Kabbalah Part 4

We left off at the spread of Kabbalah that followed the renown of the Ari. In every corner of the Jewish world, Kabbalah had gone mainstream, and spiritual renewal was in the air. Even in Christian circles, Kabbalah was "reinterpreted" in terms of their own theology. Sir Isaac Newton was a major proponent of this movement. But the 17th century brought many disasters. In 1648 and 1649, the Jews of Ukraine were caught in the middle of an uprising of Ukrainians against their Polish overlords. An estimated 100,000 Jews were murdered (some put the figure at 500,000). Many were tortured as well. Atrocities of every kind were perpetrated. The leader of the uprising, Bogdan Chmielnitzki, is still considered a hero in Ukraine. His statue may be seen everywhere, and his likeness is on the 5 hrivne note. Jews who hadn't lost their lives, lost their property. Learning came to a halt among Ukrainian Jews for a long time. Nothing like this had happened since the Crusades, some 450 years earlier, and nothing like it would happen again until the Holocaust, some 300 years later. When Jews go through things like this, Messiah fever begins to take hold. Several individuals arose claiming to be the Messiah, but were laughed off. All except one.
Shabbetai Tzvi was born in Smyrna, Turkey in 1626. By all accounts, he was a charismatic personality, with a remarkable singing voice. (I can't help making comparisons with Shlomo Carlebach. They even looked very much alike). He became an accomplished scholar. He apparently suffered from what we call today "Bipolar Syndrome". In his "down phase" he was a pious Jew. In his "up phase" he committed sins, primarily the pronouncing of the ultimate Divine Name, which is considered a grave sin, and the eating of forbidden animal fats. When he was out of the "up phase", he deeply regretted his actions and was plagued by feelings of guilt. He was deeply troubled by the events of 1648 and 1649, and began to have feelings that he was the long-awaited Messiah. He was banished by the rabbis of Smyrna, and began wanderings through the Middle East and the Balkans. He continued to do bizarre things. He had several marriages, but none were consummated. He married a Torah Scroll as well! Although he was not taken seriously by most, he did attract a following. Finally, he met Nathan of Gaza (yes, Jews did live in Gaza), a well-respected Kabbalist. Shabbetai sought help for his mental illness. Nathan told him that, in fact, he was the Messiah. Nathan formulated a theory that the soul of the Messiah dwells in the "Empty Space" that had been spoken of by the Ari. It went through unspeakable tortures since creation that account for his mental pain. These included both terrifying dragons, as well as the soul of Jesus. Nathan also theorized that the fallen sparks, which the Ari had spoken of, had already been elevated, and there only remained sparks which had fallen all the way into evil. The Messiah would need to sin in order to reach these! However, these sins were only for the Messiah. Others must continue observing halachah, except in a few areas. Nathan sent pamphlets throughout the world, even reaching the few Jews in the Americas. 1666 would be the year of redemption. Two years of mass hysteria ensued. People everywhere began "prophesying". Even many rabbis were taken in, as well as many, if not most, Jews. (This is greatly toned down in most popular books). Rabbinic figures revered even today announced that people should not be dismayed by Shabbetai's sins, as "he knows the root of the matter" (i.e., the inner, mystical meanings of his actions). Great fights occurred in Jewish communities like Amsterdam and Constantinople. The few rabbis who opposed him were the constant objects of death threats. Christian Europe was in a panic, as rumor had it that Shabbetai had raised a great army that had already destroyed Mecca, and was now marching on Rome. Shabbetai went back to Turkey, with the express idea of converting the Sultan to Judaism. The Sultan had him put in prison. No problem wrote Nathan. This is part of his descent into the dark realm. 1666 would change everything. When 1666 arrived, the Sultan gave Shabbetai the option of death or conversion to Islam. He chose conversion. Jews were stunned. The expected deliverance would not occur! Most of his followers abandoned him. Jewish communities everywhere readily accepted back those who had followed him, as it had been an honest, and widespread, mistake.
But it didn't end there. Nathan wrote that Shabbetai's apostasy was part of his mission, a further descent into evil, in order to destroy it from within. Just wait. It will be OK. But it wasn't. Shabbetai was given a prison island where he lived and received visitors. While outwardly a Muslim, he secretly maintained a semi-Jewish lifestyle. Of those who visited him, he commanded many to convert to Islam as well, but with the intent of restoring the sparks. These followers became part of a new religion, the Donmeh, which still exists in Turkey. (In 2000, I was in Istanbul, and was part of a lovely tour given by the local Jewish community. The guide was a nice, soft-spoken man. But when I asked him if there is any interaction between the Jewish Community and the Donmeh, he screamed an emphatic "NO!") As Shabbetai had begun signing his name as "the G-d of Israel", many Donmeh consider him to be G-d. But within the Jewish community, many of his followers stayed Jews, awaiting his return in glory from "the realm of evil" at any moment. At his death just a few years later, most abandoned hope. But not all. Some expected his return. Some Jews, and even rabbis, behaved outwardly as devout Jews, but secretly believed that the Messiah had come, and the laws of the Torah were now abrogated. A  generation later, a Polish Jew, Jacob Frank, proclaimed himself to be the reincarnation of Shabbetai Tzvi. Together with some 10,000 followers, he convinced the Bishop of Cracow to baptize them, as they believed the Messiah had come. The Bishop assumed he meant Jesus, but he actually meant himself! As opposed to Shabbetai, he encouraged his followers to sin in any way possible, in order to reach the sparks that had fallen low. But the sins were not just eating forbidden fats. Incest and adultery were high on his agenda. When everything will be destroyed, a new and better world would appear. Frankist cells continued to exist from the early 18th century, to as late as World War I. Some believe that they still exist, but I have not seen any evidence for this.  Frankists heavily influenced some modern Jewish movements, particularly Reform, and, to a lesser extent, Zionism. The great historian of Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem, even saw a Frankist background to Hasidism, but this view has now been largely abandoned by scholars.
Besides the trauma of dashed hopes, the Jewish people now had to worry if their friends and neighbors might be secret Sabbeteans or Frankists.  Often "witch hunts" ensued, with innocent people brought under suspicion along with the guilty. As both the followers of Shabbetai and Frank had based themselves on a perversion of Kabbalistic ideas, many became wary of Kabbalah in general. How this was handled in different Jewish communities, and the effects that are still felt, will be the topic of my next post.