, 1669 depiction •
Sabbatai Zevi (1626 — 1676) was a
Sephardic Jewish rabbi and
Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by
Nathan of Gaza, and then
forcibly converted to Islam in order to avoid the
Islamic death penalty under the
Ottoman sultan. He still has followers today among the
Dönmeh (in
Turkish: “Apostates”), •
Barukhia Russo (1695–1740; Osman Baba), successor of Sabbatai Zevi. •
Mordecai Mokia (1650–1729), ("the Rebuker") of
Eisenstadt, another follower of Sabbatai Zevi who remained faithful to him, Mordecai Mokiaḥ ("the Rebuker") of Eisenstadt, also pretended to be a Messiah. His period of activity was from 1678 to 1682 or 1683. He preached at first that Sabbatai Zevi was the true Messiah, that his conversion was for mystic reasons necessary, that he did not die but would reveal himself within three years after his supposed death, and pointed to the
persecution of the Jews in
Oran (by Spain), in
Austria, and in
France, and to the pestilence in
Germany as prognostications of his coming. He found a following among
Hungarian,
Moravian, and
Bohemian Jews. Going a step further, he declared that he was the
Davidic Messiah. Shabbethai, according to him, was only the Ephraitic Messiah and was furthermore rich, and therefore could not accomplish the redemption of Israel. He (Mordecai), being poor, was the real Messiah and at the same time the incarnation of the soul of the Ephraitic Messiah. Italian Jews heard of him and invited him to
Italy. He went there about 1680, and received a warm welcome in
Reggio and
Modena. He spoke of Messianic preparations, which he had to make in
Rome, and hinted at having perhaps to adopt Christianity outwardly. Denounced to the Inquisition, or advised to leave Italy, he returned to Bohemia, and then went to
Poland, where he is said to have become insane. From his time a sect began to form there, which still existed at the beginning of the Mendelssohnian era. •
Jacob Querido (died 1690), son of Joseph Filosof, and brother of the fourth wife of Sabbatai Zevi, became the head of the Shabbethaians in
Salonica, being regarded by them as the new incarnation of Zevi himself. He pretended to be Shabbethai's son and adopted the name Jacob Tzvi. With 400 followers allegedly converted to Islam in 1687, following the
forced conversion of Zevi himself, forming a sect called the
Dönmeh (in
Turkish: “Apostates”). He himself even made a
pilgrimage to Mecca (c. 1690). After his death during the pilgrimage his son Berechiah or Berokia succeeded him (c. 1695–1740). •
Miguel (Abraham) Cardoso (1630–1706), born of
Marrano parents, may have been initiated into the Shabbethaian movement by
Moses Pinheiro in
Leghorn. He became a prophet of the Messiah, and when the latter embraced Islam he justified this treason, saying that it was necessary for the Messiah to be reckoned among the sinners in order to atone for Israel's idolatry. He applied Isa. liii. to Shabbethai, and sent out epistles to prove that Shabbethai was the true Messiah, and he even suffered persecution for advocating his cause. Later he considered himself as the Ephraitic Messiah, asserting that he had marks on his body, which were proof of this. He preached and wrote of the speedy coming of the Messiah, fixing different dates until his death (see Cardoso, Miguel). •
Löbele Prossnitz (Joseph ben Jacob) (?–1750), (early 18th century). He taught that God had given dominion of the world to the "pious one," i.e., the one who had entered into the depths of
Kabbalah. Such a representative of God had been Sabbatai Zevi, whose soul had passed into other "pious" men, into Jonathan Eybeschütz and into himself. Another, Isaiah Hasid (a brother-in-law of the Shabbethaian Judah Hasid), who lived in
Mannheim, secretly claimed to be the resurrected Messiah, although publicly he had abjured Shabbethaian beliefs. ==18th century==