Full text of "Gershom Scholem: Studies in

Kabbalah"
The Holiness of Sin
Gershom Scholem
Since its original appearance in Hebrew in the mid-30's under the title "Mitzah
ha-!a'ah
ba-"erah#' Gershom Scholem's stud$ of those %ews of the &'th and &(th centuries
who clung
to their belief in the Messiahship of Sabbatai )ei een after his conersion to
*slam+ has
been widel$ regarded as one of the classics of modern %ewish scholarship and one
of the
great wor,s of the historical imagination in our time- .hat follows is the first
translation of
that essa$ into /nglish+ done b$ Hillel Hal,in0 the te1t has not been cut or
altered in an$
wa$ e1cept for the elimination of certain footnote references- The essa$ will
also be included
2with the footnotes retained3 under the title "4edemption Through Sin" in The
Messianic
*dea in %udaism and 5ther /ssa$s on %ewish Spiritualit$ which Schoc,en !oo,s
will be
issuing shortl$-
"mong Gershom Scholem's other boo,s which hae been translated into /nglish are
Ma6or
Trends in %ewish M$sticism and 5n the 7abbalah and *ts S$mbolism- 4eaders of the
present
essa$ will be particularl$ interested to learn that 8rofessor Scholem's two-
olume wor, on
Sabbatai )ei+ published about ten $ears ago in Hebrew+ is being readied b$ the
8rinceton
9niersit$ 8ress for publication in an /nglish translation within the coming
months-
:o chapter in the histor$ of the %ew-
ish people during the last seeral
hundred $ears has been as shrouded in m$ster$
as that of the Sabbatian moement- 5n one point+
at- least+ there is no longer an$ disagreement; the
dramatic eents and widespread religious reial
that preceded the apostas$ oi Sabbatai )ei in
&<<< form an important and integral part of %ew-
ish histor$ and desere to be studied ob6ectiel$+
to the e1clusion of moralistic condemnations of
the historical figures inoled- *t has come in-
creasingl$ to be realized that a true understand-
ing of the rise of Sabbatianism will neer be pos-
sible as long as scholars continue to appraise it b$
inappropriate standards+ whether these be the
conentional beliefs of their own age or the
alues of traditional %udaism itself- Toda$ indeed
one rarel$ encounters the baseless assumptions of
"charlatanr$" and "imposture" which occup$ so
prominent a place in earlier historical literature
on the sub6ect- 5n the contrar$; in these times of
%ewish national rebirth it is onl$ natural that the
deep though ultimatel$ tragic $earning for na-
tional redemption to which the initial stages of
Sabbatianism gae e1pression should meet with
greater comprehension than in the past-
*n turning to consider the Sabbatian moement
after Sabbatai )ei's conersion to *slam+ how-
eer+ we are faced with an entirel$ different situ-
ation- Here we find ourseles still standing be-
fore a blan, wall+ not onl$ of misunderstanding+
but often of an actual refusal to understand- /en
in recent times there has been a definite tendenc$
among scholars to minimize at all costs the sig-
nificance of this "heretical" Sabbatianism+ with
the result that no ade=uate inestigation $et e1ists
of its spiritual foundations+ its oerall impact on
&'th-centur$ %ewr$+ or its ultimate fate- *t is im-
possible+ in fact+ to read an$ of the studies that
hae been done in these areas without being as-
tounded b$ the amount of inectie directed
against the leaders and adherents of the arious
Sabbatian sects- T$pical of this approach is >aid
7ahana's " Histor$ of the 7abbalists+ Sabbatians+
and Hasidim 2in Hebrew3+ but the angr$ moral-
izing that characterizes this olume has not been
confined to an$ one historical school0 rather+ it
has been shared b$ writers of widel$ differing
points of iew+ secular as well as religious- The
problem itself+ meanwhile+ remains as recondite
as eer-
Two enormous difficulties+ therefore+ confront
the student of the Sabbatian "heresies"; on the
one hand+ there are the obstacles posed b$ the
sources themseles+ and on the other+ those created
b$ the attitude generall$ ta,en toward them- To a
great e1tent+ moreoer+ these two sets of difficulties
hae alwa$s been related-
.h$ should this be so?
The Sabbatian moement in its arious shad-
ings and configurations persisted with remar,able
obstinac$ among certain sectors of the %ewish
@op$right A &(B& b$ Schoc,en !oo,s *nc-
C&
CD#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
people tor appro1imatel$ one hundred and fift$
$ears after Sabbatai )ei's conersion- *n a num-
ber of countries it grew to be powerful+ but for
arious reasons+ internal as well as e1ternal+ its
affairs were deliberatel$ hidden from the public
e$e- *n particular+ its spo,esmen refrained from
committing their beliefs to print+ and the few
boo,s that the$ actuall$ published concealed
twice what the$ reealed- The$ did+ howeer+
produce a rich literature+ which circulated onl$
among groups of "belieers" 2ma'aminim3F the
term b$ which Sabbatian sectarians generall$
chose to refer to themseles+ down to the last of
the >onmeh in Saloni,a and the last Gran,ists in
the "ustro-Hungarian /mpire- "s long as Sabba-
tianism remained a ital force within the %ewish
ghetto+ threatening to undermine the er$ e1is-
tence of rabbinic %udaism+ its opponents labored
ceaselessl$ to root it out and s$stematicall$ de-
stro$ed whateer of its writings came into their
possession+ "including HeenI the sacred names
of God Haz,aroiI which the$ contain+" as the
bans upon them read- "s a result man$ of their
writings were lost without a trace+ and had it
been left solel$ up to the rabbinical authorities
nothing would hae come down to us at all e1cept
for certain tendentiousl$ chosen fragments =uoted
in anti-Sabbatian polemics- *n addition+ although
an e1tensie religious literature was still to be
found in the hands of Gran,ists in Moraia and
!ohemia at the beginning of the &(th centur$+
the children and grandchildren of these "belie
ers" in 8rague and other %ewish centers them-
seles attempted to obliterate eer$ shred of ei-
dence bearing on their ancestors' beliefs and prac-
tices- The well-,nown philosopher and historian
of atheism Gritz Mauthner has presered the fol-
lowing interesting stor$ in his memoirs; in the
declining da$s of the moement in !ohemia+
Gran,ist "emissaries" came to his grandfather
2and undoubtedl$ to other members of the sect
as well3 and re=uested that he surrender to them
a picture of "the Jad$" and "all ,inds of writ-
ings" which he had in his possession- The emis-
saries too, them and left- The incident too, place
sometime during the &'D0's or &'30's- *n spite of
all this+ at least two large manuscripts from these
circles hae suried-
5ne must therefore bear in mind in dealing
with the histor$ of Sabbatianism that powerful
interests and emotions hae often been at sta,e-
/ach for reasons of his own+ all those who hae
written on the sub6ect in the past shared one be-
lief; the less importance attributed to the Sabba-
tian moement+ the better-
"9TH54S ":> H*ST54*":S of the 5r-
thodo1 camp+ for their part+ hae
been an1ious to belittle and een distort the oer-
all role of Sabbatianism in order to safeguard the
reputations+ as the$ hae conceied of them+ of
certain honored religious figures of the past- Such
apologetics hae had their ineitable effect upon
the writing of histor$+ as has the fundamental
outloo, of their proponents+ tending as it does to
idealize religious life in the ghetto at the e1pense
of completel$ ignoring the deep inner conflicts
and diisions to which not een the rabbis were
necessaril$ immune- To ac,nowledge the Sabba-
tianism of eminent rabbis in %erusalem+ "driano-
ple+ @onstantinople+ or *zmir+ 8rague+ Hamburg+
or !erlin+ has been in the e$es of such authors
openl$ to impeach the integrit$ of an entire bod$
of men who were neer supposed to be other
than learned and irtuous defenders of %ewish
tradition- Gien such an attitude+ it is hardl$ to
be wondered at that one should instinctiel$
aoid the ,inds of in=uir$ that might lead to the
discoer$ of heretical opinion+ to sa$ nothing of
actual licentiousness+ in the most unli,el$ places-
5ne might cite endless e1amples of this ,ind of
mentalit$ in historical literature dealing with rab-
binical and congregational life in the &'th cen-
tur$+ and in at least one case+ "- J- Grum,in's
" Historical "ccount of the Scholars of %erusalem
2in Hebrew3+ the author goes so far as to ''ac=uit"
some of the most dedicated Sabbatians of the
"scandal" of heterodo1$K
Secularist historians+ on the other hand+ hae
been at pains to deemphasize the role of Sabba-
tianism for a different reason- :ot onl$ did most
of the families once associated with the Sabbatian
moement in .estern and @entral /urope con-
tinue to remain afterward within the %ewish fold+
but man$ of their descendants+ particularl$ in
"ustria+ rose to positions of importance during
the &( th centur$ as prominent intellectuals+ great
financiers+ and men of high political connections-
Such persons+ needless to sa$+ could scarcel$ hae
been e1pected to approe of attempts to "e1pose"
their "tainted" lineage+ and in iew of their stat-
ure in the %ewish communit$ it is not surprising
that their wishes should hae carried weight- Gur-
thermore+ in an age when %ewish scholarship it-
self was considered to be in part an e1tension of
the struggle for political emancipation+ the cli-
mate for research in so sensitie an area was b$
no means generall$ faorable- *n conse=uence+
those %ewish scholars who had access to the
wealth of Sabbatian documents and e$ewitness
reports that were still to be found earl$ in the
centur$ failed to ta,e adantage of the oppor-
tunit$+ while b$ the time a later generation ar-
ried on the scene the sources had been destro$ed
and were no longer aailable een to an$one who
might hae desired to ma,e use of them-
The suriors of the Gran,ists in 8oland and of
>onmeh or "apostates" in Saloni,a formed $et
a third group haing a direct interest in dis-
guising the historical facts- These two Sabbatian
sects+ both of which formall$ renounced the %ew-
ish religion 2the >onmeh conerting to *slam in
&<'3+ the Gran,ists to @atholicism in &BL(3+ con-
tinued to adhere to their secret identities long
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#C3
after their defection from their mother faith0 the
>onmeh+ in fact+ did not disappear until the
present generation+ while in the case of the Gran,-
ists+ whose histor$ in the course of the &(th cen-
tur$ is obscure+ it is impossible to determine at
e1actl$ what point in time the$ were finall$
swallowed up b$ the rest of 8olish societ$- There
is reason to suspect that until the ee of .orld
.ar * man$ original manuscripts and documents
were presered b$ both these groups+ particularl$
b$ a number of Gran,ist families in .arsaw0 but
how much of this material ma$ $et be uncoered+
and how much has been purposel$ destro$ed b$
its owners in order to conceal foreer the secret of
their descent+ is in no wa$ ascertainable-
:eertheless+ the total picture is not as dar, as
it ma$ seem to hae been painted; despite the
man$ efforts at suppression+ which supplemented+
as it were+ the ineitable "selectie" process of
time itself+ a considerable amount of aluable ma-
terial has been saed- Man$ of the accusations
made against the "belieers" b$ their opponents
can now be weighed 2and more often than not
confirmedK3 on the basis of a number of the "be-
lieers' " own boo,s which were not allowed to
perish- Jittle b$ little our ,nowledge has grown+
and although man$ of the historical details we
would li,e to ,now will undoubtedl$ neer come
to light at all+ there is reason to hope that this im-
portant chapter in %ewish histor$ will $et be full$
written- *n an$ eent+ it is clear that a correct un-
derstanding of the Sabbatian moement after the
apostas$ of Sabbatai )ei will proide a new clue
toward understanding the histor$ of the %ews in
the &'th centur$ as a whole+ and in particular+ the
beginnings of the Has,alah 2/nlightenment3
moement in a number of countries-
* do not propose in this essa$ to trace the out-
ward histor$ of Sabbatianism in its seeral mani-
festations oer the centur$ and a half in which it
retained its italit$+ nor 2although * can hardl$
conceal m$ opinion that the entire moement was
far more widespread than is generall$ conceded
een toda$3 do * mean to debate the =uestion of
whether this or that particular indiidual was or
was not a Sabbatian himself- Suffice it to sa$ that
the sources in our possession+ meager as the$ are+
ma,e it perfectl$ clear that the number of Sabba-
tian rabbis was far greater than has been com-
monl$ estimated+ greater een than was belieed
b$ that anti-Sabbatian zealot 4abbi %acob /mden+
who has almost alwa$s been accused of e1aggera-
tion- *n the present essa$+ howeer+ * shall put
such =uestions aside and limit m$self to the area
that has been the most sadl$ neglected in the en-
tire field+ namel$+ the origins and deelopment of
Sabbatian thought per se-
*f one accepts what Heinrich Graetz and >aid
7ahana hae to sa$ on the sub6ect of Sabbatian
theolog$+ it is impossible to understand what its
essential attraction eer was0 indeed+ if it is true+
as both these writers claim+ that the entire moe-
ment was a colossal hoa1 perpetrated b$ degener-
ates and frauds+ one might well as, wh$ a serious
historian should bother to waste his time on it in
the first place- "nd if this is the case with Sab-
batianism in general+ how much more so when
one entures to consider what is undoubtedl$ the
most tragic episode in the entire drama+ that of
the Gran,ists+ the ps$chological barriers to the
understanding of which are incomparabl$ greater-
How+ for instance+ can one get around the histori-
cal fact that in the course of their public disputa-
tion with %ewish rabbis in Jo in &BL( the mem-
bers of this sect did not een shrin, from resort-
ing to the notorious blood libel+ an accusation far
more painful to %ewish sensitiities than an$ of
their actual beliefs? " great deal has been written
about this incident+ particularl$ b$ the eminent
historian Meir !alaban+ in whose boo,+ 5n the
Histor$ of the Gran,ist Moement 2in Hebrew3+
it is dealt with e1haustiel$- !alaban+ who ma,es
the Jo libel a starting point for his oerall in-
=uir$+ reaches the significant conclusion that
there was no organic connection between it and
the Gran,ist "articles of faith" presented at the
disputation- The members of the sect+ in fact+
were reluctant to ma,e the accusation at all+ and
did so onl$ at the instigation of the @atholic
clerg$+ which was interested in using them for
purposes of its own+ haing nothing to do with
their Sabbatian bac,ground- That the$ finall$
agreed to collaborate in the scheme can be e1-
plained b$ their desire to wrea, engeance on
their rabbinical persecutors-
Thus+ though the behaior of the
Gran,ists at Jo must certainl$ be
6udged harshl$ from both a uniersal-ethical and
a %ewish-national point of iew+ it is important
to ,eep in mind that the blood libels against the
%ews 2the indications are that there was more
than one3 do not in themseles tell us an$thing
about the inner spiritual world of the sect+ in all
of whose literature 2written one and two genera-
tions after the Jo disputation3 not a single al-
lusion to such a belief is to be found- The trul$
astonishing thing is that although seeral impor-
tant te1ts of Gran,ist teachings actuall$ do e1ist+
not a single serious attempt has so far been made
to anal$ze their contents- The reason for this is
simple- Graetz and "- 7raushar+ two reputable
scholars+ one of whom wrote a full-length stud$ of
%acob Gran, and his 8olish followers+ were both
of the opinion that there was no such thing as a
Gran,ist "creed+" and that The Sa$ings of the
Jord+ which has come down to us in a 8olish
ersion alone+ was incoherent nonsense- "c-
cording to 7raushar+ Gran,'s sa$ings are "gro-
tes=ue+ comical+ and incomprehensible+" while
Graetz+ whose attitude toward all forms of m$sti-
cism is well ,nown+ could hardl$ hae been e1-
pected to show much insight into the religious
motiations of the sect- !alaban+ on the other
CC#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
hand+ is mainl$ concerned with the outward his-
tor$ of the Gran,ists up to the time of their mass
conersion+ and his reconstruction of their theol-
og$ is based solel$ on the positions publicl$ ta,en
b$ them in their disputations with the rabbis- *t is
his reliance on these "articles of faith+" in fact+
which were actuall$ far from accurate reflections
of the Gran,ists' true beliefs+ that leads him to
conclude that after &BL( the histor$ of the sect
was "determined more b$ the personalities of
%acob Gran, and his disciples than b$ an$ intrin-
sic religious relationship to %udaism-"
* m$self cannot agree with !alaban on this
point+ and in the following pages * shall attempt
to show+ at least summaril$+ that Sabbatianism
must be regarded not onl$ as a single continuous
deelopment which retained its identit$ in the e$es
of its adherents regardless of whether the$ them-
seles remained %ews or not+ but also+ parado1i-
cal though it ma$ seem+ as a specificall$ %ewish
phenomenon to the end- * shall endeaor to show
that the nihilism of the Sabbatian and Gran,ist
moements+ with its doctrineF so profoundl$ shoc,-
ing to the %ewish conception of thingsF that the
iolation of the Torah could become its true ful-
fillment 2bittulah shel torah zehu ,i$$umah3+
was a dialectical outgrowth of the belief in the
Messiahship of Sabbatai )ei+ and that this ni-
hilism+ in turn+ helped pae the wa$ for the
Has,alah and the 4eform moement of the &(th
centur$+ once its original religious impulse was
e1hausted- !e$ond this+ * hope to ma,e the
reader see how within the spiritual world of the
Sabbatian sects+ within the er$ sanctum sanc-
torum of 7abbalistic m$sticism+ as it were+ the
crisis of faith which oertoo, the %ewish people
as a whole upon its emergence from its medieal
isolation was first anticipated+ and how groups of
%ews within the walls of the ghetto+ while still
outwardl$ adhering to the practices of their fore-
fathers+ had begun to embar, on a radicall$ new
inner life of their own- 8rior to the Grench 4eo-
lution the historical conditions were lac,ing
which might hae caused this upheaal to brea,
forth in the form of an open struggle for social
change+ with the result that it turned further in-
ward upon itself to act upon the hidden recesses
of the %ewish ps$die0 but it would be mista,en to
conclude from this that Sabbatianism did not per-
manentl$ affect the outward course of %ewish his-
tor$- The desire for total liberation which pla$ed
so tragic a role in the deelopment of Sabbatian
nihilism was b$ no means a purel$ self-destructie
force0 on the contrar$+ beneath the surface of
lawlessness+ antinomianism+ and catastrophic ne-
gation+ powerful constructie impulses were at
wor,+ and these+ * maintain+ it is the dut$ of the
historian to uncoer-
9ndeniabl$+ the difficulties in the face of this
are great+ and it is not to be wondered at that
%ewish historians until now hae not had the
inner freedom to attempt the tas,- *n our own
times we owe much to the e1perience of )ionism
for enabling us to detect in Sabbatianism's throes
those gropings toward a healthier national e1is-
tence which must hae seemed li,e an undiluted
nightmare to the peaceable %ewish bourgeois of
the &(th centur$- /en toda$+ howeer+ the writ-
ing of %ewish histor$ suffers undul$ from the in-
fluence of &(th-centur$ %ewish historiograph$-
To be sure+ as %ewish historians we hae clearl$
adanced be$ond the antage point of our prede-
cessors+ haing learned to insist+ and rightl$ so+
that %ewish histor$ is a process that can onl$ be
understood when iew r ed from within0 but in
spite of all this+ our progress in appl$ing this
truth to concrete historical situations+ as opposed
to general historiosophical theories+ has been slow-
9p to the present H&(3LF /d-I onl$ two men+
Siegmund Hurwitz in his from .hither to .here
2in Hebrew3 and )alman 4ubasho 2Shazar3 in
his essa$ "9pon the 4uins of Gran,ism" 2in
Hebrew3+ hae shown an$ true appreciation of
the comple1ities of Sabbatian ps$cholog$+ and
their wor, has b$ and large failed to attract the
attention it deseres-
"nd now+ one last introductor$ com-
ment- *n dismissing the need for
ob6ectie research on the Sabbatian and Gran,ist
moements+ it has often been asserted that since
the phenomena are essentiall$ pathological+ the$
belong more properl$ to the stud$ of medicine
than to the stud$ of histor$- *ndeed+ an article on
"Gran, and His Sect in the Jight of 8s$chiatr$"
2!$chows,i+ HaMTe,ufah+ Nol- O*N3 has actuall$
been published+ but it onl$ succeeds in demonstrat-
ing how incapable such an approach is of dealing
satisfactoril$ with the problem- Grom the stand-
point of se1ual patholog$ it can hardl$ be doubted
that Gran, himself was a diseased indiidual+ 6ust
as there can be no =uestion that at the center and
among the ran,s of the Sabbatian moement 2as
in all radical moements that spring from certain
particular tensions+ some of which are not so far
remoed from those of "ordinar$" life3 it would
be possible to find cases of mar,ed mental aber-
rance- !ut what is the significance of all this? .e
are not+ after all+ so much concerned with this or
that prominent Sabbatian personalit$ as with the
=uestion of wh$ such people were able to attract
the following that the$ did- The diagnosis of a
neurologist would be of little alue in determin-
ing wh$ thousands of human beings were able to
find a spiritual home in the lab$rinth of Sabba-
tian theolog$- .e must refuse to be deluded b$
such conenient tags as "h$steria" or "mass ps$-
chosis+" which onl$ confuse the issue at the same
time that the$ proide an e1cuse for aoiding it
and comfortabl$ reassure one of one's own com-
paratie "normalit$-" *t is undoubtedl$ true that
%acob Gran, was eer$ bit the depraed and un-
scrupulous person he is supposed to hae been+
and $et the moment we seriousl$ ponder his
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#CL
"teachings#' or attempt to understand wh$ masses
of men should hae regarded him as their leader
and prophet+ this same indiidual becomes highl$
problematic- /en more than the ps$cholog$ of
the leader+ howeer+ it is the ps$cholog$ of the led
that demands to be understood+ and in the case of
Sabbatianism+ a moement built entirel$ upon
parado1es+ this =uestion is crucial indeed- .hat-
eer we ma$ thin, of Sabbatai )ei and %acob
Gran,+ the fact is; their followers+ while the$ were
certainl$ not "innocents"F if there was one thing
lac,ing in the parado1ical religion of the Sab-
batians+ it was innocenceKF were sincere in their
faith+ and it is the nature of this faith+ which pen-
etrated to the hidden depths and ab$sses of the
human spirit+ that we wish to understand-
**
"s a m$stical heterodo1$ Sabbatian-
ism assumed different and changing
forms; it splintered into man$ sects+ so that een
from the & polemical writings against it we learn
that the "heretics" =uarreled among themseles
oer practicall$ eer$thing- The word "practical-
l$#' howeer+ must be stressed+ for on one essen-
tial+ the underl$ing ground of their "hol$ faith+"
as the$ called it+ the "belieers" all agreed- Jet us
proceed then to e1amine this common ground of
faith as it manifested itself both ps$chologicall$
and dogmaticall$-
!$ all accounts+ the messianic reial of &<<L-<<
spread to eer$ sector of the %ewish people
throughout the >iaspora- "mong the belieers
and penitents a new emotion+ which was not re-
stricted to the traditional e1pectation of a politi-
cal delierance of *srael alone+ began to ma,e it-
self felt- This is not to sa$ that hope for a diine
liberation from the bondage and degradation of
e1ile was not an important element in the general
contagion+ but rather that arious ps$chological
reactions which accompanied it soon too, on an
independent e1istence of their own- 8rior to Sab-
batai )ei's apostas$+ great masses of people were
able to beliee in perfect simplicit$ that a new era
of histor$ was being ushered in and that the$
themseles had alread$ begun to inhabit a new
and redeemed world- Such a belief could not but
hae a profound effect on those who held it; their
innermost feelings+ which assured them of the
presence of a messianic realit$+ seemed entirel$ in
harmon$ with the outward course of eents+ those
climactic deelopments in a histori co-political
realm that Sabbatai )ei was soon to oerthrow
b$ means of his miraculous 6ourne$ to the Tur,-
ish sultan+ whom he would depose from his
throne and strip of all his powers-
*n the generation preceding Sabbatai )ei's ad-
ent the rapid spread of the teachings of 4abbi
*saac Juria and his school had resulted in a graft-
ing of the theories of the 7abbalists+ the de facto
theologians of the %ewish people in the &Bth cen-
tur$+ onto the traditional %ewish iew of the role
and personalit$ of the Messiah- M$stical Jurianic
speculations about the nature of the redemption
and "the restored world" 2plant ha-ti,,un3 which
was to follow upon its heels added new contents
and dimensions to the popular messianic fol,-
m$th of a con=uering national hero+ raising it to
the leel of a supreme cosmic drama; the redemp-
tie process was now no longer conceied of as
simpl$ a wor,ing-out of *srael's temporal emanci-
pation from the $o,e of the Gentiles+ but rather as
a fundamental transformation of the entire @rea-
tion+ affecting material and spiritual worlds ali,e
and leading to a rectification of the primordial
catastrophe of the "brea,ing of the essels"
2sheirat ha-,elim3+ in the course of which the
diine worlds would be returned to their original
unit$ and perfection- !$ stressing the spiritual
side of the redemption far more than its outward
aspect+ the 7abbalists of the Jurianic school+
though b$ no means oerloo,ing the latter+ grad-
uall$ conerted it into a s$mbol of purel$ spir-
itual processes and ends- "s long as the messianic
e1pectancies the$ encouraged were not put to the
test in the actual crucible of histor$+ the dangers
inherent in this shift of emphasis went unnoticed+
for the 7abbalists themseles neer once imag-
MM ined that a conflict might arise between the s$m-
bol and the realit$ it was intended to represent-
To be sure+ Jurianic 7abbalah had openl$ edu-
cated its followers to prepare themseles more for
an inner than for an outer renewal0 but inasmuch
as it was commonl$ assumed that the one could
not ta,e place without the other+ the procedure
seemed in no wa$ =uestionable- 5n the contrar$;
the spread of Jurianic teachings+ so it was
thought+ was in itself bound to hasten the com-
ing of the historical 4edeemer-
The appearance of Sabbatai )ei and the
growth of popular faith in his mission caused this
inner sense of freedom+ of "a world made pure
again#' to become an immediate realit$ for thou-
sands- This did not of course mean that Sabbatai
)ei himself was no longer e1pected to fulfill the
arious messianic tas,s assigned him b$ %ewish
tradition+ but in the meantime an irreersible
change had ta,en place in the souls of the faith-
ful- .ho could den$ that the She,hinah+ the
earthl$ presence of God+ had risen from the dust?
"Heretical" Sabbatianism was born at the mo-
ment of Sabbatai )ei's totall$ une1pected con-
ersion+ when for the first time a contradiction
appeared between the two leels of the drama of
redemption+ that of the sub6ectie e1perience of
the indiidual on the one hand+ ancl that of the
ob6ectie historical facts on the other- The con-
flict was no less intense than unforeseen- 5ne
had to choose; either one heard the oice of God
in the decree of histor$+ or else one heard it in
the newl$ reealed realit$ within- "Heretical"
Sabbatianism was the result of the refusal of large
sections of the %ewish people to submit to the
C<#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
sentence of histor$ b$ admitting that their own
personal e1perience had been false and untrust-
worth$-
Thus+ the arious attempts to construct a Sab-
batian theolog$ were all motiated b$ a similar
purpose+ namel$+ to rationalize the ab$ss that had
suddenl$ opened between the ob6ectie order of
things and that inward certaint$ which it could
no longer sere to s$mbolize+ and to render the
tension between the two more endurable for those
who continued to lie with it- The sense of con-
tradiction from which Sabbatianism sprung be-
came a lasting characteristic of the moement0
following upon the initial parado1 of an apostate
Messiah+ parado1 engendered parado1- "boe all+
the "belieers+" those who remained lo$al to their
inward e1perience+ were compelled to find an an-
swer to the simple =uestion; what could be the
alue of a historical realit$ that had proed to be
so bitterl$ disappointing+ and how might it be re-
lated to the hopes it had betra$ed?
The essence of the Sabbatian's coniction+ in
other words+ can be summarized in a sentence; it
is inconceiable that all of God's people should
inwardl$ err+ and so+ if their ital e1perience is
contradicted in the facts+ it is the facts which
stand in need of e1planation- *n the words of a
Sabbatian "moderate" writing thirt$ $ears after
Sabbatai )ei's apostas$; "The Hol$ 5ne+ blessed
be He+ does not ensnare een the animals of the
righteous+ much less the righteous themseles+ to
sa$ nothing of so terribl$ deceiing an entire
people- - - - "nd how is it possible that all of *srael
be deceied unless this be part of some great diine
plan?" This line of argument+ which was adopted
b$ man$ persons from the er$ beginning of the
Sabbatian moement+ is ,nown to hae impressed
een the moement's opponents+ who were e=uall$
disinclined to find fault with the entire %ewish
people and sought instead some other e1planation
for what had happened-
>uring the centur$ and a half of its e1istence
Sabbatianism was embraced b$ those %ewish
circles which desired to prolong the noel sensa-
tion of liing in a "restored world" b$ deeloping
attitudes and institutions that seemed commen-
surate with a new diine order- *nasmuch as this
deliberatel$ maintained state of consciousness was
directl$ opposed to the outloo, of ghetto %ewr$
as a whole+ of which the "belieers" themseles
formed a part+ the latter of necessit$ tended to
become innoators and rebels+ particularl$ the
radicals among them- Herein la$ the ps$chologi-
cal basis of that spirit of reolt which so infuri-
ated the champions of 5rthodo1$+ who+ though
the$ ma$ at first hae had no in,ling of the
lengths to which it would be ultimatel$ carried+
rightl$ suspected it from the outset of striing to
subert the authorit$ of rabbinic %udaism- Here-
in+ too+ la$ the basis of all future efforts to con-
struct a Sabbatian theolog$+ to the consideration
of which we must now turn our attention-
*n the histor$ of religion we fre=uentl$
encounter t$pes of indiiduals ,nown
as "pneumatics" 2pnenmati,oi3 or "spiritualists"
2spirituales3- Such persons+ who pla$ed a ma6or
role in the deelopment of Sabbatianism+ were
,nown in %ewish tradition as "spiritual" or
"e1tra-spirited" men or+ in the language of the
)ohar+ as "masters of a hol$ soul-" These terms
did not refer to 6ust an$one who ma$ hae had
occasion in the course of his life to be "moed b$
the spirit"0 rather+ the$ applied onl$ to those few
who abode in the "palace of the ,ing" 2hc,hal
ha-mele,h3+ that is+ who lied in continual com-
munion with a spiritual realm through whose
gates the$ had passed+ whether b$ actuall$ dwell-
ing within it to the point of abandoning their
preious e1istence+ or b$ appropriating from it a
"spar," or "hol$ soul+" as onl$ the elect were pri-
ileged to do- 5ne so faored was in certain re-
spects no longer considered to be sub6ect to the
laws of eer$da$ realit$+ haing realized within
himself the hidden world of diine light- :atural-
l$+ spiritualistic t$pes of this sort hae alwa$s re
garded themseles as forming a group apart+ and
hence the special sense of their own "superiorit$"
b$ which the$ are characterized; from their loft$
perspectie the world of material affairs tends to
loo, lowl$ indeed- Here+ then+ we hae all the
prere=uisites for the sectarian disposition+ for the
sect seres the illuminati as both a rall$ing point
for their own ,ind and a refuge from the incom-
prehension of the carnal and unenlightened
masses- The sectarians regard themseles as the
anguard of a new world+ but the$ do not there-
fore need to renounce the parent religion which
inspired them+ for the$ can alwa$s reinterpret it
in the light of the supreme realit$ to which the$
owe their newl$ discoered allegiance-
Gor a number of reasons+ which cannot be gone
into here+ such spiritualists were rarel$ allowed to
deelop within the %ewish communit$ after the
period of the Second Temple- *n part this was a
conse=uence of @hristianit$+ to which man$ of
them ultimatel$ passed0 but een when the$ con-
tinued to e1ist within %udaism itself+ it was alwa$s
as isolated and unorganized indiiduals- *t is a
well-,nown fact+ for instance+ that spiritualism
particularl$ abounds in the domain of religious
m$sticism0 and $et+ as the histor$ of 7abbalism
ampl$ demonstrates+ despite the opposition be-
tween conentional religion and the ecstas$+ at
times een abandon+ of the pneumatic+ medieal
%udaism was capable of absorbing the latter into
its orbit- Such was not the case+ howeer+ with
either @hristianit$ or *slam; here the conflict
bro,e out openl$ and fiercel$ on numerous occa-
sions+ and the spiritualist sects which it produced
went on to pla$ important roles in the deelop-
ment of new social and religious institutions+
often giing birth+ albeit in religious guise+ to the
most reolutionar$ ideas- To ta,e but one e1-
ample+ historical research during the last seeral
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#CB
decades has clearl$ shown the direct connection
between @hristian sectarianism in /urope and the
growth of the /nlightenment and the ideal of tol-
eration in the &Bth and &'th centuries-
The e1istence of similar forces in %ewish his-
tor$+ on the other hand+ has been all but neglect-
ed b$ the historians+ an oersight facilitated b$
the fact that %ewish spiritualism has either long
been outwardl$ dormant or else+ as in the case of
7abbalism+ has alwa$s preferred to wor, inisibl$
and uns$stematicall$ beneath the surface- *n-
deed+ as long as %ewish historiograph$ was dom-
inated b$ a spirit of assimilation+ no one so
much as suspected that positiism and religious
reform were the progen$ not onl$ of the rational
mind+ but of an entirel$ different sort of ps$chol-
og$ as well+ that of the 7abbalah and the Sabba-
tian crisisF in other words+ of that er$ "lawless
heres$" which was so soundl$ e1coriated in their
nameK
*n the Sabbatian moement+ which was
the first clear manifestation 2one
might better sa$ e1plosion3 of spiritualistic sec-
tarianism in %udaism since the da$s of the Second
Temple+ the t$pe of the radical spiritualist found
its perfect e1pression- To be sure+ illuminati of
the same class were later prealent in Hasidism
too+ particularl$ during the golden age of the
moement0 but Hasidism+ rather than allow itself
to be ta,en oer b$ such t$pes+ forced them after
a period of initial e=uiocation to curb their un-
rul$ spiritualit$+ and did so with such success that
it was able to oercome the most difficult and
hazardous challenge of all+ that of safel$ incor-
porating them into its own collectie bod$- 9nli,e
Sabbatianism+ whose followers were determined to
carr$ their doctrine to its ultimate conclusion+ it
was the genius of Hasidism that it ,new where to
set itself limits- !ut the Sabbatians pressed on to
the end+ into the ab$ss of the m$thical "gates of
impurit$" 2sha'are turn'ah3+ where the pure spir-
itual awareness of a world made new became a
pitfall fraught with peril for the moral life-
Here+ then+ were all the materials necessar$ to
cause a true conflagration in the heart of %ewr$- "
new t$pe of %ew had appeared for whom the
world of e1ile and >iaspora %udaism was partl$
or wholl$ abolished and who uncompromisingl$
belieed that a "restored world+" whose laws and
practices he was commanded to obe$+ was in the
process of coming into being- The great historical
disappointment e1perienced b$ the Sabbatian had
instilled in him the parado1ical coniction that
he and his li,e were pri$ to a secret whose time
had not $et come to be generall$ reealed+ and it
was this certaint$ which+ in Hebrew literature of
the period+ imparted a special meaning to his use
of the terms "belieer" and "hol$ faith+" the pe-
culiar shadings of which immediatel$ inform us
that we are dealing with a Sabbatian document
een when there is not the slightest allusion there-
in to Sabbatai )ei himself; b$ irtue of his "hol$
faith" in the m$sterious realignment of the diine
worlds and in the special relationship to them of
the @reator during the transitional period of cos-
mic restitution 2ti,,un3+ the "belieer+" he who
trusted in the mission of Sabbatai )ei+ was e1alted
aboe all other men- Hidden in the "belieer's"
soul was a precious 6ewel+ the pearl of messianic
freedom+ which shone forth from its chamber of
chambers to pierce the opa=ueness of eil and
materialit$0 he who possessed it was a free man b$
power of his own personal e1perience+ and to this
inner sense of freedom+ whether gotten during the
mass reial that preceded Sabbatai )ei's apos-
tas$+ or afterward+ in the ran,s of "hol$ faith+"
he would continue to cling no matter how much
he ,new it to be contradicted b$ the outward
facts-
"ll Sabbatian doctrine had as its aim the reso-
lution of this contradition- The conflict was bit-
terl$ clear- Those who were disillusioned b$ Sab-
batai )ei's apostas$ were able to claim that noth-
ing had reall$ changed; the world was the same as
eer+ the e1ile was no different than before0 there-
fore the Torah was the same Torah and the fa-
miliar 7abbalistic teachings about the nature of
the Godhead and the diine worlds remained in
force- " great opportunit$ had perhaps e1isted+
but it had been missed; henceforth the one re-
course was a return to *srael's traditional faith in
its God- The "belieers+" on the other hand+
could sa$+ in paraphrase of %ob+ "our e$es hae
beheld and not another's"; the redemption had
begun indeed+ onl$ its wa$s were m$sterious and
its outward aspect was still incomplete- /1ternals
might seem the same+ but inwardl$ all was in the
process of renewal- !oth the Torah and the e1ile
had been fundamentall$ altered+ as had the na-
ture of the Godhead+ but for the time being
all these transformations bore "inward faces"
alone-
The Sabbatian moement soon deeloped all
the ps$chological characteristics of a spiritual sect+
and before long man$ of its followers proceeded to
organize themseles along such lines- The persecu-
tions against them on the part of arious rabbin-
ical and congregational authorities+ their own
special feeling of apartness and the need to pre-
sere their secret+ and the noel practices which
their beliefs eentuall$ compelled them to pursue+
were all factors in bringing this about- * do not
propose to dwell at length on the histor$ of an$ of
these groups+ but * do wish to emphasize briefl$ at
this point that large numbers of %ews+ especiall$
among the Sephardim+ continued to remain faith-
ful to Sabbatai )ei after his conersion- /en such
opponents of Sabbatianism as %acob Sasportas+ who
claimed that the followers of the moement were
now an "insubstantial minorit$+" was forced to
admit on other occasions that the minorit$ in =ues-
tion was considerable indeed+ particularl$ in
Morocco+ 8alestine+ /g$pt+ and most of Tur,e$
C'#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
and the !al,ans- Most of the Sabbatian groups in
these areas maintained constant contact with each
other and ,ept up a running battle oer the correct
interpretation of their "hol$ faith-" Grom these
regions came the first theoreticians of the moe-
ment+ men such as :athan of Gaza+ Samuel 8rimo+
"braham Miguel @ardozo+ and :ehemiah Ha$on
as well as the belieers in "oluntar$ Marranism+"
who went on to form the sect of the >onmeh in
Saloni,a- *n *tal$ the number of Sabbatians was
smaller+ though it included some of the countr$'s
most important 7abbalists0 within a generation
after its appearance there+ Sabbatianism had
dwindled into the concern of a few rabbis and
scholars 2chief among them 4abbi !en6amin
@ohen of 4eggio and 4abbi "braham 4oigo of
Modena3+ in whose hands it remained for a cen-
tur$ without eer penetrating into wider circles-
*n :orthern /urope Sabbatianism was also re-
stricted at first to small groups of adherents+ de-
otees of such "prophets" as Heshel )oref of Nilna
and Mordecai of /isenstadt in Hungar$+ but after
&B00+ following the commencement of a "8ales-
tinian period" during which organized Sabbatian
emigrations to the Hol$ Jand too, place from
seeral countries+ the moement spread rapidl$
through German$ and the "ustro-Hungarian /m-
pire- *n Jithuania it failed to ta,e root+ but in
8odolia and Moraia it became so entrenched
that it was soon able to claim the allegiance of
man$ ordinar$ %ewish burghers and small busi-
nessmen 2according to %acob /mden+ the numeri-
cal alue of the Hebrew letters in the erse in
8salms &C+ "There is none that doeth good+ not
een one+" was e=uialent to the numerical alue
of the letters in the Hebrew word for Moraial3-
*n 8rague and Mannheim Sabbatian-oriented cen-
ters of learning came into being- The influence of
the "graduates" of these institutions was great0
one of them+ in fact+ was the author of the hereti-
cal treatise Na-"o ha-Eom /l ha-"$in 2""nd *
@ame This >a$ unto the Gountain"3 which pro-
o,ed so much furor at the time of the contro-
ers$ surrounding %onathan /ibeschutz 2&BL&3
and led to a polemical "battle of the boo,s"
which has enabled us to trace the identities of
man$ Sabbatians of whom otherwise we would
hae ,nown nothing at all- *n the middle of the
&'th centur$ man$ of the Sabbatians in 8odolia
conerted to @hristianit$ after the e1ample of
their leader %acob Gran,+ but still others re-
mained within the %ewish fold- Ginall$+ a Sabba-
tian stronghold sprang up again in 8rague+ where
Gran,ism was propagated in a %ewish form- "fter
&'&L+ howeer+ the moement fell apart and its
members were absorbed into secular %ewish soci-
et$+ li,e the Gran,ist ancestors of Jouis !randeis-
*t is now time to turn our attention to the
actual content of the spiritualism of these Sabba-
tian groups+ for although the details of their the-
osophical teachings cannot be understood b$ an$-
one not alread$ familiar with the intricacies of
7abbalistic speculation in both the )ohar and the
writings of the Jurianic school+ other ital =ues-
tions which concerned them+ as well as their doc-
trine of the Godhead in its more general form+
can be rendered intelligible een to those who are
not full$ ersed in the esoteric side of %ewish
m$stical thought-
*ll
The =uestion which first confronted the
"belieers" after the apostas$ of
Sabbatai )ei+ and one to which the$ neer ceased
returning+ was of the following order; since b$
all e1ternal to,ens the redemption had alread$
been at hand+ and since the Messiah+ the authen-
ticit$ of whose mission was be$ond doubt+ had
actuall$ reealed himself to his people+ wh$ had
he forsa,en them and his religion+ and wh$ had
the historical and political delierance from
bondage which was to hae naturall$ accompa-
nied the cosmic process of ti,,un been dela$ed?
To this a parado1icall$ compelling answer was
=uic,l$ offered; the apostas$ of the Messiah was
itself a religious m$ster$ of the most crucial im-
portanceK :o less an authorit$ than Maimonides
himself+ it was argued+ had stated that the actual
details of the redemptie process were not to be
,nown in adance0 and although the truth of the
matter was that eer$thing that had happened
was full$ alluded to in the Hol$ Scriptures+ these
allusions themseles could not be correctl$ under-
stood until the eents the$ foretold had come to
pass- "ll might be found to hae been predicted
in the releant prophecies and legends which
:athan of Gaza+ and een more so "braham @ar-
dozo+ now proceeded to e1pound in the form of
a new doctrine to which Sabbatai )ei himself ap-
parentl$ subscribed-
"s long as the last diine spar,s 2nitzotzot3 of
holiness and good which fell at the time of
"dam's primordial sin into the impure realm of
the ,elipot 2the h$lic forces of eil whose hold
in the world is particularl$ strong among the
Gentiles3 hae not been gathered bac, again to
their sourceF so the e1planation ranF the process
of redemption is incomplete- *t is therefore left
to the 4edeemer+ the holiest of men+ to accom-
plish what not een the most righteous souls in
the past hae been able to do; to descend through
the gates of impurit$ into the realm of the ,elipot
and to rescue the diine spar,s still imprisoned
there- "s soon as this tas, is performed the 7ing-
dom of /il will collapse of itself+ for its e1istence
is made possible onl$ b$ the diine spar,s in its
midst- The Messiah is constrained to commit
"strange acts' ' 2ma'asim zarirn0 a concept hereaf-
ter to occup$ a central place in Sabbatian theol-
og$3+ of which his apostas$ is the most startling0
all of these+ howeer+ are necessar$ for the fulfill-
ment of his mission- *n the formulation of @ar-
dozo; "*t is ordained that the 7ing Messiah don
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#C(
the garments of a Marrano and so go unrecog-
nized b$ his fellow %ews+ *n a word+ it is ordained
that he become a Marrano li,e me#'
!efore proceeding to ta,e a closer loo, at this
bold and heretical doctrine+ one might well dwell
for a moment on @ardozo's own words+ which
proide in m$ opinion an inaluable clue to the
motiation behind it+ as the$ do in fact to nearl$
eer$ other feature of the Sabbatian moement
as well- 9nderl$ing the noelt$ of Sabbatian
thought more than an$thing else was the deepl$
parado1ical religious sensibilit$ of the Marranos
and their descendants+ who constituted a large
portion of Sephardic %ewr$- Had it not been for
the uni=ue ps$cholog$ of these re-conerts to %u-
daism+ the new theolog$ would neer hae found
the fertile ground to flourish in that it did- 4e-
gardless of what the actual bac,grounds of its first
disseminators ma$ hae been+ the Sabbatian doc-
trine of the Messiah was perfectl$ tailored to the
needs of the Marranic mentalit$- *ndeed+ we ,now
for a fact that "braham @ardozo+ one of the
moement's most successful prosel$tizers+ was of
definite Marrano originF he was born in Spain in
&<DBF a particular which goes far to e1plain the
remar,able zeal and sincerit$ with which he de-
fended the new doctrine- Historians in our own
da$ hae pointed out at length the degree of con-
tradiction+ of duplicit$ and dualit$+ which was in-
oled in the religious consciousness of the Mar-
ranos- Gor these undercoer %ews "to don the
garments of a Marrano" was b$ no means an
un6ustifiable act0 in its defense the$ were fond of
citing the stor$ of Pueen /sther+ as well as arious
other biblical fragments and erses- Gormal apos-
tas$ had neer been considered b$ them to repre-
sent an irreconcilable brea, with their mother
faith- "nd now along came a religious metaph$sic
which e1alted 6ust such a form of life to the
highest possible leel b$ attributing it to the per-
son of the 4edeemer himselfK @ertainl$ all ,inds
of implications+ which we shall deal with later on+
were contained in this original idea- Jet us e1-
amine it more closel$-
To begin with+ the new doctrine could no long-
er be harmonized with the traditional messianic
fol,-m$th held to b$ the %ewish masses unless
room could be found in the latter for such a "con-
tradiction in terms" as the apostas$ of the 4e-
deemer- "t first it was no doubt belieed that the
Messiah's descent into the realm of the ,elipot
was but an incidental aspect of his mission+ "as
happened to 7ing >aid Hwhen he so6ournedI
with "chish 7ing of Gath+" but it soon came to
be realized that such an e1traordinar$ eent must
occup$ the center of an$ messianic schema+ which
if necessar$ would hae to be rebuilt around it;
if the Messiah's tas, indeed contained a tragic ele-
ment+ as was now being proposed+ support for this
belief would hae to be found in the sources and
attitudes of %ewish tradition- .hat now too,
place in Sabbatianism was similar to what hap-
pened in @hristianit$ at the time of the apostles+
the chief difference being the shifting of the tragic
moment in the Messiah's destin$ from his cruci-
fi1ion to his apostas$+ a change which rendered
the parado1 in =uestion een more seere- "nd
to this noel conception another was soon added+
one which indeed had a basis in aggadic litera-
ture+ but whose hidden implications had gone
unnoticed as long as no pressing realit$ had e1-
isted to force its application outside of the do-
main of pure theor$ and imagination0 this was
the notion that the 7ing Messiah was to gie "a
new Torah" and that the commandments of the
Jaw 2mitzot3 were to be abrogated in messianic
times- Speculations of this nature could be found
in arious Midrashim and "ggadot+ but possessed
no particular authorit$ and were easil$ chal-
lenged b$ means of other e1egetical passages to
the opposite effect+ with the conse=uence that+ in
%ewish tradition+ the entire =uestion had hitherto
been allowed to remain in abe$ance- /en those
isionaries who dreamt through the ages of a new
.ord of God in a redeemed world did not+ in
fact+ particularl$ connect this idea with the ac-
tiities of the Messiah himself+ and it was not un-
til it was seized upon b$ the new "Marranic" doc-
trine that its latent e1plosie power was reealed-
The doctrine of the necessar$ apos-
tas$ of the Messiah did not orig-
inate in the realm of literature+ but was rather
rooted in new religious feelings that had come to
e1ist- *t was onl$ after the initial manifestation of
these that the effort to 6ustif$ them on the basis
of authoritatie sources began+ and with trul$ re-
mar,able results+ for practicall$ oernight a new
religious language was born- Grom bits and pieces
of Scripture+ from scattered parado1es and sa$-
ings in the writings of the 7abbalah+ from all the
remotest corners of %ewish religious literature+ an
unprecedented theolog$ of %udaism was brought
into being- The c$nicism of most %ewish histori-
ans toward these "inanities" does not reeal an$
great understanding of what actuall$ too, place-
Suddenl$ we find ourseles confronted b$ an orig-
inal %ewish terminolog$+ far remoed from that of
@hristianit$+ $et e=uall$ determined to e1press
the contradictions inherent in the life of the 4e-
deemer and in redemption itself- Stri,ing as it did
a hidden wellspring of deep religious emotion+
one can hardl$ den$ that this gospel must hae
possessed a powerful attraction+ nor that it often
managed to in6ect new meanings into familiar
phrases and figures of speech with a fascinating
profundit$- Such a dialectical eruption of new
forces in the midst of old concepts is rare indeed-
!ecause Graetz and other historians insisted on
regarding its articulation as being nothing more
than a prete1t for a monstrous debauchment of
moral and spiritual alues+ the$ completel$ oer-
loo,ed its true significance- To be sure+ the docM
trine of an apostate Messiah did sere as a prete1t
S5#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
too+ but it was also a great deal more0 and had it
not appealed 2and b$ irtue of its er$ parado1i-
call$K3 to ital components in the spiritual ma,e-
up of the %ew+ and aboe all to his sense of
spiritual mission+ it would neer hae succeeded
in attracting a following in the first place- This
missionar$ ideolog$ reached a pea, in the writings
of the Jurianic 7abbalah+ which stroe to incul-
cate in eer$ %ew a sense of dut$ to "eleate the
spar,s" and so help bring about the ultimate
ti,,un of the @reation-
Here the L3rd chapter of *saiah pla$ed a ,e$
role+ for as it was now reinterpreted the erse+
"!ut he was wounded because of our transgres-
sions" was ta,en to be an allusion not onl$ to the
Messiah ben %oseph+ the legendar$ forerunner of
the 4edeemer who according to tradition was to
suffer death at the hands of the Gentiles+ but to
the Messiah ben >aid as well+ who "would be
forcibl$ preented from obsering the Torah-"
!$ a pla$ on words+ the Hebrew e-hu
meholal+ "but he was wounded+'M was interpreted
as meaning "from sacred he Hthe MessiahI will
be made profane HhoiI-" Thus+
all Gentiles are referred to as profane HhoiI and
,elipah+ and whereas *srael alone is called sacred+
all the other nations are profane- "nd een
though a %ew commit a transgression+ as long
as he remains a %ew among %ews he is called
sacred and an *sraelite+ for as the rabbis hae
said+ "/en though he has sinned+ he is still an
*sraelite-" *t follows that there is no wa$ for
the 7ing Messiah to be made profane e1cept he
be remoed from the @ommunit$ of *srael into
another domain+
Man$ similar homilies were written on the rest of
the chapter+ especiall$ on the erse+ ""nd he
made his grae with the wic,ed-" Eet another
faorite erse was >euteronom$ 33;B 2""nd this
for %udah+ and he said; Hear+ Jord+ the oice of
%udah+ and bring him unto his people"3+ which
was assumed to allude to the >aidic Messiah of
the House of %udah+ whose destin$ it was to be
ta,en from his people 2hence Moses's pra$er that
God bring him bac, to them3- /ndless biblical
erses were cited to proe that the Messiah was
fated to be condemned as an outcast and criminal
b$ his own people- @lothed in Messianic radiance+
all the t$pical arguments of the Marranos were
applied to Sabbatai )ei;
"nd similar to this Hthe apostas$ of Sabbatai
)eiI is what happened to /sther+ who was the
cause of great salation to *srael0 for although
most of the people+ being ignorant+ most cer-
tainl$ despised her for haing gien herself to
an idol-worshiper and a Gentile in dear iola-
tion of the bidding of the Torah+ the sages of
old+ who ,new the secret Hof her actionI+ did
not regard her as a sinner+ for it is said of her
in the Talmud; "/sther was the ground of the
entire world-"
*n the same ein+ the familiar aggadic sa$ing that
"the last 4edeemer will be as the first" was ta,en
to mean that 6ust as Moses lied for man$ $ears
at the court of 8haraoh+ so the Messiah must
lie with "the Tur,+" for as the e1ile draws to a
close the Messiah himself must be e1iled to atone
for *srael's sins-
:e1t came the turn of the )ohar+ and
here too+ with the help of ma6or or
minor distortions+ a world of new s$mbols was
made to emerge+ such as the figure of "the ,ing
who is good within but clothed in eil garments-"
*n ain it was argued against this interpretation
that the passage does not refer in this conte1t to a
,ing at all+ much less to the Messiah0 the image+ so
e1pressie in its obscurit$+ penetrated deep into
the Sabbatian consciousness where it remained for
generations to come- Two other writers whose
wor,s were mined in this fashion were 4abbi
%udah Joew ben !ezalel of 8rague and 4abbi
%oseph Taitatsa, of Saloni,a+ one of the emigres
from Spain in &C(D; the former was found to hae
cr$pticall$ predicted that the Messiah would be
bound to the world of *slam+ while the latter was
supposed to hae stated+ "when the rabbis said that
the Son of >aid would not come until the ,ing-
dom was entirel$ gien oer to unbelief HSanhedrin
(BaI+ the$ were thin,ing of the 7ingdom of
Heaen+ for the She,hinah is destined to don the
garments of *shmaeJ" *n a word+ the attempt to
6ustif$ the belief that the fall and apostas$ of the
Messiah were necessar$ actions was carried out
assiduousl$ and successfull$ and led to the com-
position of man$ homilies+ treatises+ and boo,s+
some of which hae not $et been recoered from
their resting places- /ndless indications and de-
fenses of the new doctrine were brought from
practicall$ eer$ corner of %ewish literature- "t
first the tendenc$ was to assert that although the
Messiah's conersion had been forced upon him+ it
was =ualitatiel$ to be considered as a deliberate
act0 graduall$+ howeer+ this motif disappeared+
and the emphasis came to be placed s=uarel$ on
the parado1 that the Messiah should conert of
his own free will- The descent into the ,elipot
was+ indeed had to be+ a oluntar$ one-
*t was at this point that a radicall$ new content
was bestowed upon the old rabbinic concept of
mitzah ha-ba'ah baQaerah f literall$+ "a com-
mandment which is fulfilled b$ means of a trans-
gression-" 5nce it could be claimed that the Mes-
siah's apostas$ was in no wa$ a transgression+ but
was rather a fulfillment of the commandment of
God+ "for it is ,nown throughout *srael that the
prophets can do and command things which are
not in accord with the Torah and its laws#' the
entire =uestion of the continued alidit$ of the
Jaw had reached a critical stage- .e ,now that
een before his apostas$ Sabbatai )ei iolated
seeral of the commandments b$ eating the fat of
animals and administering it to others+ directing
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#L&
that the paschal sacrifice be performed outside
of the Jand of *srael+ and cancelling the fast da$s-
His followers soon began to see, e1planations for
these acts+ and here began a diision which was
to lead eentuall$ to an open split in the moe-
ment-
*N
The new doctrine of the necessar$
apostas$ of the Messiah was accept-
ed b$ all the "belieers-" *n fact+ it proed to be
s$mbolicall$ richer than was at first assumed+ for
it e1pertl$ e1pressed the contradiction between
the outward realit$ of histor$ and the inward re-
alit$ of the "belieers' " lies- *t was now no long-
er to be wondered at that the outward delier-
ance had been dela$ed+ for this could be e1-
plained b$ the m$stic principle of "good within
but clothed in eil garments-" *n turn+ howeer+
other =uestions arose which the doctrine of neces-
sar$ apostas$ was in itself insufficient to answer-
Girst of all+ it was as,ed+ what was the nature of
the Messiah's act? .as it intended to be an e1-
emplar for others? .ere all %ews en6oined to fol-
low suit? 5r was it essentiall inimitable and to
be loo,ed upon as a theoretical model onl$?
Second+ what was the nature of the transitional
period during which the Messiah was in the
clutches of the ,elipotR @ould it properl$ be
called the redemption or not? Since it was agreed
b$ all that the She,hinah had "risen from the
dust+" where was the She,hinah now? >id it still
ma,e sense to spea, of her "e1ile" and to mourn
for her? .hat e1actl$ was the relationship of in-
wardness to outwardness in the present age?
Third+ what was the status of the Torah during
this period? Had a new aspect of it been reealed?
How was the principle of mitzah ha-ba'ah ba-
aerah to be understood? @ould it not be argued
that the change which had ta,en place in the re-
lationship of the diine worlds necessitated a cor-
responding change in the performance of the
commandments+ the purpose of which had been
to restore the harmon$ of the old+ unredeemed
cosmos that had been shattered b$ the primordial
sin? .as not the Jurianic 7abbalah in its tradi-
tional form now outdated?
These were the principal dilemmas which were
to shape the deelopment of Sabbatianism in the
course of the following hundred $ears+ and in se-
eral countries to transform it from a messianic
moement into a nihilistic moement operating
within a religious framewor,- "nd 6ust as these
=uestions were themseles mutuall$ related+ so the
nihilism which resulted from them was to be char-
acterized b$ its internal unit$ and consistenc$-
Here+ then+ it is necessar$ to distinguish be-
tween two opposing Sabbatian factions which
emerged from the clashes of opinion surrounding
these disputed points+ as well as from differing
interpretations of the theosophical "m$ster$ of
the Godhead" 2sod ha-elohut3 reealed b$ Sab-
batai )ei to his disciples; a moderate and rather
piousl$ inclined wing of the moement on the
one hand+ and a radical+ antinomian+ and ni-
hilistic wing on the other- 2!oth of these factions+
in turn+ contained man$ subdiisions+ but here
we are concerned onl$ with the more general fea-
tures of each-3 *n the case of some Sabbatians+
who hae left us no completel$ candid record of
their feelings+ it is difficult to determine to which
of these two camps the$ belonged-M "s might nat-
urall$ be e1pected+ in face of the persecutions
against them the "belieers" were not often in a
position to e1pound their beliefs undisguisedl$+
and certainl$ not to permit them to appear in
print- This was particularl$ true of the nihilists+
who had good and compelling reasons for con-
cealing their doctrines-
Moderate Sabbatianism+ which we shall consider
first+ was a iew shared b$ man$ rabbis and was
represented b$ men li,e :athan of Gaza+ "braham
@ardozo+ and "braham 4oigo- 5f these three+
@ardozo and 4oigo are the more aluable
sources+ especiall$ the former+ a large number of
whose man$ treatises hae suried than,s to the
refusal of his disciples in Jondon+ Tur,e$+ and
Morocco to burn them in compliance with the
in6unctions of the rabbinical courts-
"ccording to the "moderates+" the apostas$ of
the Messiah was not intended to sere as an e1-
ample for others- To be sure+ Sabbatai )ei had
done what was necessar$+ but to attempt to follow
in his footsteps was to belie the significance of his
act+ which was performed in behalf of eer$bod$-
*n the words of *saiah L3; "The Jord hath made
to light on him the ini=uit$ of us all-" Strictl$
spea,ing+ "all were Horiginall$I under the ob-
ligation to conert+" 'but God in His merc$ per-
mitted the apostas$ of the Messiah to atone for
the sins of His people- !esides being strange and
scandalous in its nature+ Sabbatai )ei's coner-
sion was in a class b$ itself and was not an ob6ect
of imitation- The %ew was e1pected to remain a
%ew- True+ a new world-era had undoubtedl$
been ushered in+ the spiritual worlds had under-
gone ti,,un+ and their structure was now per-
manentl$ altered0 nonetheless+ as long as the re-
demption did not manifest itself outwardl$ in the
realm of ob6ectie eents in histor$+ as long as the
e1ternal bondage continued and the phenomenal
world remained unchanged+ no aspect or com-
mandment of the Torah was to be openl$ tam-
pered with e1cept for the small number of inno-
M 5ne might particularl$ cite in this connection the
puzzling case of the great Talmudic scholar 4abbi %onathan
/ibeschutz+ a ps$chological enigma that still needs badl$
to be unraeled+ although here is not the place to do
so- * cannot conceal the fact+ howeer+ that after thoroughl$
e1amining both /ibeschutz's own 7abbalistic writings and
all the polemical wor,s that the$ engendered * hae been
forced to conclude that he was indeed a Sabbatian+ as both
%acob /mden and+ in a later age+ Heinrich Graetz insisted-
LD#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
ations+ such as the cancellation oS the fast of
Tish'ah be-" 2the da$ of the destruction of the
Temple3+ which had been proclaimed b$ the
Messiah and his prophets as s$mbolic to,ens of
the redemption's commencement- /en on this
point+ howeer+ there was disagreement+ for se-
eral Sabbatians+ including "braham 4oigo him-
self+ decided to reinstate the fast after a period of
hesitation lasting a number of $ears during which
the$ had disregarded itF not because the$ had
"gone bac," on their beliefs+ but because of the
=uestionable nature of the practice itself+ as wit-
nessed b$ the fact that 4oigo's disciple+ Mordecai
"sh,enazi+ had been bidden b$ a maggid or "spir-
itual intelligence" to desist from it- 5n the whole+
it was the iew of the "moderates" that during the
transitional period under wa$ the ,elipot still re-
tained a good deal of their power+ which could
onl$ be eliminated b$ continued performance of
the mitzot; the "facade" of rabbinic %udaism
must be allowed to remain temporaril$ standing+
although great changes had alread$ ta,en place
within the edifice- 5ne unmista,able testimon$
to this inner transformation was the abandon-
ment b$ man$ of the "moderates'M of the m$stical
meditations 2,aanot3 of *saac Juria- The first
to discontinue their use was :athan of Gaza+
whose reasons for doing so were as follows;
The ,aanot of the Jurianic 7abbalists were
inward actions of thought designed to relate the
performance of gien commandments or pra$ers
to specific stages in the d$namic chain of the di-
ine worlds and thereb$ to reintegrate the latter
b$ helping to restore them to the places the$ had
occupied before their catastrophic fall- Thus+
each ,aanah was a spiritual act demonstrating
that the outward underta,ing which occasioned
it harmonized inisibl$ with the oerall struc-
ture of the cosmos- :ow+ howeer+ with the ad-
ent of the Messiah+ this structure had changed-
The sense of inner freedom possessed b$ the "be-
lieers" was not a sub6ectie illusion+ but was
caused b$ a real reorganization of the worlds
illuminating the soul+ as a result of which the
Jurianic ,aanot had become obsolete- This in
turn led to a realuation of the entire Jurianic
7abbalah+ and on occasion both :athan of Gaza
and "braham @ardozo went so far as to direct
eiled criticisms at *saac Juria himself- :athan+
for e1ample+ writes; "*n the present age it is no
longer in order to read the ti,,unim composed
b$ 4abbi *saac Juria of blessed memor$ and his
disciples+ nor to meditate according to their ,a-
anot + for the times hae changed- The ,aanot
of 4abbi *saac Juria were meant for his own age+
which was Hli,eI an ordinar$ da$ of the wee,+
whereas now it is the ee of the Sabbath+ and it is
not proper to treat the Sabbath as though it were
a wee,da$-" /lsewhere he writes; "M$ meaning
is that the ,aanot discoered b$ our teacher
4abbi *saac Juria+ ma$ his saintl$ and righteous
memor$ be blessed+ are no longer appropriate to
our own time+ because the raising up Hof the di-
ine worldsI has entered a new phase+ so that it
would be li,e emplo$ing ,aanot intended for a
wee,da$ on the Sabbath- Therefore+ let eer$one
beware of using them+ and li,ewise let none of
the ,aanot or homilies or writings of 4abbi
*saac Juria be read henceforward+ for the$ are
abstruse and no liing man has understood them
e1cept 4abbi Ha$$im Nital+ who was a disciple
of the master H*saac JuriaI for seeral $ears+ at
the end of which he surpassed him in ,nowl-
edge-"
*n a similar ein; "*t is no longer in order
to perform the midnight igil+ that is+ to weep
and mourn for the e1ile of the She,hinah+ for
she has alread$ begun to rise from the earth+ so
that whoeer mourns for her is a blunderer and
attracts the compan$ of that guilt$ HdemonI
Jilith+ since it is she now who weeps and wails-"
Man$ other passages li,e these could be cited- "s
a matter of course @ardozo hastened to compose
a new series of updated ,aanot+ but these were
neer to proe popular with his fellow Sabbatians+
who either gae up the practice of m$stical medi-
tations entirel$+ or else+ li,e man$ of the Hasidim
who came after them+ too, to composing their
own as the$ indiiduall$ saw fit-
*t was generall$ held b$ all the Sabba-
tians that now+ on the "ee of the Sab-
bath+" the m$ster$ of the Godhead that had eluded
the rabbis+ philosophers+ and 7abbalists through-
out the ages was finall$ to be reealed- This was
not to sa$ that the secret had not been hinted at
b$ the last of the Gnostics liing in the Tannaitic
period+ who cr$pticall$ concealed it in the pages
of the )ohar and in seeral "ggadot+ particularl$
those ,nown as the aggadot shel dofi or "offensie
"ggadot+" which had sered as milestones for the
contemplation of the m$stics and as obscure hints
at the m$steries during the dar, night of e1ile-
!ut the true meaning of these had been oer-
loo,ed0 nor could it be full$ comprehended until
the /nd of >a$s- 5n the other hand+ although
the "m$ster$ of the Godhead" was $et to be re-
ealed in its entiret$+ a part of it had now been
made ,nown- Here again a re6ection of Jurianism
and the substitution of a new Sabbatian 7abbalah
in its place were inoled- The first written e1-
position of the new s$stem+ which was to be sub-
6ect to a great man$ different inferences and in-
terpretations+ was the small tract 4aza de-Mehe-
manuta 2"The Secret of the Gaith"3 which was
orall$ dictated b$ Sabbatai )ei to a disciple after
his apostas$- *ts effect was to prefi1 $et another
stage to the theogonic speculations of the 7ab-
balists+ for it treated 2and =uite remar,abl$3 of
the m$sterious inner life of the Godhead before
its tzimtzam or primordial contraction+ whereas
Jurianic 7abbalah had dealt onl$ with the
counter-e1pansion of the deit$ once the tzimtzum
had ta,en place-
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#L3
.e hae alread$ seen in connection with their
doctrine of the apostate Messiah that the Sabba-
tians were not in the least bit char$ of parado1es+
and indeed+ their theological reflections on the
true nature of "the Gaith" and its histor$ in
*srael reeal a dialectical daring that cannot
but be respected- Here we are gien our deepest
glimpse $et into the souls of these reolu-
tionaries who regarded themseles as lo$al %ews
while at the same time completel$ oerturning
the traditional religious categories of %udaism- *
am not of course spea,ing of a feeling of "lo$alt$"
to the %ewish religion as it was defined b$ rab-
binical authorit$- Gor man$+ if not for most Sab-
batians+ the %udaism of the rabbis+ which the$
identified with the %udaism of the e1ile+ had come
to assume an entirel$ dubious character- /en
when the$ continued to lie within its 6urisdiction
it was not out of an$ sense of positie commit-
ment0 no doubt it had been suited to its time+ but
in the light of the soul-sha,ing truth of the re-
demption that time had passed- Ta,ing into ac-
count all that has been said here+ it is hardl$ sur-
prising that this attitude should hae e1isted-
.hat is surprising+ howeer+ indeed astoundingl$
so+ is the nature of the spiritual world that the
Sabbatians should hae stumbled upon in the
course of their search through the !ible for "the
m$ster$ of the Godhead" which e1ilic %udaism
had allowed to perish+ for here we are confronted
with nothing less than the totall$ une1pected re-
ial of the religious beliefs of the ancient Gnos-
tics+ albeit in a transalued form-
The Gnostics+ who were the contem-
poraries of the %ewish Tannaim of
the Dnd centur$+ belieed that it was necessar$ to
distinguish between a good but hidden God who
alone was worth$ of being worshiped b$ the elect+
and a >emiurge or creator of the ph$sical unierse+
whom the$ identified with the "6ust" God of the
5ld Testament- *n effect the$ did not so much
re6ect the %ewish Scriptures+ whose account of
eents the$ conceded to be at least partl$ true+
as the$ denied the superiorit$ of the %ewish God+
for whom the$ resered the most pe6oratie
terms- Salation was brought to man,ind b$ mes-
sengers sent b$ the hidden God to rescue the soul
from the cruel law or "6ustice" of the >emiurge+
whose dominion oer the eil material world+ as
testified to b$ the !ible+ was but an indication of
his lowl$ status- The hidden God Himself was
un,nown+ but He had entrusted %esus and the
gnostic faithful with the tas, of oerthrowing the
"God of the %ews-" "s for the claim of both %ews
and orthodo1 @hristians that the God of *srael
who created the world and the transcendent God
of goodness were one and the same+ this was a
great falsehood which stood in the wa$ of true
gnosis- This ,ind of "metaph$sical anti-Semi-
tism+" as is well ,nown+ did not anish from his-
tor$ with the disappearance of the gnostic sects+
but continued to reassert itself within the @ath-
olic @hurch and its heretical offshoots throughout
the Middle "ges-
"The m$ster$ of the Godhead" which Sabbati-
anism now "discoered+" and which it belieed
to be identical with "the m$ster$ of the God of
*srael" and "the faith of Gather "braham+" was
founded entirel$ on a new formulation of this
ancient gnostic parado1- *n the ersion made cur-
rent b$ @ardozo it was e1pounded as follows;
"ll nations and philosophers hae been led b$
irrefutable laws of the intellect to ac,nowledge
the e1istence of a Girst @ause responsible for set-
ting all else in motion- Gien the fact+ therefore+
that an$one capable of logical reasoning can
demonstrate to his own satisfaction that such a
@ause e1ists+ what need is there for it to be spe-
ciall$ reealed to man,ind? .hat possible reli-
gious difference can such a reelation ma,e when
we are no less the wiser without it? The answer
is+ none at all- The Girst @ause+ which was wor-
shiped b$ 8haraoh and :imrod and the wise men
of *ndia ali,e+ is not the concern of religion at all+
for it has nothing to do with the affairs of this
world or its creation and e1erts no influence on it
for good or for bad- The purpose of a diine re-
elation must be to ma,e something ,nown which
cannot be grasped b$ the intellect on its own+
something which has specificall$ religious alue
and content- "nd indeed+ this is precisel$ the
case with the %ewish Torah+ which does not dwell
at all on that Hidden 8rinciple whose e1istence
can be ade=uatel$ proen b$ the intellect+ but
spea,s onl$ of the God of *srael+ /lohei Eisrael+
who is the creator of the world and the first ema-
nation to proceed from the Girst @ause- This God+
in turn+ has two aspects+ or "countenances & ' 2par-
tzafim3+ one male and one female+ the latter being
,nown as the She,hinah0 He alone it is who cre-
ates and reeals Himself and redeems+ and to Him
alone are pra$er and worship to be rendered- *t is
this parado1 of a God of religion who is distinct
from the Girst @ause that is the essence of true
%udaism+ that "faith of our fathers" which is con-
cealed in the boo,s of the !ible and in the dar,
sa$ings of "ggadot and the 7abbalah- *n the
course of the confusion and demoralization
brought on b$ the e1ile this m$ster$ 2of which
een @hristianit$ was nothing but a distorted e1-
pression3 was forgotten and the %ewish 8eople
was mista,enl$ led to identif$ the impersonal
Girst @ause with the personal God of the !ible+ a
spiritual disaster for which Saadia Gaon+ Mai-
monides+ and the other philosophers will $et be
held accountable- *t was thus that the words of
the prophet Hosea+ "Gor the @hildren of *srael
shall sit solitar$ man$ da$s without a ,ing" 23;C3+
came to be fulfilled- "t the e1ile's end+ howeer+
*srael's God will reeal Himself once more+ and
this secret is a source of precious comfort to the
"belieers-' &
Here we hae a t$picall$ gnostic scheme+ onl$
LC#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
inerted; the good God is no longer the deus abQ
sconditus+ who has now become the deit$ of the
philosophers for whom there is no room in reli-
gion proper+ hut rather the God of *srael who
created the world and presented it with His
Torah- .hat daring lab$rinths of the spirit are
reealed in this new creedK .hat $earnings for a
regeneration of faith and what disdainful nega-
tion of the e1ileK Ji,e+ true spiritual reolution-
aries+ with an unfeigned enthusiasm which een
toda$ cannot fail to impress the reader of @ar-
dozo's boo,s+ the ''belieers" unflinchingl$ pro-
claimed their belief that all during the e1ile the
%ewish people had worshiped a powerless diin-
it$ and had clung to a wa$ of life that was funda-
mentall$ in need of reform- .hen one considers
how wildl$ e1traagant all this ma$ appear een
now+ it is eas$ enough to appreciate the wrath
and indignation with which such a theolog$ was
greeted b$ the 5rthodo1 camp in its own da$-
>etermined to aoid a full-scale reolution within
the heart of %ewr$+ the rabbinical traditionalists
and their supporters did all the$ could to drie
the "belieers" be$ond the pale- "nd $et in spite
of all this+ one can hardl$ den$ that a great deal
that is authenticall$ %ewish was embodied in
these parado1ical indiiduals too+ in their desire
to start afresh and in their realization of the fact
that negating the e1ile meant negating its reli-
gious and institutional forms as well and return-
ing to the original fountainheads of the %ewish
faith- This last practiceF a tendenc$ to rel$ in
matters of belief upon the !ible and the "ggadah
Fgrew to be particularl$ strong among the nihil-
ists in the moement- Here+ too+ faith in parado1
reigned supreme; the stranger the "ggadah+ the
more offensie to reason and common sense+ the
more li,el$ it was to be seized upon as a s$mbol
of that ''m$ster$ of faith" which naturall$ tended
to conceal itself in the most frightful and fanci-
ful tales-
* hae alluded to the fierce discussions
that bro,e out among the Sabbatians
oer the issue of how "the m$ster$ of the God-
head" was to be interpreted- Seeral of the eluci-
dations of the doctrine that are ,nown to us dif-
fer substantiall$ from the ersion gien b$ @ar-
dozo+ who deoted his er$ best speculatie pow-
ers to the =uestion- "ll of these treatises emplo$
the terminolog$ of the )ohar and the Jurianic
7abbalah+ but proceed to attribute to them mean-
ings that are entirel$ their own- "mong the spec-
ulations on the sub6ect that hae come down to
us in detail are those of :ehemiah Ha$on+ Sam-
uel 8rimo+ and %onathan /ibeschutz- >espite
their diision of the Godhead into three h$pos-
tases 2par tzufim3F the Girst @ause or "Hol$ "n-
cient 5ne" 2ati,a ,adisha3+ the God of *srael or
"Hol$ 7ing" 2mal,a ,adisha3+ and the She-
,hinahF M of these writers sought to uphold the
essential d$namic unit$ of the diinit$- The cen-
tral problems as the$ saw themFproblems+ be ii;
said+ which did not e1ist for non-Sabbatian 7ab-
balah at allF were first of all to determine the
nature of the relationship+ the "three ,nots of
faith" as the$ called it+ between the Girst @ause+
the God of *srael+ and the She,hinah+ and sec-
ondl$ to establish the e1act conient of the new
reelation concerning the essence of the God of
*srael- @haracteristic of the approach of these
Sabbatian "moderates" was their stubborn refusal
to leae an$ room in their gnostic theories for a
doctrine of diine incarnation- *ndeed+ the litera-
ture of "moderate" Sabbatianism is in general
filled with iolent denunciations of @hristianit$
and of the @hristian dogma of the Trinit$+
"ccording to seeral of the "moderates+" "the
m$ster$ of the Godhead" had not $et been full$
reealed; during the original messianic reial
period of &<<L-<<+ the$ argued+ there had been an
initial reelation which it was permitted to ma,e
,nown freel$+ but now+ during the period of
transition+ eclipse+ and uncertaint$+ the situation
was no longer the same- The She,hinah had in-
deed "begun to rise# & but "she has still not re-
turned to her place entirel$+ for had she re-
turned we would no longer be in e1ile-" These
words were written b$ "braham 4oigo more
than thirt$ $ears after Sabbatai )ei's apostas$+
of the m$stic meaning of which he had absolutel$
no doubt+ and the$ illustrate in a nutshell the
ps$cholog$ of "moderate" Sabbatianism while at
the same time soling the riddle of how so man$
rabbis who were confirmed "belieers" neerthe-
less managed to remain in their rabbinical posts-
The redemption had trul$ begun+ but it was a
gradual process; "H*t proceedsI step b$ step- *n
the /nd the Hol$ 5ne+ blessed be He+ will raise
her from the dust-" This was not to sa$ that the
She,hinah had not alread$ begun to rise of her
own accord+ but "as long as He does not lift her
up Himself it is said that she is still in e1ile-" *t
goes without sa$ing that those who subscribed to
this iew were obliged to ,eep up all the tradi-
tional practices of e1ilic+ i-e-+ historic+ %udaism-
/en the midnight igil for the She,hinah was
ultimatel$ reintroduced-
*n a word+ at the same time that it was com-
pletel$ transforming the historic inner world of
%udaism in its own uni=ue manner+ "moderate"
Sabbatianism continued to adhere to traditional
%ewish obserance not for the sa,e of mere
camouflage+ but as a matter of principle- The in-
ward crisis which eer$ "moderate" underwent
was permitted little or no outward e1pression+
and inasmuch as such an ob6ectification of his
feelings was barred b$ either the e1igencies of
the situation or the compunctions of his own re-
ligious consciousness+ he was forced to retreat
een further into himself- !ut although the new
sense of inner freedom bore purel$ inner conse-
=uences+ we can neertheless rel$ on the 6udg-
ment of those anti-Sabbatian polemicists who saw
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#LL
perfectl$ clearl$ that the inward deastation of
old alues was no less dangerous or far-reaching
than its outward manifestation- .hoeer reads
such a olume as 4abbi %onathan /ibeschutz's
The !oo, of the /ternal :ame+ a treatise on
"the m$ster$ of the Godhead" composed in the
traditional st$le of Talmudic dialectics+ will read-
il$ see what ab$sses had opened up in the er$
heart of %udaism- Grom these were to come the
deluge; pure founts of salation and spiritual re-
birth to the one camp+ gross waters of corruption
and shameless sacrilege to the other-
N
.e hae seen how the principal fea-
ture of ' ' modera te' ' Sabba ti an
doctrine was the belief that the apostas$ of the
Messiah was sui generis- The Messiah must go his
lonel$ wa$ into the ,ingdom of impurit$ and
"the other side" 2sitra ahra3 and dwell there in
the realm of a "strange god" whom he would $et
refuse to worship- The enormous tension between
the sub6ectie and the ob6ectie which had de-
eloped in the ran,s of his followers had so far
found a legitimate e1pression in this one act
alone- .hereas Sabbatai )ei had actuall$ done
strange and ob6ectionable things in the name of
the hol$+ the celebration of this parado1 among
the "belieers" was restricted to the domain of
faith- "Moderate" Sabbatianism drew a circle
around the concept of "strange holiness" and for-
bade itself to enter; it was indeed the Messiah's
fate to scandalize *srael b$ his deeds+ but it was
decidedl$ his fate alone-
5nce drawn+ howeer+ the line was clearl$ dif-
ficult to maintain- The more ardent "belieer"
found himself becoming increasingl$ restie- .as
he to abandon the Messiah entirel$ 6ust when the
latter was engaged in the most bitter phase of his
struggle with the power of eil? *f the spar, of the
redemption had been e1perienced b$ all+ wh$
should not all do as the 4edeemer? How could
one refuse to go to his aid? "nd soon the cr$ was
heard; Jet us surrender ourseles as he didK Jet
us descend together to the ab$ss before it shuts
againK Jet us cram the maw of impurit$ with the
power of holiness until it bursts from within-
Geelings such as these formed the ps$chological
bac,ground for the great nihilistic conflagration
that was to brea, out in the "radical" wing of the
Sabbatian moement- The fire was fed b$ power-
ful religious emotions+ but in the crucial moment
these were to 6oin forces with passions of an en-
tirel$ different sort+ namel$+ with the instincts of
anarch$ and lawlessness that lie deepl$ buried
in eer$ human soul- Traditionall$ %udaism had
alwa$s sought to suppress such impulses+ but now
that the$ were allowed to emerge in the reolu-
tionar$ e1hilaration brought on b$ the e1perience
of redemption and its freedom+ the$ burst forth
more iolentl$ than eer- "n aura of holiness
seemed to surround them- The$ too would be
granted their ti,,un+ if onl$ in the "hindparts of
holiness-"
9ltimatel$+ too+ the disappointing course of e1-
ternal eents had a telling effect- Though he pos-
sessed the heroic soul of the warrior !ar 7o,hba+
Sabbatai )ei had not gone forth to do battle on
the >a$ of the Jord- " $awning chasm had ap-
peared between inner and outer realities+ and
once it was decided that the former was the truer
of the two+ it was onl$ to be e1pected that the
alue of the latter would increasingl$ come to be
re6ected- *t was precisel$ at this point that messi-
anism was transformed into nihilism- Haing
been denied the political and historical outlets it
had originall$ anticipated+ the new sense of free-
dom now sought to e1press itself in the sphere of
human moralit$- The ps$cholog$ of the "radical"
Sabbatians was utterl$ parado1ical and "Mar-
ranic-" /ssentiall$ its guiding principle was; .ho-
eer is as he appears to be cannot be a true "be-
lieer-" *n practice this meant the following;
The "true faith" cannot be a faith which men
publicl$ profess- 5n the contrar$+ the "true faith"
must alwa$s be concealed- *n fact+ it is one's dut$
to den$ it =utwardl$+ for it is li,e a seed that has
been planted in the bed of the soul and it cannot
grow unless it is first coered oer- Gor this reason
eer$ %ew is obliged to become a Marrano-
"gain; a "true act" cannot be an act committed
publicl$+ before the e$es oi the world- Ji,e the
"true faith+" the "true act" is concealed+ for onl$
through concealment can it negate the falsehood
of what is e1plicit- Through a reolution of al-
ues+ what was formerl$ sacred has become profane
and what was formerl$ profane has become sacred-
*t is no longer enough to inent new m$stical
meditations 2,aanot3 to suit the changed
times- :ew forms of action are needed- 8rior to
the adent of the 4edeemer the inward and the
outward were in harmon$+ and this is wh$ it was
possible to effect great ti,,unim b$ means of out-
wardl$ performing the commandments- :ow that
the 4edeemer has arried+ howeer+ the two
spheres are in opposition; the inward command-
ment+ which alone can effect a ti,,un+ has become
s$non$mous with the outward transgression- !it-
tulah shel torah zehu ,i$$umah; the iolation of
the Torah is now its true fulfillment-
More than an$thing else+ it was this insistence
of the "radicals" on the potential holiness of sinF
a belief which the$ attempted to 6ustif$ b$ citing
out of conte1t the Talmudic dictum 2:azir D3b3+
"" transgression committed for its own sa,e is
greater than a commandment not committed for
its own sa,e"F which alienated and offended the
aerage %ew and caused een the "belieers"
themseles to undergo the seerest of conflicts-
*n the histor$ of religion+ wheneer we come
across the doctrine of the holiness of sin it is al-
wa$s in con6unction with one or another spiritu-
alistic sect- The t$pe of the pneumatic+ which *
L<#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
hae preiousl$ discussed+ is particularl$ suscepti-
ble to such a teaching and it is hardl$ necessar$
to point out the connections that e1ist between
the theories of nihilism and those of the more
e1traagant forms of spiritualism- To the pneu-
matic+ the spiritual unierse which he inhabits is
of an entirel$ different order from the world of
ordinar$ flesh and blood+ whose opinion of the
new laws he has chosen to lie b$ is therefore ir-
releant0 insofar as he is aboe sin 2an idea+
common to man$ sectarian groups+ which occa-
sionall$ occurs in the literature of Hasidism as
well3 he ma$ do as the spirit dictates without
needing to ta,e into account the moral standards
of the societ$ around him- *ndeed he is+ if an$-
thing+ dut$-bound to iolate and subert this "or-
dinar$" moralit$ in the name of the higher prin-
ciples that hae been reealed to him-
"lthough indiiduals with inclina-
tions in this direction e1isted in
%udaism also+ particularl$ among the 7abbalists+
up to the time of the Sabbatians their actiities
were confined entirel$ to the leel of pure theor$-
The most outstanding e1ample of such specula-
tie or irtual "spiritualism" to be found in 7ab-
balistic literature is the Sefer ha-Temunah 2"The
!oo, of the *mage"3+ a m$stical treatise written
in earl$ &3th-centur$ Spain+ in which it is stated
that the Torah consists of a bod$ of spiritual let-
ters which+ though the$ remain essentiall$ un-
changed+ present different appearances to the
reader in different cosmic aeons 2shemitot3- *n
effect+ therefore+ each aeon+ or shemitah+ possesses
a Torah of its own- *n the current shemitah+
which is ruled b$ the diine =ualit$ of din+ stern
6udgment or rigor+ the Torah is read in terms of
prohibitions and commandments and een its
most m$stic allusions must be interpreted in this
light- *n the coming aeon+ howeer+ which will
be that of rahamim+ diine merc$+ the Torah will
be read differentl$+ so that in all probabilit$
"what is prohibited now will be permitted then-"
/er$thing depends on the particular aeon and
the diine =ualit$ 2or attribute3 presiding oer
it- Sensing the dangers inherent in such a doc-
trine+ certain 7abbalists+ such as Moses @ordo-
ero+ attempted to dismiss it as entirel$ unworth$
of consideration- !ut it was precisel$ those wor,s
that propounded it+ such as the Sefer ha-Temunah
and the Sefer ha-7anah+ which influenced the Sab-
batians tremendousl$-
To the theor$ of the cosmic aeons the Sabba-
tians assimilated a second+ originall$ unrelated
concept- The )ohar itself does not recognize or+
more e1actl$+ does not utilize the idea of the
shemitot at all 2a fact that was instrumental in
ma,ing it suspect in the e$es of later 7abbalists3+
but in two later additions to the )oharic corpus+
the Ti,,unei ha-)ohar and the 4a'$a Mehem-
naT a great deal is said on the sub6ect of four
emanated worlds+ the .orld of atzilut or "/m-
anation+" the .orld of beriah or "@reation+" the
.orld of $etzirah or "Gormation+" and the .orld
of asi$ah or "Ma,ing+" which together comprise
the different leels of spiritual realit$- *n connec-
tion with these we also occasionall$ hear of a
"Torah of atzilut" and a "Torah of beriah+ u the
meanings of which are not entirel$ clear- !$ the
time of the 7abbalists of the School of Safed+ how-
eer+ we find these latter terms emplo$ed in a def-
inite sense to indicate that there are two aspects
of the one essential Torah+ i-e-+ the Torah as it is
understood in the supernal .orld of atzilut and
the Torah as it is understood in the lower .orld
of beriah- .hat the Sabbatians now did was to
seize this idea and e1pound it in the light of the
theor$ of cosmic aeons- The Torah of beriah+
the$ argued+ borrowing a metaphor from the
)ohar 2*+ D33 is the Torah of the unredeemed
world of e1ile+ whose purpose it was to sere as a
garment for the She,hinah in her e1ile+ so that
whoeer obsered its commandments and prohi-
bitions was li,e one who helped clothe the She-
,,inah in her state of distress- The Torah of
atzilut+ on the other hand+ is the "true" Torah
which+ li,e "the m$ster$ of the Godhead" it ma,es
manifest+ has been in a state of concealment for
the entire period of the e1ile- :ow that the re-
demption has commenced it is about to be re-
ealed+ and although in essence it is identical
with the Torah of beriah+ its wa$ of being read will
be different0 thus+ all the commandments and pro-
hibitions of the Torah of beriah will now be re-
interpreted b$ the light of the .orld of atzilut+ in
which 2to ta,e but one e1ample3+ as is stated in
seeral 7abbalistic sources+ there is no such thing
as forbidden se1ual practices- *t was in this man-
ner that assertions made in a completel$ different
spirit and in terms of a wholl$ different under-
standing of the concepts ".orld oS atzilut" and
"Torah of atzilut" were pressed into serice b$
the "radical" Sabbatians as slogans for their new
moralit$-M
M "mong anti-Sabbatian 7abbalists there were a num-
ber of attempts to e1plain this monstrous perersion+ as
it seemed+ of sacred writings- *n his >irei Sofri??i 2H&(&3I+
p- 3D d3+ for e1ample+ 4- )ado, Hacohen of Jublin cites an
unidentified "boo, written b a saintl$ man" as his an-
thorit$ for asserting that the Sabbatians "came to the end
that the$ came to because the$ engaged in the stud$ of
the 7abbalah with their hearts full of lust and therefore
materialized much Hof its spiritual meaningI0 and in con-
se=uence of the fact that the$ saw references to copula-
tion+ ,issing+ embracing+ and so forth Hin what the$ readI+
the$ $ielded to lasciious passions+ ma$ God presere us
from the same+ and committed great eil-" *n much the
same ein+ 4abbi )ei of )$daczow+ one of the great 7ab-
balists of the Hasidic moement and possibl$ none other
than 4abbi )ado, Hacohen's "saintl$ man" himself+ writes
in his Sur me-4a a-"seh To; "* once heard m$ teacher
Hthe Seer of JublinI comment on certain students b$ men-
tioning the case of that well-,nown sect- --- *t Hi-e-+ Sab-
batian antinomianismI happened because the$ desired to
achiee the reelation of /li6ah and to prophes$ b$ the
Hol$ Spirit - - - without troubling to discipline their nature
or their material seles- - - -"
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#LB
The concept of the two Torahs was an e1treme-
l$ important one for Sabbatian nihilism+ not least
because it corresponded so perfectl$ to the "Mar-
ranic" mentalit$- *n accordance with its purel$
m$stical nature the Torah of atzilut was to be ob-
sered strictl$ in secret0 the Torah of beriah+ on
the other hand+ was to be actiel$ and deliber-
atel$ iolated- "s to how this was to be done+
howeer+ the "radicals" could not agree and dif-
fering schools of thought eoled among them- *t
is important to ,eep in mind that we are dealing
here with an eruption of the most dierse sorts
of emotion- The Gordian ,not binding the soul
of the e1ilic %ew had teen cut and a ertigo that
ultimatel$ was to be his undoing seized the newl$
liberated indiidual; genuine desires for a recon-
secration of life mingled indiscriminatel$ with all
,inds of destructie and libidinal forces tossed up
from the depths b$ an irrepressible groundswell
that undulated wildl$ -between the earthl$ and
the diine-
The ps$chological factors at wor, were particu-
larl$ arious in regard to the doctrine of the
holiness of sin+ which though restricted at first b$
some of the "belieers" to the performance of cer-
tain specified acts alone+ tended b$ irtue of its
own inner logic to embrace more and more of the
Mosaic Jaw+ especiall$ the biblical prohibitions-
"mong the leaders of the >onmeh the antino-
mian blessing composed b$ Sabbatai )ei+
"!lessed art Thou 5 Jord our God+ 7ing of the
unierse+ who permittest the forbidden Hmattir
isurimI+"M became a b$word- *n fact+ two some-
what contradictor$ rationalizations of antinomi-
an behaior e1isted side b$ side- 5n the one hand
there were those who said; in the world of re-
demption there can be no such thing as sin+ there-
fore all is hol$ and eer$thing is permitted- To
this it was retorted; not at allK what is needed
rather is totall$ to den$ the beriah+ "@reation" 2a
word that had b$ now come to denote eer$ as-
pect of the old life and its institutions3+ to tram-
ple its alues underfoot+ for onl$ b$ casting off
the last estiges of these can we trul$ become
free- To state the matter in 7abbalistic terms+ the
one side proposed to withhold the spar,s of holi-
ness from the ,elipot until the$ perished from
lac, of nourishment+ whereas the other insisted
that the ,elipot be positiel$ filled with holiness
until the$ disintegrated from the pressure- !ut in
either case+ and despite the man$ ps$chological
nuances which entered into the "transgression
committed for its own sa,e" and the sacred sin+ all
the "radicals" were united in their belief in the
sanctif$ing power of sin itself "that dwelleth with
them in the midst of their uncleannesses+" as the$
interpreted the phrase in Jeiticus &<;<-
M" pun on the blessing in the morning pra$er+ "!lessed
art Thou 5 Jord our God+ 7ing of the unierse+ who freest
those who are in bondage Hmattir asurirriI" HTranslator's
noteI
*t would be pointless to den$ that the
se1ual element in this outburst was
er$ strong; a primitie abandon such as the %ew-
ish people would scarcel$ hae thought itself ca-
pable of after so man$ centuries of discipline in
the Jaw 6oined hands with perersel$ pathologi-
cal dries to see, a common ideological rehabili-
tation- *n the light of what happened there is lit-
tle to wonder at when we read in the te1ts of rab-
binical e1communications dating from the &'th
centur$ that the children of the "belieers" were
automaticall$ to be considered bastards+ 6ust as it
is perfectl$ understandable that these children
and grandchildren themseles should hae done
eer$thing in their power to obscure the histor$
of their descent- 5ne ma$ readil$ grant+ of course+
as )alman 4ubasho 6ustl$ obseres in his stud$
of the Gran,ists+ that "eer$ sectarian moement
is suspected b$ the church against which it rebels
of the most infamous misconduct and immoral-
it$+" a conclusion which has led to the h$pothesis
that such accusations inariabl$ tell us more
about the depraed fantasies of the accusers than
the$ do about the actual behaior of the accused-
*t is 4uba,ho's opinion+ indeed+ that although
the conduct of the Gran,ists was "in itself ade-
=uate cause for indignation and amazement#'
there is also "eer$ reason to assume that as a
matter of course it was greatl$ e1aggerated-" "s
alid as the general rule ma$ be+ howeer+ the
plain facts of the matter are that in the case of
the "radical" Sabbatians there was hardl$ an$
need for e1aggeration- "s :ahum So,olow has
pointed out in a note to 7raushar's histor$ of
Gran,ism+ no matter how thoroughl$ fantastic
and partisan the allegations of the anti-Sabbatians
ma$ seem to us+ we hae not the slightest 6ustifi-
cation for doubting their accurac$+ inasmuch as
in eer$ case we can rel$ for eidence on the
"confessions" of the "belieers" themseles+ as
well as on a number of their apologias which
hae come down to us in both theoretical and
homiletical form-
"ll this has recentl$ been confirmed b$ an un-
e1pected discoer$- Gor man$ $earsF well into the
present age+ in factF the Sabbatians in Saloni,a+
the >onmeh+ regularl$ held a celebration on the
twent$-second da$ of the Hebrew month of "dar
,nown as "the Gestial of the Jamb+" the e1act
nature of which was ,ept a carefull$ guarded
secret until some of the $ounger members of the
sect were finall$ preailed upon to reeal it to
outsiders- "ccording to their account the festial
included an orgiastic rite called "the e1tinguish-
ing of the lights-" Grom what we ,now of this
rite it probabl$ came to Saloni,a from *zmir+ for
both its name and its contents were eidentl$
borrowed from the pagan cult of " the Great
Mother" which flourished in anti=uit$ and con-
tinued to be practiced after its general demise b$
a small sect of "Jight /1tinguishers" in "sia
Minor under the coer of *slam- There can be no
L'#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
=uestion that the >onmeh too, oer this ancient
bacchanalia based on immemorial m$ths and
adapted it to conform to their m$stical belief in
the sacramental alue of e1changing wies+ a cus-
tom that was undoubtedl$ obsered b$ other
"radicals" in the moement as well-
The histor$ of Sabbatian nihilism as a mass
moement rather than as the concern of a few iso-
lated %ewish scholars who "donned the fez" li,e
Sabbatai )ei+ began in &<'3+ when seeral hun-
dred %ewish families in Saloni,a conerted to *s-
lam "so as to con=uer the ,elipah from within-"
Grom this point on organized Sabbatian nihilism
appeared in four main forms;
&3 That of the "belieers" who chose "oluntar$
Marranism" in the form of *slam- The research
r
that has been done on the sub6ect of the >onmeh+
particularl$ the studies of "braham >anon and
Solomon 4osanes+ definitel$ establishes that the
sect was purel$ %ewish in its internal character+
not+ of course+ in the accepted rabbinical sense+
but rather in the sense of a m$stical heres$- The
apostas$ of the >onmeh aroused iolent opposi-
tion among the "moderates+" for reasons which *
hae alread$ made clear-
D3 That of the "belieers" who remained tradi-
tional %ews in outward life while inwardl$ adher-
ing to the "Torah of atzilut" Seeral groups of
such indiiduals e1isted in the !al,ans and 8ales-
tine 2beginning with the arrial there of Ha$$im
Mala,h3+ and afterward+ in the &'th centur$+ in
:orthern and /astern /urope+ where the$ were
concentrated particularl$ in 8odolia and in such
nearb$ towns as !uczacz+ !us,+ Glinian$+ Horo-
den,a+ )hol,iew+ )loczow+ T$smenieca+ :adwor-
na+ 8odhaice+ 4ohat$n+ and Satanow+ but also in
other countries+ especiall$ 4umania+ Hungar$+
and Moraia-
33 That of the Gran,ists who "Marranized
themseles" b$ conerting to @atholicism+
C3 That of the Gran,ists in !ohemia+ Moraia+
Hungar$+ and 4umania+ who chose to remain
%ewish-
>espite the differences among these groups+
all of them were part of a single larger entit$-
*nasmuch as it was belieed b$ all the "radicals"
that e1ternals were no indication of true faith+
apostas$ was not a factor to come between them-
" %ew in the ghetto of 8rague+ for e1ample+ who
went on publicl$ obsering the commandments of
the "Torah of beriah" while at the same time io-
lating them in priate+ ,new perfectl$ well that
the "belieer" in .arsaw or+ sa$+ 5ffenbach who
had recentl$ been baptized "for m$stical reasons"
was still his brother+ 6ust as fift$ $ears earlier Sab-
batians in :orthern /urope had continued to re-
main in close touch with the >onmeh in Saloni,a
een after their conersion to *slam- /ssentiall$+
the "radicals" all inhabited the same intellectual
world- Their attitudes toward the Torah+ the
Messiah+ and "the m$ster$ of the Godhead" were
identical+ for all that the$ assumed new and un-
usual forms among the Gran,ists-
N*
TH / s$stematic iolation of the
Torah of beriah was considered b$
the "radical" Sabbatians to be the principal at-
testation of the new epoch ushered in b$ Sabba-
tai )ei- !ut e1actl$ how was one to distinguish
between what belonged to the lower .orld of
beriah and its Torah+ and what belonged to the
higher .orld of atzilut and its Torah? Here opin-
ion was diided- !aruch$a 4usso+ better ,nown as
!erah$a or !erochia+ the leader of the radical
wing of the >onmeh in the beginning of the &'th
centur$+ preached to his followers that een the
thirt$-si1 transgressions deemed worth$ b$ the
Torah of the ultimate punishment of ,aret+ i-e-+
being "cut off" from *srael and from God 2a cate-
gor$ that included all the forbidden se1ual prac-
tices3+ were aspects of the Torah of beriah onl$-
!$ the same to,en it was decreed permissible to
eat of the sinew of the thigh-ein+ for with the
adent of the Messiah "%acob's thigh has been re-
stored-"M *n the opinion of some+ who based their
argument on a passage from the )ohar+ refraining
from the sinew of the thigh-ein and fasting on
Tish'ah be-" were mutuall$ connected obser-
ances; ""s long as it is forbidden to eat on Tish-
'ah be-" it is forbidden to eat the sinew of the
thigh-ein+ and when it is permitted to eat on
Tish'ah be-" it is permitted to eat the sinew of
the thigh-ein-" 5thers went still further; "*t is
widel$ ,nown that belonging to these sects are
those who beliee that Hwith the adent of the
MessiahI the Torah has been nullified Hbete-
lahI and that in the future it will be HreadI
without Hreference toI the commandments+ for
the$ sa$ that the iolation of the Torah has be-
come its fulfillment+ which the$ illustrate b$ the
e1ample of a grain of wheat that rots in the
earth-" *n other words+ 6ust as a grain of wheat
must rot in the earth before it can sprout+ so the
deeds of the "belieers" must be trul$ "rotten"
before the$ can germinate the redemption- This
metaphor+ which appears to hae been e1tremel$
popular+ cone$s the whole of sectarian Sabbatian
ps$cholog$ in a nutshell; in the period of transi-
tion+ while the redemption is still in a state of
concealment+ the Torah in its e1plicit form must
be denied+ for onl$ thus can it too become "con-
cealed" and ultimatel$ renewed-
There were+ howeer+ een more e1treme cases
than these- %acob /mden relates how he was told
M The prohibition against eating the sinew of the thigh-
ein is to be found in Genesis 3D+ which tells of %acob's
wrestling with the angel; ''Therefore the children of *srael
eat not the sinew of the thigh-ein which is upon the hollow
of the thigh unto this da$0 because he touched the hollow
of %acob's thigh+ een in the sinew of the thigh-ein"
23D;333- HTranslator's :oteI
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#L(
b$ a rabbinical associate of great learning+ the
4abbi of the "msterdam "sh,enazim+ that
when he was in )h<&,iew he became inoled
with one of these heretics+ a man named Gishl
)loczow+ who was e1pertl$ ersed in the entire
Talmud+ which he ,new practicall$ b$ heart+
for he was in the habit of shutting himself up in
his room in order to pore oer it+ neer ceasing
from his studies 2for he was a wealth$ man3 nor
engaging in idle conersation- He would linger
oer his pra$ers twice as long as the Hasidim of
olden times and was considered b$ all to be a
most pious and ascetic indiidual- 5nce he came
to him Hi-e-+ to /mden's informantI in order to
confess his sins and reealed that he belonged
to the sect of Sabbatai )ei+ that he had eaten
leaened bread on the 8assoer+ and so forth+
carr$ing on contritel$ all the while as though
he had trul$ repented of his deeds- Soon after-
ward+ howeer+ he was caught in the act of
committing grae transgressions of the Jaw and
was e1communicated b$ the rabbis of Jithuania
and Nolh$nia- .hen as,ed wh$ he had not
continued his hidden sins in priate instead of
Hcommitting acts that led to his e1posureI in
public --- he replied that on the contrar$+ the
more shame he was forced to suffer for his faith+
the better it was-
Here we are confronted with the t$pe of the N be-
lieer" in its most parado1ical form+ and+ signifi-
cantl$+ the indiidual in =uestion was no ordi-
nar$ %ew+ but was rather conceded to be an e1-
cellent rabbinic scholar b$ an eminent authorit$
who was in a position to ,now- 5ne could hardl$
wish for a more perfect e1ample of the nihilistic
re6ection of the Torah of beriah+ which in this
case was studied for the sole purpose that it might
be better iolated in spiritK The %ewish world was
indeed showing signs of inner deca$ if t$pes such
as 'these were able to ma,e themseles so easil$ at
home in its midst- "nd $et underneath all these
agaries there was obiousl$ a deep-seated desire
for something positie which for lac, of suitable
conditions under which to function had come to
nought-
*llustratie parables and homilies were also
brought to bear on the doctrine of the sacred sin
itself+ and the reader cannot fail to notice that
the$ are more than 6ust parado1ical and highl$
offensie sa$ings- The$ breathe an entirel$ new
spirit- "The patriarchs came into the world to re-
store Hle-ta,,enI the senses and this the$ did to
four of them- Then came Sabbatai )ei and re-
stored the fifth+ the sense of touch+ which accord-
ing to "ristotle and Maimonides is a source of
shame to us+ but which now has been raised b$
him to a place of honor and glor$-" "s late as the
beginning of the &(th centur$ we find a ferent
"belieer" in 8rague commenting in connection
with the erse in 8salm <'+ "Thou hast ascended
on high+ Thou hast led captiit$ captie+" that
the captie in =uestion is the spiritual Torah of
atzilut+ which is called a "prisoner" because it
was captured b$ Moses and forced to dwell in
the prison cell of the material Torah of beriah--
Such is the case with the inner Torah+ for the
outer is in opposition to the inner - - - and must
be annihilated before the inner can be freed-
"nd 6ust as a woman from *shmael Hi-e-+ from a
Moslem countr$I feels as though she has been
freed from her confinement when she comes to
/dom Hi-e-+ a @hristian countr$I --- so con-
tinuing Hto lieI in *srael under the Torah of
beriah is called "captiit$+" nor can she be
gien in marriage under the Torah of beriah but
onl$ in /dom+ whereas in *srael one must re-
main a irginF and Hhe who is able to+ let himI
understand-
The cr$ptic Gran,ist allusions at the end of this
passage to @hristianit$ and to "remaining a ir-
gin" are rather obscure+ but it is eident from
the whole how strongl$ the re6ection of the lower+
or material+ Torah of beriah continued to be up-
held b$ Sabbatian %ews right down to the moe-
ment's last $ears- /lsewhere the author of the
aboe+ a thoughtful and deepl$ religious indiid-
ual+ e1plains that the commonl$ e1pressed belief
that "no mischief can befall the righteous man
H8ro- &D;D&I nor can he be a cause of sin"
must be understood in the light of the Torah of
atzilut to mean that no matter how sinful the acts
of the righteous ma$ appear to others the$ are in
fact alwa$s full$ 6ustified in themseles- He then
adduces a number of astute m$stical reasons for
the necessit$ of certain transgressions+ such as eat-
ing on the fast da$s+ which he defends b$ arguing
that fasting is a ,ind of spiritual "bribe" gien to
the ,elipot and as such is not in ,eeping with the
pure spiritual nature of the Torah of atzilut-
"s to the ultimate step of apostas$+
the arguments presented b$ the
"radicals" in its behalf closel$ resemble those
brought forward b$ the "moderates" to indicate
the apostas$ of Sabbatai )ei himself- .e happen
to hae in our possession an illuminating docu-
ment bearing on the disputes that arose oer this
=uestion among the "belieers" in the form of a
homil$ b$ the well-,nown Sabbatian :ehemiah
Ha$on on the erse 2>eut- D(;&B3+ "Jest there be
among $ou man+ or woman+ or famil$+ or tribe+
whose heart turneth awa$ this da$ from the Jord
our God+ to go sere the gods of those nations0 lest
there should be among $ou a root that beareth
gall and wormwood-" The parado1ical solution
arried at b$ Ha$on toward the close of his long
discourse+ which * =uote here in abbreiated
form+ is an inaluable reflection of the perple1it$
and deep inner conflict e1perienced b$ those Sab-
batians who were unable to choose between the
"radical" and "moderate" positions;
*t is supposed among those ersed in esoteric
lore that the redemption can be brought about
in either one of two wa$s; either *srael will hae
the power to withdraw all the spar,s of holiness
from Hthe realm of3 the ,elipah so that the
G5#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
,elipah will wither into nothing+ or else the
,elipah will become so filled with holiness that
because of this repletion it must be spewn forth-
- - - "nd this HfactI+ that the coming of the re-
demption can be prompted in one of two wa$s+
was what the rabbis of blessed memor$ had in
mind when the$ said that the Son of >aid
would come either in a generation that was en-
tirel$ guiltless 2meaning when *srael b$ irtue
of its good deeds had withdrawn all the spar,s of
holiness from the ,elipah3+ or else in a genera-
tion that was entirel$ guilt$ 2meaning when the
,elipah had become so filled with holiness that
it split its maw and perished3- - - - "nd it is in
conse=uence of this thesis that man$+ though
their intentions are good+ hae mista,enl$ said+
"Jet us go worship other gods that we ma$ fill
the ,elipah to bursting that it die-" - - - :a$+ do
not reason with $ourself+ "Since it is impossible
for all to become guiltless so as to withdraw the
holiness from the ,elipah+ it is better that * be-
come a sinner and so hasten the doom of the
,elipah in that wa$ that it might die and sala-
tion might come+" but rather+ ".ait for the
Jord and ,eep His wa$" H8s- 3B;3CI; it is better
that $ou endure the length of the e1ile and loo,
to salation than that $ou sin b$ worshiping
other gods in order to bring on the redemption-
This brings us to the meaning of the erse+
"Jest there be among $ou a root that beareth
gall and wormwood HD(;&BI+ and it come to pass
when he heareth the words of this curse" Hetc-0
D(;&'I- *n other words+ when he hears the words
of the curse that is threatened --- he turns awa$
his heart from God and blesses himself in his
heart HD(;&'I+ sa$ing; ".hat Moses has written
is true" - - - but Hhe thin,s thatI if he does not
turn awa$ his heart from God and if his inten-
tions are good+ that is+ if he means to =uench
the ,elipah b$ giing it holiness to drin,+ then
certainl$ no eil will befall him+ but on the
contrar$+ God will turn the curse into a bless-
ing- "nd this is the meaning of the words "and
he blesses himself in his heart+" for he sa$s
to himself+ "* am sure that no harm will befall
me - - - because * did not turn m$ heart Hfrom
GodI - - - and because m$ intentions are good
- - - Hnamel$I to water the ,elipah+ the thirst$
one+ with the holiness that * e1tend to her that
she ma$ parta,e of it and die- *t is of such a one
that Moses said+ "The Jord will not be willing
to pardon him" HD(;&(I- - - - /en though his
intentions were good and he onl$ desired to
hasten the redemption+ he cannot be forgien-
- - - :or does Hthe principle ofI "" transgression
committed for its own sa,e" His greater than a
commandment not committed for its own sa,e
appl$ here+ since there Hin its original conte1t
it refers to an ordinar$ sin+ as in the case of
%ael Hin ,illing Sisera0 %udg- CI+ whereas here+
where it is a =uestion of worshiping other gods+
the Jord will not be willing to pardon him-
- - + The$ Hwho act on this mista,en assumptionI
are powerless to destro$ the ,elipah3 on the con-
trar$+ he Hwho attempts to fill the ,elipah with
holinessI will remain stuc, in its midst+ and
this is wh$ it is said that the Jord will not be
willing to pardon him- - - - There is also another
possible e1planation Hof the erseI+ namel$+
that when Moses said that the Jord would not
be willing to pardon him he was not pronounc-
ing a curse - - - but was thin,ing the following;
- - - since he Hthe deliberate sinnerI beliees in
his heart that God will not account his actions
as sins+ but will rather reward them --- it is in-
conceiable that he should eer repent for he
does not beliee he has done wrong- - - - How
then can the Hol$ 5ne+ blessed be He+ forgie
him? 5n the contrar$+ each time Hhe sinsI he
onl$ angers Him the more --- b$ thin,ing that
he has done good instead of eil - - - and b$ sa$-
ing that the greater a sinner he is the more
he hastens the coming of the redemption- Such
a one undoubtedl$ incurs the full power of the
curse+ since he deliberatel$ iolates all its in-
6unctions- - - - ""nd the Jord shall separate
him unto eil out of all the tribes of *srael"
HD(;D0I- - - - !ut perhaps one can interpret the
meaning of the te1t as follows; since such a
person intends his deeds to redound to the
benefit of all *srael --- if after sinning and
passing through the ,elipah he reconsiders and
repents completel$+ he undoubtedl$ succeeds
in raising up man$ spar,s from the ,elipah+
6ust as in the case of the human bod$ when one
is administered an emetic he does not simpl$
omit up the drug itself+ but rather haing
opened his mouth proceeds to spew forth both
the drug and eer$thing that was near it- "nd
so it is with the ,elipah; sometimes it gains
power oer a man whose soul is great and does
him harm+ but as soon as he repents he spews
forth all that was within him- "nd this is what
Solomon meant when he said H/ccl- ';(I there
is a time when one man rules another to do him
harm- H!ut sinceI There is a time Hfor such
thingsI and miracles do not happen eer$ hour+
therefore Moses warns that one should not place
himself in this peril- - + - ""nd the Jord shall
separate him unto eil"0 in other words+ if he
Hthe deliberate sinnerI has been a cause of eil
he is singled out Hfor 6udgmentI from the
tribes of *srael+ for Hit is a hala,hic principle
thatI one cannot commit a transgression for
another b$ pro1$ een if one has been au-
thorized to do so+ much less if one has not been+
so that haing gone Hand committed eilI of
his own accord+ there is no doubt that the eil
which results Hfrom his actionsI will not be im-
puted to *srael as a whole- !ut if he does goodF
that is+ if he repents wholeheartedl$ and raises
up spar,s from *srael b$ irtue of his repentance
Fthen all the tribes of *srael hae a part in
this good0 it is onl$ in the eil that the$ do not
hae a part-
Ji,el$ as not+ this entire passage has an auto-
biographical basis- *n an$ eent+ it is clear that
the attitude of its author toward the "oluntar$
Marranos" whose conersion he decries $et un-
derstands so well is far from being hostile or in-
dictie-
5ne of the strongest factors in the de-
elopment of a nihilistic mentalit$
among the "radicals" was their desire to negate
an ob6ectie historical order in which the e1ile
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#<&
continued in full force and the beginnings of the
redemption went unnoticed b$ all but the "be-
lieers" themseles- 9nderstandabl$+ during the
period now in =uestion this antipath$ toward
outward realit$ remained confined to the area of
religion alone+ the world of ghetto %ewr$ still be-
ing sufficientl$ stable to preclude its actie poli-
ticalization- 8rior to the Grench 4eolution+ in-
deed+ there was no connection between the ideas of
Sabbatianism and the growing undercurrent of dis-
content with the ancien regime in /urope- *t was
onl$ when changing times had widened the "be-
lieers' " horizons and reealed to them the e1is-
tence of more tangible wa$s of affecting the course
of histor$ than the iolation of the Torah of
beriah that the$ too began to dream of reolu-
tionizing the structure of societ$ itself- *n a sense
this was to mean the restoration to %ewish Messi-
anism of its traditional political content+ which+
as * hae shown+ the Sabbatian moement trans-
formed be$ond recognition- "s long as e1ternal
conditions were not conducie to this+ een the
"radicals" remained politicall$ unaware+ nor were
the$ able to conceie of an$ other method of
reitalizing %ewish life than the subersion of its
most sacred alues0 but it is not surprising that
once the opportune moment arose the essentiall$
this-worldl$ emphasis of %ewish Messianism which
Sabbatianism had strien to suppress should hae
come to be stressed again+ * shall hae more to sa$
on this important sub6ect0 first+ howeer+ * would
li,e to comment on a related matter+ one which
will sere as $et another e1ample of the uni=uel$
parado1ical dialectic of Sabbatian thought; its at-
titude toward 8alestine-
*mmediatel$ after the collapse of the
initial messianic e1pectations aroused
b$ Sabbatai )ei+ scattered groups of Sabbatians
began to e1press their opposition to the idea of
emigration to the Hol$ Jand- "s has now been
established+ :athan of Gaza himself was of the
opinion that "for the time being it is best not to go
to the Jand of *srael-" !ut this point of iew did
not go unchallenged- " number of "belieers+"
especiall$ after &B00+ attempted to demonstrate b$
m$stical reasons that in the light of Sabbatian
doctrine emigration was indeed desirable after all-
*ndiiduals from both the circle of "braham
4oigo and the whole band of "Hasidim" centered
around 4abbi %udah Hasid actuall$ settled in
8alestine as a result of specificall$ Sabbatian aspi-
rations- 5ne belief that was current at the time
was that on the occasion of Sabbatai )ei's second
adent+ which would ta,e place fort$ $ears after
his "concealment+" a true m$stical ,nowledge of
his nature would be reealed to those of his fol-
lowers+ and onl$ to those+ who were liing in the
Hol$ Jand- Sabbatian nihilists li,e Ha$$im
Mala,h+ who were contemporaries of such groups+
also were in faor of going to the Jand of *srael+
from which the$ too undoubtedl$ e1pected special
reelation to come0 in addition+ the$ ma$ hae felt
that there was an adantage to iolating the Torah
of beriah on the most consecrated ground of all+
on the analog$ of "con=uering the =ueen in her
own home-" "s late as the middle of the &'th cen-
tur$ Sabbatian nihilists in 8odolia still had con-
tacts and ac=uaintances in 8alestine+ while a num-
ber of the emissaries sent b$ the 8alestinian %ewish
communit$ to raise funds in the >iaspora were
Sabbatian scholars who acted on the side both as
secret propagators of the faith and as contacts be-
tween "belieers" in different localities- Man$ of
these+ such as the author of the The !oo, of the
"dornment of >a$s+ a beautiful and detailed de-
scription 2in Hebrew3 of the life of a 7abbalist
deotee all through the $ear+ were undoubtedl$
"moderates+" but regarding man$ others we will
probabl$ neer ,now e1actl$ where the$ stood-
Toward the middle of the &'th centur$+ how-
eer+ a reaction too, place+ so that we find a dis-
tinct anti-8alestinian bias setting in throughout
the moement- .hether or not the anti-8alestinian
sermon cited b$ %acob /mden in his /dut be-
Ea'a,o 2CCb3 is reall$ the handiwor, of %on-
athan /ibeschutz is uncertain+ but in an$ case
there can be no =uestion of its being a total fabri-
cation+ inasmuch as similar ideas to those e1-
pressed in it can be found in other Sabbatian doc-
uments which /mden could not possibl$ hae
seen- "mong the Gran,ists an astonishing and
clear-cut ideolog$ of %ewish territorialism 2as dis-
tinct from 8alestine-centered tendencies3 deel-
oped at about this time+ apparentl$ as a result of
Gran,'s own personal ambitions- *n a word+ on
the er$ ee of its absorption of new political
ideas Sabbatian nihilism completel$ reersed its
preiousl$ positie ealuation of the role of the
Jand of *srael+ so that when shortl$ afterward it
began to spea, the language of a reied political
Messianism and to prophes$ the rebirth of the
%ewish nation as one outcome of an impending
world reolution+ there was no longer an$ real in-
terest on its part in the idea of the Jand of *srael
as a national center- "s stated b$ the Gran,ist
writer in 8rague whom we hae alread$ had oc-
casion to =uote+ *srael's e1ile is not a conse=uence
of its sins at all+ but is rather part of a plan de-
signed to bring about the destruction of the ,eli-
pot all oer the world+ so that "een if seeral
thousands or tens-of-thousands of %ews are en-
abled to return to the Jand of *srael+ nothing
has been completed-" "ccording to the same au-
thor this new doctrine of the e1ile is "a secret
m$stical principle which was hidden from all the
sages until it was Hrecentl$I reealed in 8o-
land-" "nd thus we see how in the final stages of
Sabbatianism the intrinsic nature of the e1ile
came to be reconsidered in an entirel$ new light-
The figure of Sabbatai )ei himself was also re-
cast b$ the passage of time+ becoming entirel$
m$thical; graduall$ the element of historical
truth was diminished until nothing was left but a
<D#G5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
legendar$ hero who had inaugurated a new epoch
of world histor$- /en in Sabbatai )ei's lifetime
one of his first disciples+ "braham Ea,hini+ could
write of him 2in his boo, Naei ha-"mudim3;
"6ust as one of the seent$ faces of the Torah is
concerned entirel$ with the resurrection of the
dead+ as is to be seen in Hthe commentaries ofI
the )ohar on seeral chapters Hof the 8enta-
teuchI+ Hthe allusions to the resurrection inI
the other chapters being inaccessible to us because
of the limitations of our intellects+ so one of the
seent$ faces of the Torah is concerned entirel$
with the Messiah+ our lord and master+ ma$ his
ma6est$ increase+ and shortl$+ when he reeals
himself to us Hcompletel$I+ we shall be pri-
ileged to understand the entire Torah in this
wa$-" *t is little wonder that the concrete histori-
cal figure of Sabbatai )ei came to be transformed
b$ his followers in much the same manner as
%esus's was b$ his+ if not more so+ since his con-
ersion into a m$thological figure was een more
complete- Ji,e the earl$ @hristians+ in fact+ the
"radicals" eentuall$ came to beliee that the
Messiah had not been a mere superior human
being+ but an incarnation of God Himself in hu-
man form- This new interpretation of "the m$ster$
of the Godhead" was accepted b$ all the "radical"
groups down to the last of the Gran,ists and was
considered b$ them to be the most profound m$s-
tic truth in their entire bod$ of doctrine- .hence
it came cannot $et be determined; perhaps from
the collectie memor$ of thousands of Marranos+
perhaps from @hristian boo,s or anti-@hristian
polemics+ or perhaps from the "belieers' " own
inner conflict+ the parado1ical cause of whichF an
apostate MessiahF ma$ hae led them to adopt the
same parado1ical solution that a li,e contradic-
tionF a crucified MessiahF produced in $et anoth-
er group of %ews caught in the toils of religious
turmoil- "nd perhaps+ too+ all of these factors
combined to wor, together-
The doctrine of an incarnate God+
which immediatel$ became a bone
of contention between the "radicals" and the
"moderates" in the Sabbatian camp+ was limited
at first to the figure of Sabbatai )ei himself- "c-
cording to one iew+ when the redemption began+
"the Hol$ 5ne+ blessed be He+ remoed Himself
upward and Sabbatai )ei ascended to be God in
His place#' Since in the Sabbatian faith "the Hol$
5ne+ blessed be He+" was s$non$mous+ as we hae
seen+ with "the God of *srael+" this meant that
Sabbatai )ei had now assumed the latter's title
and become "the Hol$ 7ing-" !efore long+ how-
eer+ the "belieers" in Saloni,a replaced this
teaching with another; "the Hol$ 7ing" had
Himself been incarnated in the person of the Mes-
siah in order to restore the world and nullif$ the
Torah of beriah- *t was in this form that the doc-
trine was accepted to$ the Sabbatian nihilists in
8odolia- " pra$er of theirs that has come into our
possession reads; "Ma$ it be Th$ will that we
prosper in Th$ Torah and cling to Th$ com-
mandments+ and ma$st Thou purif$ m$ thoughts
to worship Thee in truth - - - and ma$ all our
deeds in the Torah of atzilut Hmeaning; trans-
gressionsKI be onl$ for the sa,e of Th$ great
name+ 5 Senor Santo+M that we ma$ recognize
Th$ greatness+ for Thou art the true God and
7ing of the unierse+ our liing Messiah who wast
in this earthl$ world and didst nullif$ the Torah
of beriah and didst reascend to Th$ place to con-
duct all the worlds-"
!ut this doctrine of a single incarnation did not
long remain unaltered in turn- "pparentl$ among
the Sephardic conerts to *slam the belief deel-
oped that the leaders of the "belieers" in eer$
age were reincarnations of Sabbatai )ei- .heth-
er this actuall$ meant that these leadersF particu-
larl$ !aruch$a+ who was one of the foremost pro-
mulgators of the new beliefF were thought to be+
or considered themseles+ diine incarnations no
less than the Messiah himself is not entirel$ clear+
but there are good reasons for belieing that the
gospel preached b$ facob Gran, at the beginning
of his career was nothing but this Sephardic
teaching with a number of modifications to suit
his own personalit$+ and Gran, himself+ though
he neer said so in so man$ words+ was correctl$
understood b$ his disciples to impl$ that he per-
sonall$ was the liing God once again incarnated
on earth- :ot without a certain "consistenc$" the
Gran,ists held that each of the three h$postases of
the Godhead had its indiidual incarnation in a
separate Messiah; Sabbatai )ei+ whom Gran, was
in the habit of referring to simpl$ as "the Girst
5ne+" had been the embodiment of "the "ncient
Hol$ 5ne+" Gran, himself was the personification
of "the Hol$ 7ing+" and the third h$postasis+ the
She,hinah+ ariousl$ ,nown in the writings of the
7abbalah as "the 7ingdom" 2mal,hut3+ "the
Jad$" 2matronita3+ "the Maiden+" and "the
>oe+" was to appear in the form of a woman- *t
is hard not to associate this noelt$F a female
Messiah+ referred to b$ Gran, as "the Nirgin+"
who was $et to be reealed and whose tas, it
would be to complete the wor, of the redemp-
tionFwith the influence of certain m$stical @hris-
tian sects prealent at about this time in /astern
/urope that belieed in a triad of saiors corre-
sponding to the threefold nature of God and in a
feminine incarnation of the Sophia+ the >iine
.isdom or Hol$ Spirit- .ith one of these groups+
in fact+ the "8hilipoicites" in 4umania and the
9,raine+ the Gran,ists were in such close contact
that one of its former leaders publicl$ defended
them before the @atholic authorities of 8oland-
*nterpreted in this manner the redemption was
a process filled with incarnations of the diinit$-
M The Spanish term used to denote !aruch$a of Saloni,a
*n the sect of his followerM who saw in him the reborn Sab-
batai )ei and God incarnate-
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#<3
/en the "radicals" in 8rague who clung to their
%ewish identit$ and stroe to defend their beliefs
b$ means of %ewish concepts and sources were
won oer to this iew+ and although their hostilit$
to @hristianit$ as an institution ,new no bounds+
references to "the m$ster$ of the incarnation" can
be found throughout their literature- The anti-
Sabbatian polemicists who accused the "belieers"
of corporealizing the idea of God were perfectl$
right in their assertions+ but this fact+ which
seemed to them a damning admission of wea,ness+
was in realit$ their opponents' greatest source of
prideK "!ecause the Godhead has a bod$ the sting
of death is gone+" wrote one Ubelieer-" 5n the
surface it would seem that the e1aggerated spir-
itualit$ of the .orld of atzilut and the $earning
to see God in the flesh that was eidenced b$ the
doctrine of a messianic incarnation were two mu-
tuall$ opposed tendencies+ and $et+ after all that
has been said here+ it should not be difficult to
see that underl$ing both was the struggle of a
new sensibilit$ toward life to e1press itself b$
means of a religious ocabular$ inherited from
the old- *n such cases the parado1 is alwa$s the
onl$ solution-
*n summar$+ the fie distinguishing beliefs of
"radical" Sabbatianism are;
&3 The belief in the necessar$ apostas$ of the
Messiah and in the sacramental nature of the
descent into the realm of the ,elipot-
D3 The belief that the "belieer" must not ap-
pear to be as he reall$ is-
33 The belief that the Torah of atzilut must
be obsered through the iolation of the Torah
of beriah-
C3 The belief that the Girst @ause and the God
ofM *srael are not the same+ the former being the
God of rational philosoph$+ the latter the God of
religion-
L3 The belief in three h$postases of the God-
head+ all of which hae been or will be incar-
nated in human form-
These theses ampl$ demonstrate+ in m$ opinion+
that in the onward course of the Sabbatian moe-
ment the world of traditional %udaism was shat-
tered be$ond repair- *n the minds of those who
too, part in this reolutionar$ destruction of old
alues a special susceptibilit$ to new ideas ineita-
bl$ came to e1ist- .ell might the "belieers"
hae as,ed how long their newl$ released ener-
gies and emotions were to go on being aimlessl$
s=uandered- .ere their lies re=uired to be domi-
nated b$ parado1es foreer?
!ut 6ust as the character of the Sabbatian moe-
ment was dictated b$ the circumstances of the
moement's birth+ so+ in turn+ it was to dictate the
circumstances of the moement's disintegration
and death- Gor as the "belieers" had meant to
fire the spar,s of holiness with the ,elipot+ so
the$ were to wander in the blac,est of blind al-
le$s0 and as the$ had wished to "pla$" with "the
U V
other side+" the dar, side of life+ so the$ were to
dance in the deil's own arms- "nd last and most
ironicall$ of all; as the$ had hastened to come to
the aid of the 4edeemerF "to do as he did for
strange are his deeds+ to worship as he worships
for his worship is alien" 2*sa- D';D&3F so the$
were to be induced in the end to pla$ into the
hands of a man li,e %acob Gran,-
N**
%acob fran, 2&BD<-(&3 will alwa$s be
remembered as one of the most fright-
ening phenomena in the whole of %ewish histor$;
a religious leader who+ whether for purel$ self-
interested moties or otherwise+ was in all his ac-
tions a trul$ corrupt and degenerate indiidual-
*ndeed+ it might plausibl$ be argued that in order
to e1haust completel$ its seemingl$ endless po-
tential for the contradictor$ and the une1pected+
the Sabbatian moement was in need of 6ust such
a strongman+ a man who could snuff out its last
inner lights and perert whateer will to truth
and goodness was still to be found in the mazeli,e
ruins of the "belieers' " souls- /en if one is will-
ing to concede that the doctrine of the sacred sin+
the mitzah ha-ba'ah ba-aerah+ was not lac,ing
in certain insights+ there can be no =uestion but
that these were thoroughl$ debased upon coming
in contact with the person of Gran,- !ut 6ust as
the "belieers" had deliberatel$ chosen to follow
that dangerous path along which nothing is im-
possible+ so it was perhaps precisel$ this that at-
tracted them to Gran,+ for here was a man who
was not afraid to push on to the er$ end+ to ta,e
the final step into the ab$ss+ to drain the cup of
desolation and destruction to the lees until the
last bit of holiness had been made into a moc,-
er$- His admirers+ who themseles fell far short of
him in respect of this abilit$+ were won oer b$
his intrepidness+ which neither the fear of God
nor the terrors of the bottomless pit were able to
daunt+ and saw in him the t$pe of the true saint+
a new Sabbatai )ei and an incarnate God-
*f the full truth be told+ howeer+ een after
one has ta,en into account Gran,'s unscrupulous
opportunism+ his calculated deceits+ and his per-
sonal ambitions+ none of which reall$ concern us
here+ he remains a figure of tremendous if Satanic
power- True+ neither the promises and pledges
with which he lured his disciples+ nor his ision-
ar$ schemes for the future that was to follow the
general catacl$sm of the times seem particularl$
impressie toda$+ although of his territorialist pro-
gram it ma$ at least be said that besides reeal-
ing his own lust for power it e1pressed in a bi-
zarre $et unmista,able manner the desire of his
followers for a reconstruction of %ewish national
and een economic e1istence0 and $et for all the
negatiism of his teachings+ the$ nonetheless con-
tained a genuine creed of life-
Gran, was a nihilist+ and his nihilism possessed
a rare authenticit$- @ertainl$+ its primitie feroc-
<C#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
it$ is frightening to behold- @ertainl$+ too+ Gran,
himself was not onl$ an unlettered man+ but
boasted continuall$ of his own lac, of culture-
!ut in spite of all thisF and here is the significant
pointF we are confronted in his person with the
e1traordinar$ spectacle of a powerful and t$ran-
nical soul liing in the middle of the &'th cen-
tur$ and $et immersed entirel$ in a m$thological
world of its own ma,ing- 5ut of the ideas of radi-
cal Sabbatianism+ a moement in which he was
apparentl$ raised and educated+ Gran, was able to
weae a complete m$th of religious nihilism-
This+ surel$+ is worth$ of attention-
Gran, was not an original speculatie thin,er+
but he did hae a decided talent for the pith$+ the
stri,ingl$ illustratie+ and the concretel$ s$mbolic
e1pression- >espite their nihilistic content+ his
sa$ings in The Sa$ings of the Jord 2Slaw a 8ans,ie3
are not er$ different in form from those of man$
famous Hasidic )addi,im+ and for all his despotic
nature he possessed a hidden poetic impulse
which appears all the more surprising in the light
of his customar$ saager$- /en 7raushar+ who
li,e his predecessors was intent on emphasizing
eer$thing that seemed incoherent or grotes=ue
in Gran,'s recorded sa$ings+ was forced to admit
that on occasion the$ show igor and imagina-
tion- Gor m$ own part+ * fail to see how an$ sen-
sitie indiidual who reads the man$ e1cerpts
published b$ 7raushar from The Sa$ings of the
Jord with a degree of understandingF something
which it is far from impossible to doF can contem-
plate them without emotion- !ut how man$ hae
een troubled to ma,e the effort?M
Gran, was particularl$ gifted at the creation of
new images and s$mbols+ and in spite of its popu-
lar coloration his language is full of m$stical oer-
tones- 5f the terminolog$ of the 7abbalah he
rarel$ made use+ at times een criticizing the Sab-
batian sectarians in 8odolia for their continuing
absorption in 7abbalistic ideas+ which he called
"madness-" "n$one familiar with "radical" Sab-
batian thought+ howeer+ can readil$ detect its
continued presence beneath the new erbal fa-
cade- Thus+ in place of the familiar Sabbatian
"three ,nots of the faith" we now hae "the Good
God+" "the !ig !rother who stands before the
Jord+" and "the Nirgin+" terms which are highl$
suggestie for all their earth$ =ualit$- The ,eli-
pah+ the Torahs of beriah and atzilut+ the spar,s
of holiness+ indeed all the conceptual usages that
are basic to Sabbatian theological discourse+ hae
disappeared entirel$+ to be replaced b$ a com-
pletel$ e1oteric ocabular$- /en the figure of
M Gran,'s sa$ings were neer published in Hebrew be-
cause the Hebrew translation of the second olume of
7raushar's histor$+ in which the$ appear+ was preented
from going to press at the last minute b$ the news
of 7raushar's conersion to @atholicism+ which shoc,ed
the %ewish public- * am deepl$ indebted to m$ friend Miss
Hadassah Goldgart for furnishing me with an e1act er-
sion of the original 8olish te1t-
Sabbatai )ei has greatl$ declined in importance-
The world of Sabbatianism itself+ on the other
hand+ remains intact+ or rather+ has reached that
ultimate stage of its deelopment where it erges
on self-annihilation-
*n the following pages * will attempt to present
an oerall iew of Gran,'s religious teachings+ to
the e1tent+ that is+ that the$ can be full$ recon-
structed from his man$ sa$ings+ and in a form that
the$ apparentl$ did not completel$ attain until
after his conersion to @atholicism- "lthough
the$ will occasionall$ seem to contradict one an-
other+ the$ are for the most part mutuall$ consis-
tent- The somberness of their world or+ more ac-
curatel$+ world-ruin+ did not in fact encourage a
great deal of ariet$+ although this did not pre-
ent the ''belieers+" including een the tradi-
tionalists among them in 8rague+ from rinding a
dar, fascination in its tidings+ which Gran, him-
self brutall$ summed up in a single brus=ue re-
mar,; ''*t is one thing to worship GodF and =uite
another to follow the path that * hae ta,en#'
"ccording to Gran,+ the "cosmos"
2teel3+ or "earthl$ world" 2leel
ha-gashmi3 as it was called b$ the sectarians in
Saloni,a+ is not the creation of the Good or Ji-
ing God+ for if it were it would be e1ternal and
man would be immortal+ whereas as we see from
the presence of death in the world this is not at
all the case- To be sure+ there are "worlds" which
belong to "the Good God" too+ but these are hid-
den from all but the "belieers-" *n them are
diine powers+ one of whom is "the 7ing of
7ings+" who is also ,nown as "the !ig !rother"
and "He who stands before the Jord-" The eil
power that created the cosmos and introduced
death into the world+ on the other hand+ is con-
nected with the feminine+ and is most probabl$
composed of three "gods" or "4ulers of the
.orld+" one of whom is the "ngel of >eath- *n
an$ case+ it is these "4ulers+" all of whom hae
been incarnated on earth in human form+ who
bloc, the path leading to "the Good God+" who
is un,nown to men+ for m$stic ,nowledge of
Him has as $et been reealed to no one+ nor has
the hol$ soul 2nishmata3 that emanates from
Him been in an$ creature+ not een in Sabbatai
)ei- *n the current aeon there are three "4ulers
of the .orld+" "Jife+" ".ealth " and ">eath+"
the last of which must be replaced b$ ".isdom"
-a tas,+ howeer+ that is not easil$ accomplished+
for although ".isdom" is in some m$sterious
manner connected to "the Good God+" the latter
is still not able to reeal Himself to man,ind+ "for
the world is in the thrall of laws that are no
good-"
Hence it is necessar$ to cast off the domination
of these laws+ which are laws of death and
harmful to man,ind- To bring this about+ the
Good God has sent messengers such as the patri-
archs "who dug wells " Moses+ %esus+ and others+
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#<L
into the world- Moses pointed out the true wa$+
but it was found to be too difficult+ whereupon
he resorted to "another religion" and presented
men with "the Jaw of Moses+" whose command-
ments are in6urious and useless- "The Jaw of the
Jord+" on the other handF the spiritual Torah of
the SabbatiansF "is perfect" 28s- &(;'3+ onl$ no
man has $et been able to attain it- Ginall$+ the
Good God sent Sabbatai )ei into the world+ but
he too was powerless to achiee an$thing+ because
he was unable to find the true wa$- "!ut m$ de-
sire is to lead $ou toward Jife-" :eertheless+ the
wa$ to Jife is not eas$+ for it is the wa$ of nihilism
and it means to free oneself of all laws+ conen-
tions+ and religions+ to adopt eer$ conceiable
attitude and to re6ect it+ and to follow one's leader
step for step into the ab$ss- !aptism is a necessit$+
as Gran, said prior to his conersion+ "because
@hristianit$ has paed the wa$ for us-" Thirt$
$ears afterward this same "@hristian" obsered;
"This much * tell $ou; @hrist+ as $ou ,now+ said
that he had come to redeem the world from the
hands of the deil+ but * hae come to redeem
it from all the laws and customs that hae eer
e1isted- *t is m$ tas, to annihilate all this so that
the Good God can reeal Himself-"
The annihilation of eer$ religion
and positie s$stem of beliefF this
was the "true wa$" the "belieers" were e1pected
to follow- @oncerning the redemptie powers of
haoc and destruction Gran,'s imagination ,new
no limits- ".hereer "dam trod a cit$ was built
but whereer * set foot all will be destro$ed+ for
* came into this world onl$ to destro$ and to an 6
nihilate- !ut what * build+ will last foreer-"
Man,ind is engaged in a war without =uarter
with the "no-good" laws that are in powerF "and
* sa$ to $ou+ all who would be warriors must be
without religion+ which means that the$ must
reach freedom under their own power and seize
hold of the Tree of Jife-" :o region of the hu-
man soul can remain untouched b$ this struggle- *n
order to ascend one must first descend- ":o man
can climb a mountain until he has first descended
to its foot- Therefore we must descend and be cast
down to the bottom rung+ for onl$ then can we
climb to the infinite- This is the m$stic principle
of %acob's Jadder+ which * hae seen and which is
shaped li,e a N-" "gain+ "* did not come into this
world to lift $ou up but rather to cast $ou down
to the bottom of the ab$ss- Gurther than this it is
impossible to descend+ nor can one ascend again
b$ irtue of one's own strength+ for onl$ the Jord
can raise one up from the depths b$ the power of
His hand-" The descent into the ab$ss re=uires
not onl$ the re6ection of all religions and con-
entions+ but also the commission of "strange
acts+" and this in turn demands the oluntar$
abasement of one's own sense of self+ so that lib-
ertinism and the achieement of that state of
utter shamelessness which leads to a ti,,un of the
soul are one and the same thing+
".e are all now obliged to enter the ab$ss" in
which all laws and religions are annihilated- !ut
the wa$ is perilous+ for there are powers and
"gods"F these being none other than the three
"4ulers of the .orld"F that do not let one pass-
*t is necessar$ to elude them and continue onward+
and this none of the ancients was able to do+
neither Solomon+ nor %esus+ nor een Sabbatai
)ei- To accomplish this+ that is+ to oercome
the opposing powers+ which are the gods of
other religions+ it is imperatie that one be "per-
fectl$ silent+" een deceitful- This is the m$stic
principle of "the burden of silence" 2masa & du-
mahW *sa- D&;&&3+ i-e-+ of maintaining the great re-
sere that is becoming to the "belieer" 2a new
ersion of the original Sabbatian in6unction
against appearing as one reall$ isK3- *ndeed+ this
is the principle of the "true wa$" itself; "%ust as
a man who wishes to con=uer a fortress does not
do it b$ means of ma,ing a speech+ but must go
there himself with all his forces+ so we too must
go our wa$ in silence-" "*t is better to see than to
spea,+ for the heart must not reeal what it ,nows
to the mouth-" "Here there is no need for schol-
ars because here belongs the burden of silence-"
".hen * was baptized in Jo * said to $ou; so
far+ so goodK !ut from here on; a burden of si-
lenceK Muzzle $our mouthsK" "5ur forefathers
were alwa$s tal,ing+ onl$ what good did it do
them and what did the$ accomplish? !ut we are
under the burden of silence; here we must be
=uiet and bear what is needful+ and that is wh$ it
is a burden-" ".hen a man goes from one place
to another he should hold his tongue- *t is the
same as with a man drawing a bow; the longer
he holds his breath+ the further the arrow will fl$-"
Grom the ab$ss+ if onl$ the "burden of silence"
is borne+ "hol$ ,nowledge" will emerge- The tas,+
then+ is "to ac=uire ,nowledge+" "and the pas-
sagewa$ to ,nowledge is to combine with the
nations" but not+ of course+ to intermingle with
them- He who reaches the destination will lead a
life of anarchic libert$ as a free man- "The place
that we are going to tolerates no laws+ for all that
comes from the side of >eath+ whereas we are
bound for Jife-" The name of this place is
"/dom" or "/sau+" and the wa$ to it+ which must
be followed b$ the light of ",nowledge" 2gnosis3
and under the "burden of silence" through the
depths of the ab$ss+ is called "the wa$ to /sau-"
This was the road ta,en b$ %acob the patriarch+
"the first %acob+" all of whose deeds prefigured
those of "the last %acob"F %acob Gran,- "/sau"
too was foreshadowed b$ the /sau of the !ible+
though onl$ in a eiled wa$; "/sau the son of
%acob was but the curtain that hangs before the
entrance to the ,ing's inner chambers-" Herein
lies the m$stical principle of the wells dug b$ tfie
patriarchs+ as well as the m$stic content of the
stor$ 2Gen- D(3 of how %acob came to a well that
2U#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
had alread$ been dug+ rolled die stone from its
mouth+ and encountered 4achel and her father
Jaban- "nother who found the passage to "/sau"
was the sorcerer !alaam- "/sau" belongs to the
realm of the Good God where the power of death
is made nought+ and it is also the dwelling place
of "the Nirgin+" she who is called 4achel in the
biblical stories about %acob and is elsewhere
,nown as "the beautiful maiden who has no
posed to the Jaw of Moses+ which was largel$ the
promulgation of the irascible @reator-
ran,'s ultimate ision of the future
was based upon the still unreealed
laws of the Torah of atzilut which he promised
his disciples would ta,e effect once the$ had
"come to /sau+" that is+ when the passage through
the "ab$ss" with its unmitigated destruction and
e$es-" She it is who is the real Messiah 2who can- negation was finall$
accomplished- *n see,ing to
not+ contrar$ to traditional opinion+ be a man3 elucidate this gospel of
libertinism * can do no
better than to =uote a passage from the e1cellent
boo, on Gnosticism b$ the philosopher Hans
and to her "all the ,ing's weapons are surren-
dered+" for she is also the much sought-after
">iine .isdom" or Sophia who is destined to %onas in which he discusses the
deelopment of a
ta,e ">eath's" place as one of the three "4ulers
of the .orld-" Gor the present+ howeer+ she is
hidden in a castle and ,ept from the sight of all
liing creatures0 all the "strange acts+" in compar-
ison with which the "strange fire" offered before
the Jord b$ "aron's two sons 2Je- &03 was but
a trifle+ are committed for the sole purpose of
reaching her- "gain+ she is the "hol$ serpent" who
guards the garden+ and he who as,ed what the
serpent was doing in 8aradise was simpl$ betra$-
ing his ignorance- "s of $et+ the place of "/sau+"
the home of "the Nirgin" and of true salation+
has not been attained b$ an$one+ but its hidden
light will first be reealed to the "belieers+" who
will hae the distinction of being its soldiers and
fighting on its behalf-
These are some of the main features of Gran,'s
teaching- *t is a eritable m$th of religious nihil-
ism+ the wor, of a man who did not lie at all in
the world of rational argument and discussion+
but inhabited a realm entirel$ made up of m$th-
ological entities- *ndeed+ to an$one familiar with
the histor$ of religion it might seem far more li,e-
l$ that he was dealing here with an antinomian
m$th from the second centur$ composed b$ such
nihilistic Gnostics as @arpocrates and his follow-
ers than that all this was actuall$ taught and be-
lieed b$ 8olish %ews liing on the ee of the
Grench 4eolution+ among whom neither the
"master" nor his "disciples" had the slightest in,-
ling that the$ were engaged in resuscitating an
ancient traditionK :ot onl$ the general train of
thought+ but een some of the s$mbols and terms
are the sameK "nd $et+ none of this seems as sur-
prising as it ma$ appear to be at first glance when
we reflect that no less than the Gran,ists+ the
Gnostics of anti=uit$ deeloped their thought
within a biblical framewor,+ for all that the$
completel$ inerted the biblical alues- The$ too
belieed that /sau and !alaam were worshipers
of "the Good God+" the$ too conerted the ser-
pent in the Garden of /den into a s$mbol of
gnosis+ salation+ and the true ">iine .isdom"
that guided men to freedom from the eil rule of
the >emiurge b$ teaching them to disobe$ his
laws and institutions+ and the$ too held that the
Jaw of the good and "alien" God+ which en6oined
the commission of "strange acts+" was directl$ op-
libertinist ethic among the nihilisticall$ minded
pneumatics of the second centur$;M
The spiritualist moralit$ of these pneumatics
possessed a reolutionar$ character that did not
stop short of actiel$ implementing its beliefs-
*n this doctrine of immoralism we are con-
fronted both with a total and oert re6ection of
all traditional norms of behaior+ and with an
e1aggerated feeling of freedom that regards the
license to do as it pleases as a proof of its own
authenticit$ and as a faor bestowed upon it
from aboe- - - - The entire doctrine rests on
the concept of an "e1tra spirit" as a priilege
conferred upon a new t$pe of human being
who from here on is no longer to be sub6ect to
the standards and obligations that hae hitherto
alwa$s been the rule- 9nli,e the ordinar$+ pure-
l$ "ps$chic" indiidual+ the pneumatic is a free
man+ free from the demands of the Jaw - - -
and+ inasmuch as it implies a positie realiza-
tion of this freedom+ his uninhibited behaior
is far from being a purel$ negatie reaction-
Such moral nihilism full$ reeals the crisis of
a world in transition; b$ arbitraril$ asserting
its own complete freedom and pluming itself on
its abandonment to the sacredness of sin+ the
self see,s to fill the acuum created b$ the "in-
terregnum" between two different and opposing
periods of law- /speciall$ characteristic of this
oer-all mood of anarch$ are its hostilit$ to-
ward all established conentions+ its need to
define itself in terms that are clearl$ e1clusie
of the great ma6orit$ of the human race+ and
its desire to flout that authorit$ of the "diine"
powers+ that is+ of the world-rulers who are the
custodians of the old standards of moralit$-
5er and aboe the re6ection of the past for its
own sa,e+ therefore+ we are faced here with an
additional motie+ namel$+ the desire to heap
insult on its guardians and to reolt openl$
against them- Here we hae reolution without
the slightest speculatie dissemblance and this
is wh$ the gospel of libertinism stands at the
center of the gnostic reolution in religious
thought- :o doubt+ too+ there was in addition to
all this an element of pure "daredeiltr$" which
the Gnostic could proudl$ point to as an indica-
tion of his reliance on his own "spiritual" na-
ture- *ndeed+ in all periods of reolution human
beings hae been fond of the into1icating power
of big words-
Hans %onas+ Gnosis und spatunti,er Geist 2&(3C3+ *+ D3C-
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#<B
"ll of this is full$ applicable to both "radical"
Sabbatianism in general and to the Gran,ist
moement in particular0 the mentalit$ that %onas
describes could not possibl$+ indeed+ assume a
more radical form than Gran,'s nihilistic m$th- *t
goes without sa$ing+ of course+ that in a gien age
m$th and realit$ do not alwa$s coincide+ and in
the case of Gran,ists the former was undoubtedl$
the e1tremer of the two+ een if Gran himself
was not far from liing up to it in actual practice+
as emerged from the manuscript of The @hron-
icles of the Jife of the Jord which one of the
Gran,ist families permitted 7raushar to use and
which afterward anished- !ut in an$ eent the
significant point is the fact that the m$th should
hae been born at all and that a considerable num-
ber of ghetto %ews should hae come to regard it
as a wa$ to "political and spiritual liberation+" to
=uote the words used b$ the educated Gran,ist
Gabriel 8orges in 8rague to describe the moe-
ment's aims to his son after Gran, himself was no
longer alie- @learl$+ for the %ew who saw in
Gran,ism the solution to his personal problems
and =ueries+ the world of %udaism had been utter-
l$ dashed to pieces+ although he himself ma$ not
hae traeled the "true wa$" at all+ ma$ een+ in
fact+ hae continued to remain outwardl$ the most
orthodo1 of obserers-
N***
.e will apparentl$ neer ,now
with an$ certaint$ wh$ most of
the Sabbatians in 8odolia followed Gran,s lead
and became @atholics while their counterparts in
.estern /urope+ who for the most part also re-
garded Gran, as their spiritual leader+ chose to
remain %ews- 5ur ,nowledge in this area+ which
is of such crucial importance to an understanding
of %ewish histor$ in the countries in =uestion+ is
practicall$ nil and we must content ourseles with
mere speculation- 8ossibl$ the decisie factor was
the differing social structures of the two groups-
The ma6orit$ of the Sabbatians in 8odolia were
members of the lower class and few 2which is
not to sa$ none at all3 of those who conerted
were educated indiiduals- The Sabbatians in
German$ and the "ustro-Hungarian /mpire+ on
the other hand+ were largel$ from a more wealth$
bac,ground and man$ of them were men of con-
siderable rabbinical learning- "s is fre=uentl$ the
case with religious sects+ Sabbatianism was trans-
mitted b$ entire families and not 6ust b$ isolated
indiiduals- /en toda$ records e1ist to proe that
a number of families+ some of them =uite prom-
inent+ which were ,nown for their Sabbatian al-
legiances about &BC0+ were still clinging to "the
hol$ faith" oer si1t$ $ears later- Gor such groups
traditional %udaism had become a permanent
outer cloa, for their true beliefs+ although there
were undoubtedl$ different iewpoints among
them as to the e1act nature of the relationship-
:ot all were followers of Gran,+ albeit the Gran,-
ists in 8rague were spirituall$ the strongest among
them and were e1tremel$ actie in disseminating
their iews- Most probabl$ those Sabbatians who
had once been disciples of 4abbi %onathan /ibe-
schutz were also to be found in this categor$- *n
an$ case+ the fact remains that among these
groups the number of conersions was er$ small-
Man$ of their adherents ma$ hae desired to
reach "the hol$ gnosis of /dom+" but few were
willing to pass through the gates of @hristianit$
in+ order to do so-
5n the whole+ howeer+ in the $ears following
Gran,'s death the arious Sabbatian groups still
in e1istence continued to deelop along more or
less parallel lines- Gour principal documents bear-
ing on this final phase of Sabbatianism hae come
down to us; The !oo, of the 8rophec$ of *saiah
written b$ an apostate "belieer" in 5ffenbach0
a long sermon on the "lenu pra$er published b$
.essel$ from a length$ Gran,ist manuscript0 se-
eral Gran,ist epistles as presented in substance b$
8eter !eer0 and a commentar$ on the boo, /n
Ea'a,o that came into the possession of >r- H-
!rod$+ when he was @hief 4abbi of 8rague- "ll of
these sources share the same world+ differing onl$
in that the first spea,s in praise of baptism and
heaps "prophetic" imprecations on the %ewish
people+ its rabbis and officials+ whereas the others+
written b$ %ews+ presere silence on these topics-
"lso found in the olume containing the com-
mentar$ on the /n Ea'a,o was a Gran,ist com-
mentar$ on the Hallel pra$er+ the 6o$ous faith
and emotion of which are genuinel$ moing- The
man who wrote these few pages was a pure and
immaculate spirit and his 6ubilant profession of
"the redemption and delierance of his soul" is
obiousl$ deepl$ felt- Ji,e most of the Sabbatians
in the .est+ he ma$ neer hae met Gran, face
to face+ but on the other hand+ the author of The
8rophec$ of *saiah+ who did+ also belieed him
to be the incarnation of the Jiing God+ "the true
%acob who neer dies+" and clung to this feeling
of salation throughout his life-
*n all of these documents the Gran,ist m$th
has lost much of its radical wildness- Most of its
component parts are still recognizable in the form
of "profound m$steries" that are to be reealed
onl$ to the prudent+ but these too hae under-
gone considerable modification- *n man$ places+
for instance+ Gran,'s insistence that the "belie-
e
ers" were literall$ to become soldiers is so com-
pletel$ allegorized that it loses both its logic and
its parado1icalK t$- The most stri,ing change+ how-
eer+ is that while the doctrine of "strange acts"
remains+ and continues to be associated with the
appearance of "the Nirgin" or "the Jad$+" there
is no longer the slightest reference to an$ ethic oS
libertinism- Here radicalism has retraced its steps
and returned from the moral sphere to the his-
torical- /en if we suppose that the authors of
these documents were careful not to reeal thenar
<'#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
seles entirel$ in their writingsF an assumption
that man$ of their cr$ptic allusions would indeed
seem to bear outF it is nonetheless apparent that
libertine behaior is no longer considered b$
them to be a binding religious obligation- *nstead
there is an increased effort to understand the
"strange acts" of the religious heroes of the past+
particularl$ of the characters in the !ible+ a
boo, which the "belieers" no less than the or-
thodo1 regarded as the ultimate authorit$0 here
too+ howeer+ the emphasis falls on indicating
such cases in theor$ rather than on imitating
them in practice- *n 5ffenbach+ it is true+ certain
scandalous acts continued to be performed on no
less than the >a$ of "tonement itself+ but this
had degenerated into a mere semblance+ whereas
"in good faith" among themseles the "belieers"
were no longer in the habit of carr$ing on such
practices- "s for the m$stic principle of the ''con-
6ugation" of masculine and feminine elements in
the diine worlds that had pla$ed so large a role
in the unorthodo1 7abbalistic theories of the ni-
hilists and the "radicals+" this too+ to 6udge b$
the sources in our possession+ was now "toned
down-" "ll in all+ while the idea of iolating the
Torah of beriah reminded a cardinal principle of
'the hol$ faith+" its application was transferred to
other areas+ particularl$ to dreams of a general
reolution that would sweep awa$ the past in a
single stro,e so that the world might be rebuilt-
Toward the end of Gran,'s life the
hopes he had entertained of abol-
ishing all laws and conentions too, on a er$
real historical significance- "s a result of the
Grench 4eolution the Sabbatian and Gran,ist
subersion of the old moralit$ and religion was
suddenl$ placed in a new and releant conte1t+
and perhaps not onl$ in the abstract+ for we ,now
that Gran,'s nephews+ whether as "belieers" or
out of some other motie+ were actie in high
reolutionar$ circles in 8aris and Strasbourg-
Seemingl$+ the 4eolution had come to corrobo-
rate the fact that the nihilist outloo, had been
correct all along; now the pillars of the world
were indeed being sha,en+ and all the old wa$s
seemed about to be oerturned- Gor the "belie-
ers" all this had a double significance- 5n the
one hand+ with the characteristic self-centeredness
of a spiritualist sect+ the$ saw in it a sign of spe-
cial diine interention in their faor+ since in the
general upheaal the inner renewal and their
clandestine actiities based on it would be more
li,el$ to go unnoticed- This opinion was e1-
pressed b$ Gran, himself and was commonl$ re-
peated b$ his followers in 8rague- "t the same
time that the 4eolution sered as a screen for
the world of inwardness+ howeer+ it was also rec-
ognized as haing a practical alue in itself+
namel$+ the undermining of all spiritual and sec-
ular authorities+ the power of the priesthood most
of all- The "belieers" in the ghettos of "ustria+
whose admiration for certain doctrines of the
@hristian @hurch 2such as *ncarnation3 went
hand in hand with a deep hatred of its priests and
institutions+ were particularl$ alie to this last
possibilit$- Here the fashionable anti-clericalism
of the times found a read$ reception- *n great and
enthusiastic detail the Gran,ist author of The
8rophec$ of *saiah describes the coming apoc-
al$pse which is destined to ta,e place solel$ that
the %ewish people might be reborn+ repudiate its
rabbis and other false leaders+ and embrace the
faith of "the true %acob" as befits "the 8eople of
the God of %acob-" To the commentator on the
Hallel pra$er writing in 8rague+ the erse in 8salm
&&'+ "The right hand of the Jord is e1alted+"
meant that "if the right hand of the Jord begins to
emerge+ the deceitful left hand of /sau and his
priests and the deceitful sword will retire"F an
allusion+ of course+ to the combined rule of the
secular and ecclesiastical powers- Throughout this
literature apocal$ptic ideas mingle freel$ with the
political theories of the 4eolution+ which were
also intended+ after all+ to lead to a "political and
spiritual liberation+" to cite that illuminating
and undeseredl$ neglected phrase with which
the Gran,ists in 8rague+ as we hae seen+ defined
the aims of their moement-
"ll this culminated in the remar,able case of
"The 4ed /pistle#' of &B((+ a circular letter writ-
ten in red in, and addressed b$ the Gran,ists in
5ffenbach+ the last Mecca of the sect+ to a large
number of %ewish congregations+ e1horting them
to embrace "the hol$ religion of /dom-" The
theoretical part of this documentF appro1imatel$
the last third of itF is highl$ interesting- Here+ in
a single page+ the epistlers summarize their beliefs
without a single oert reference to @hristianit$+
the word "/dom+" as we hae seen+ possessing a
more specialized meaning in their ocabular$- !e-
sides bearing all the mar,ings of the Gran,ist
m$th+ the epistle contains the familiar ingredients
of the Sabbatian homil$ as well+ particularl$ in
its audacious e1egeses of biblical stories+ Midra-
shim and "ggadot+ passages from the )ohar+ and
7abbalistic te1ts- *n sum+ an entire m$stical the-
or$ of reolution- The passage that * am going to
=uote e1emplifies perfectl$ the thin,ing+ st$le+
and cr$ptic manner of e1pression of this t$pe of
Gran,ist literature;
7now that "it is time for the Jord to wor,+
HforI the$ hae made oid Th$ law" H8s- &&(;-
DD<I+ and in this connection the rabbis of blessed
memor$ hae said HSanhedrin (BaI Hthat the
Messiah will not comeI "until the ,ingdom is
entirel$ gien oer to heres$" Hthis being the
m$stical meaning of the words in Jeiticus &3; &3I
"it is all turned white and then he is clean+"
and as is e1plained in the boo, )ror ha-Mor+ his
serants are clean too- Gor the time has come
that %acob Hwas referring to when heI promised+
"* will come unto m$ Jord unto Seir" HGen+
33;&CI+ for we ,now that until now he has not
TH/ H5J*:/SS 5G S*:#<(
$et gone thither0 and he Hwho will fulfill the
erseI is our Hol$ Jord %acob+ "the most perfect
of all" H)ohar+ **+ D3aI and the most e1cellent of
the patriarchs+ for he grasps both sides H)ohar+
*+ &CBaI+ binding one e1treme to the other until
the last e1treme of all- !ut although last+ he
who will rise upon earth and sa$+ ""rise 5
Nirgin of *srael+" is not least Hi-e-+ he is more
important and faored than the first %acobI-
:a$+ he is certainl$ not dead+ and it is he who
leads us on the true wa$ in the hol$ religion of
/dom+ so that whoeer is of the seed of "bra-
ham+ *saac+ and %acob must follow in their path+
for the$ hae shown the wa$ that their sons
are to ta,e at the /nd of >a$s+ "braham b$
descending to /g$pt HGen- &DI+ *saac Hb$ 6our-
ne$I to "bimelech HGen- D<I+ and %acob+ the
most e1cellent of the patriarchs+ b$ leaing
!eersheba and going to Haran HGen- D'I Hthat
isI+ b$ leaing the faith Hof his fathersI and the
Jand of *srael for another realm of impurit$+
as is e1plained in the )ohar0 for the )ohar
e1plains that the redemption must be sought
in the most eil place of all- Then he came to
the mouth of the well HGen- D(I and found
4achel and rolled the stone from the mouth
of the well and came to Jaban and wor,ed for
him Hin the realm of eilI and brought out his
own portion- "nd afterward he went to /sau
HGen- 3DI+ but he was still not done Hwith his
tas,I+ for although he rolled the stone Hfrom the
wellI the$ rolled it bac, again 6UGen- D(;3I+
and therefore he could not go to Seir Hthe place
where there are no lawsI and all this was but
to prepare the wa$ for the last %acob HGran,I+
the most perfect of all+ at the /nd of >a$s- Gor
as the )ohar e1plains+ the first %acob is perfect
but the last %acob is perfect in eer$thing+ and
he will complete H%acob's mission inI eer$thing-
"nd it is said Hin allusion to thisI in the )ohar;
"9ntil a man comes in the form of "dam and
a woman in the form of /e and the$ circum-
ent him Hi-e-+ the serpentI and outwit him+"
and so forth- Therefore+ we must follow in his
path+ for "the wa$s of the Jord are right+ and
the 6ust do wal, in them" HHos- &C;&0I+ and
though there is a burden of silence Habout this
and the heart must not reeal Hwhat it ,nows
to the mouth+ it is nonetheless written H*sa-
CD;&<I+ ""nd * will bring the blind b$ a wa$
that the$ ,now not+ in paths that the$ ,now not
* will lead them+ * will ma,e dar,ness light
before them and rugged places plain-" "nd here
"honored his Master+" and
eilI
it was that %acob
so forth Hnamel$+ b$ standing in the realm of
-and loo, in the )ohar H*+ &<&b+ where
these words are to be foundI- "nd herein will
be Hfound the m$stical meaning of the erseI
"Jord+ when Thou didst go forth out of Seir+
when Thou didst march out of the field of
/dom" H%udg- L;&CI and ".ho is this that
cometh from /dom?" H*sa- <3;&I+ for as is HstatedI
in the Tanna debe /ii$ahu+ there will come a
da$ when the angels will see, the Jord and the
sea will sa$ "He is not in me" and the ab$ss
will sa$ "He is not in me-" .here then will the$
find him? *n /dom+ for it is said+ ".ho is this
that cometh from /dom?" "nd the$ who follow
him into this hol$ religion and cling to the
House of %acob HGran,I and ta,e shelter in its
shadowF for it is said HJam- C;D0I+ "9nder his
shadow we shall lie among the nations" and
HMic+ C;DI "@ome $e and let us go up to the
mountain of the Jord and the House of the
God of %acob0 and He will teach us of His wa$s+
and we will wal, in His paths"F to them it
will be granted to cling to the Jord+ for the$
Hthe wa$s of the JordI are a wa$ of life to those
who find them- "nd it is written H>eut- C;D(I+
"Grom thence $e will see, the Jord th$ God
and thou shalt find Him-" .h$ does the te1t
emphasize "from thence"? !ecause light will be
made ,nown from dar,ness H)ohar+ ***+ CBbI+ as
it is written HMic- B;'I+ "Though * sit in dar,-
ness+ the Jord is a light unto me-"
The goernment officials who intercepted cop-
ies of this epistle rightl$ suspected its authors of
being hidden reolutionaries+ but for the wrong
reason- The man$ obscure references to an indi-
idual called "%acob" led them to surmise that
the$ were in realit$ dealing withF the %acobins+
who in this manner were supposed to spread their
radical propaganda among the %ews of the ghetto-
"n inestigation was ordered on the spot- The
authorities who conducted it in Gran,furt and
5ffenbach+ howeer+ did not dele beneath the
surface of the affair and were =uic,l$ satisfied
that it inoled nothing more than an intrigue to
swindle and e1tort mone$ from ignorant %ews-
*n our own da$+ a historian who has published
their official report+ rather naiel$ concludes b$
remar,ing+ "and so the ridiculous theories of a
Gran,ist plot which had proed so alarming to
these imperial bureaucrats were at last laid to
rest+" thereb$ failing to realize himself that on a
deeper leel the authorities' suspicions were full$
if unwittingl$ 6ustifiedK Had the$ bothered to
read and understand not 6ust the debtors' notes
of Gran,'s children in 5fferibach which were in
possession of the town's ban,ers and mone$lend-
ers+ but also The 8rophec$ of *saiah that had
been composed within the four walls of the
"court" itself+ the$ would hae been amazed to
discoer how ardentl$ these Gran,ist "%acobins"
$earned for the oerthrow of the e1isting regime-
he hopes and beliefs of these last
Sabbatians caused them to be par-
ticularl$ susceptible to the "millennial" winds of
the times- /en while still "belieers"F in fact+
precisel$ because the$ were "belieers"F the$ had
been drawing closer to the spirit of the Has,alah
all along+ so that when the flame of their faith
finall$ flic,ered out the$ soon reappeared as lead-
ers of 4eform %udaism+ secular intellectuals+ or
simpl$ complete and indifferent s,eptics- .e hae
alread$ noted how deepl$ rooted the Sabbatian
apath$ toward 5rthodo1 obserance and %ewish
tradition in general was- /en the "moderates"
tended to beliee that the commandments were
for the most part meant to be obsered onl$ in
B0#@5MM/:T"4E %":9"4E &(B&
the Jand of *srael and that "in the e1ile there is
no punishment Hfor not obsering themI+ een
though there is still as alwa$s a reward Hif the$
are ,eptI"F a doctrine that was ultimatel$ to
hae a catastrophic effect on all traditional ties
and to help prepare the wa$ for the philosoph$
of assimilationism- " man such as %onas .ehle+
for e1ample+ the spiritual leader and educator of
the Sabbatians in 8rague after &B(0+ was e=uall$
appreciatie of both Moses Mendelssohn and Sab-
batai )ei+ and the fragments of his writings that
hae suried ampl$ bear out the assertion of one
of his opponents that "he too, the teachings of
the philosopher 7ant and dressed them up in the
costume of the )ohar and the Jurianic 7ab-
balah#' *t is eident from the commentar$ on the
/n Ea'a,o and from the letters that were in
8eter !eer's possession that men li,e .ehle in-
tended to use the Has,alah for their own Sabba-
tian ends+ but in the meanwhile the Has,alah
went its wa$ and proceeded to ma,e use of
them-
*ndeed+ een for those "belieers" who re-
mained faithful to their own religious world and
did not share the enthusiasm of the 8rague
Gran,ists for the "School of Mendelssohn+" the
wa$ to the Has,alah was easil$ traeled- *t was
surel$ no accident that a cit$ li,e 8rossnitz+ which
sered as a center for the Has,alah in Moraia
upon the moement's spread there one genera-
tion earlier+ was also a bastion of Sabbatianism
in that countr$- The leaders of the "School of
Mendelssohn+" who were neither Sabbatians
themseles+ of course+ nor under the influence of
m$sticism at all+ to sa$ nothing of m$stical heres$+
found read$ recruits for their cause in Sabbatian
circles+ where the world of rabbinic %udaism had
alread$ been completel$ destro$ed from within+
=uite independentl$ of the efforts of secularist
criticism- Those who had suried the ruin were
now open to an$ alternatie or wind of change0
and so+ their "mad isions" behind them+ the$
turned their energies and hidden desires for a
more positie life to assimilation and the Has,a-
lah+ two forces that accomplished without para-
do1es+ indeed without religion at all+ what the$+
the members of "the accursed sect+" had earnestl$
strien for in a storm$ contention with truth+
carried on in the half-light of a faith pregnant
with parado1es-