1626-1676)
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SABBATAI SEBI (1626-1676) , Jewish mystic, whose Messianic claims produced an unparalleled sensation throughout the See also:world, was See also:born in See also:Smyrna. He was of See also:Spanish descent and was gifted with a See also:personality of rare See also:fascination. As a lad he was attracted by the See also:mysticism of See also:Luria (q.v.), which impelled him to adopt the ascetic See also:life. He passed his days and nights in a See also:condition of See also:ecstasy, He began to See also:dream of the fulfilment of Messianic hones, being supported in his See also:vision by the outbreak of See also:English Millenarianism. See also:Christian visionaries fixed the See also:year 1666 for the See also:millennium, and in his See also:appeal to See also:Cromwell on behalf of the return of the See also:Jews to See also:England Menasseh See also:ben See also:Israel (q.v.) made strong appeal to this belief. Sabbatai's See also:father (Mordecai) was the Smyrna See also:agent for an English hopse, and often heard of the expectations of the English Fifth See also:Monarchy men. Dazzled by this See also:confirmation of his nascent confidence, Sabbatai for a See also:time found himself the See also:object of suspicion and even persecution. This treatment, so far from extinguishing the See also:flame, eventually converted it into a conflagration. It was in 1648 (the year which Kabbalists had calculated as the year of salvation) that Sabbatai proclaimed himself See also:Messiah, and in See also:Constantinople came across an able but somewhat unscrupulous See also:man, who pretended that he had been warned by a prophetic See also:voice that Sabbatai was indeed the See also:long-awaited Redeemer. Others believed in him, but at first his adherents were a small circle of devotees who kept their faith a See also:secret. He charmed men by his sweet singing of See also:Psalms, and See also:children were always fascinated by him. And now the era of his miracles begins. He journeyed to See also:Jerusalem, and there was the See also:instrument for conferring unexpected services on the community. An oppressive exaction was imposed by a See also:local See also:pasha, and in See also:order to win the succour of See also:Raphael Halebi, Sabbatai repaired to See also:Cairo, being on his route at See also:Hebron hailed as Messiah. His See also:mission was completely successful. At Cairo Sabbatai married. As a boy he had been married and divorced twice—but these were merely nominal unions. Now, however, the romantic See also:story of a beautiful girl (Sarah) was on See also:people's lips; she was See also:firm in her assertion that she was the destined See also:bride of the Messiah. Sabbatai had, at the same time, announced that in a dream a spiritual bride had been promised to him. At the See also:house of Halebi bride and bridegroom met. The See also:adhesion of Halebi produced many imitators, and with a See also:retinue of believers, a charming wife and considerable funds, Sabbatai returned in See also:triumph to the See also:Holy See also:Land. Nathan of See also:Gaza assumed the role of See also:Elijah, the Messiah's forerunner, proclaimed the coming restoration of Israel and the salvation of the world through the bloodless victory of Sabbatai " See also:riding on a See also:lion with a seven-headed See also:dragon in his jaws "'(See also:Graetz). Again 1666 was given as the apocalyptic year. Threatened with See also:excommunication by the Rabbis of Jerusalem, Sabbatai returned to Smyrna (autumn of 1665). Here he was received with See also:wild See also:enthusiasm, and the masses were carried beyond all See also:bounds. With delirious joy the Jews of Smyrna—men, See also:women and children—See also:fell down and worshipped. They prepared for the return.. Men See also:left their See also:work to make ready for the start. They fasted, they rejoiced; one See also:hour they chilled themselves in the cemeteries, the next they rushed frantically through the streets singing Psalmic refrains. Nor did Sabbatai's adherents all belong to the ignorant classes. The See also:Rabbi IIayittt Benveniste and other men of repute and learning shared the See also:general delusion. It is unnecessary to tell the See also:rest of the story in detail. Many letters are extant, written See also:home to English and Dutch business-houses, in which the marvels of Sabbatai are reported, sometimes with apparent belief in them. From the See also:Levant the Sabbataean See also:movement spread to See also:Venice, See also:Amsterdam, See also:Hamburg and See also:London. Sabbatai was no longer able to doubt the reality of his mission. See also:Day by day he was hailed from all the world as See also: But his See also:character was too weak to sustain the See also:part. Though he was almost deified by many of his brethren, who at his word agreed to modify their religious observances, yet he was unable to turn the enthusiasm of thousands to any See also:account. Had he boldly led the way to Jerusalem, he would probably have carried every-thing before him. At the beginning of the fateful year 1666 Sabbatai went (or was summoned) to Constantinople. Herehe was arrested, but reports of miracles continued. and many of the See also:Turks were inclined to become converts. Soon he was transferred to See also:Abydos, amidst the almost tragic consternation of his deluded followers. In See also:September Sabbatai was brought before the See also:Sultan, and he had not the courage to refuse to accept See also:Islam. And so the Messianic imposture ended in the apostacy of Sabbatai. The reaction among the Jews was terrible, and a sense of shame was joined to feelings of despair. But the sober-minded among the Jews—these had throughout been the vast See also:majority—seized their opportunity to reclaim those who had been the victims of a terrible wrong. Yet many continued to believe in him, as he from time to time attempted to resume his rdle. In 1676 he died in obscurity in See also:Albania. A See also:sect of Sabbataeans—the Dormeh of See also:Salonica—survived him, and for many a long year the controversy for and against his claims left an See also:echo in Jewish life. The literature on the life and career of this remarkable man is very extensive. Sabbatai Sebi figures largely in English books of the See also:period. A valuable account is given in particular by Graetz, See also:History of the Jews, vol. v. ch. iv. 1. See also:Zangwill has a brilliant See also:sketch of Sabbatai's career in his Dreamers of the See also:Ghetto. (I. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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