📜 Who was Sabbatai Zevi?
Sabbatai Zevi (or Tzvi), born in 1626 in Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey) and died in 1676, was a central figure in 17th-century Judaism, known for proclaiming himself the Jewish Messiah. He was a rabbi and Kabbalist who attracted a vast following in Jewish communities across Europe and the Middle East, during a period marked by persecution and intense messianic expectations influenced by Lurianic Kabbalah (from Isaac Luria). His teachings and actions gave rise to the Sabbatean movement, which persisted even after his forced conversion to Islam.😈 The Doctrine of Redemption Through Sin
The core of the Sabbatean doctrine comes from its interpretation of redemption. According to historical accounts, Zevi and his main "prophet," Nathan of Gaza (1643-1680), propagated that the coming of the Messiah depended on a collective state of either extreme purity or extreme impurity in the world. Inspired by Kabbalah, they argued that the Messiah would emerge when humanity reached either the pinnacle of goodness (all good) or the pinnacle of evil (all evil). Since achieving universal goodness was seen as impossible, the alternative was to accelerate the process through the opposite path: deliberate immersion in sin to "fill" the quota of evil necessary for divine redemption.
🔮 Kabbalistic Roots and Antinomian Acts
This concept became known as "redemption through sin" (in Hebrew, mitzvah ha-ba'ah ba-averah, "a commandment that comes by way of transgression"). It was not an invention of Zevi but a radicalization of Kabbalistic ideas about "breaking the husks" (klipot)—forces of evil that must be penetrated to release the divine sparks trapped within them. In practice, this involved antinomian acts: deliberately violating Jewish laws (halakha), such as breaking the Sabbath, eating non-kosher food, or even committing adultery in ritual orgies, all justified as a sacred means to hasten the messianic age. Nathan of Gaza, the main theorist, argued that Zevi, as the Messiah, had to descend into the abyss of evil to rescue the lost souls.
🕌 The Conversion and the Crisis of the Movement
The movement's peak occurred in 1665-1666 when Zevi gained thousands of followers. However, in 1666, upon being arrested by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV, he was forced to choose between death and conversion to Islam. Zevi chose conversion, adopting the name Aziz Mehmed Efendi, which shocked and divided his followers. Many saw this as another act of "redemption through sin"—an apparent apostasy to redeem evil from within. Others abandoned the movement, considering him a fraud.
👥 The Legacy: Jacob Frank and Frankism
After Zevi's death, Sabbateanism evolved into underground forms. The most notorious successor was Jacob Frank (1726-1791), who founded Frankism in Poland. Frank expanded the doctrine, mixing in Christian elements and promoting even more radical rituals, including orgies and mass conversions to Catholicism as a disguise. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Zevi and argued that "redemption through sin" included the total rejection of traditional morality to usher in a new era. Frankism is often cited in modern conspiracy theories, but these connections are speculative and not historically proven.
📚 Sabbateanism Today: A Historical Analysis
Today, Sabbateanism-Frankism is considered extinct as an organized movement, but its remnants persist in Kabbalistic and academic studies of Jewish messianism. Historians like Gershom Scholem analyze it as an example of how deep social crises can generate religious radicalism and complex messianic movements.