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Light travels at
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Then, of course,
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,

El Al is now offering two weekly flights between Chicago and
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The Airline of Israel.

Call your travel agent, or El Al at (312) 236-7264 or 1-800-223-6700.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1991

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The Appeal Of
A False Messiah

Shabbetai Zevi (1626-1676) was believed
to be the Messiah by half of the Jews of his
time.

JOSEPH TELUSHKIN

n 1665, perhaps half or
more of the world Jewry
believed that Shabbetai
Zevi, a Turkish Jew, was the
Messiah, who would soon
liberate Palestine from
Turkish rule and restore it
as an independent Jewish
state. There are records of
English Jews making bets
and giving ten-to-one odds
that the Messianic restora-
tion would come within two
years. In Germany, upper-
class Jews packed large
barrels with food and
clothing in preparation for
the long journey to
Palestine.
In lieu of a return to Zion,
there was a catastrophe. In-
stead of Shabbetai confron-
ting the Turkish sultan with
his demand for Palestine,
the monarch conveyed to
Shabbetai a threat: either he
convert to Islam or be tor-
tured to death. Shortly
thereafter, Shabbetai
entered the sultan's palace,
donned a turban, and took
the Muslim name Mehemet
Effendi.
The shock to the Jewish
community was overwhelm-
ing. Once again, the Jews
had suffered a great failure
with a "Messiah." Jesus had
become the father of Chris-
tianity, Bar-Kochba had led
the Jews into a disastrous
revolt, and now Shabbetai
had become a Muslim.
The mass support that
Shabbetai inspired is
somewhat surprising be-
cause he had long given
evidence of being highly
peculiar. On one notable oc-
casion he conducted a sym-
bolic marriage ceremony
between himself and a Torah
scroll; on another, he pro-
nounced the ineffable name
of God, an act that Jewish
tradition permitted only to
the High Priest on Yom
Kippur, and then, only in
the Temple in Jerusalem. In
addition, Shabbetai had
married twice, but the mar-
riages were not consum-
mated and ended in divorce.

From the book Jewish Literacy
by Joseph Telushkin.
Copyright (c) 1991 by Rabbi
Joseph Telushkin. Reprinted
with permission of William
Morrow and Co., Inc.

Shofar sounds:
Messianic times?

Nonetheless, masses of
Jews, along with a substan-
tial number of rabbinical
scholars, were swept along
in the Messianic frenzy. Part
of the credit must go to
Shabbetai's brilliant
publicist, Nathan of Gaza.
Nathan dispatched per-
suasively written communi-
ques throughout the Jewish
world predicting the immi-
nent return of the Ten Lost
Tribes, the overthrow of the
Turkish sultan, and Shab-
betai's triumphant reign
thereafter as Messiah.
Widespread, and often
naive, religious piety made
the message irresistible to
large numbers of Jews. In
Europe, Nathan's letter was
greeted with particular en-
thusiasm, coming as it did
on the heels of the horren-
dous Chmielnitzki pogroms
during which more than
100,000 Jews had been
murdered. In fact, it was the
pogroms' very horror that
apparently • persuaded so
many Jews that the Mes-
sianic age must be immi-
nent.
Even after Shabbetai's
conversion to Islam, Nathan
continued to insist that
Shabbetai was the Messiah
but that his Messianic task
mandated that he "descend"
into the lower world of Islam
to redeem its impure sparks.
Thousands of Jews who had
staked their reputations on
Shabbetai being the Mes-
sianic redeemer accepted
Nathan's far-fetched ex-
planation.
In Turkey a Jewish group
called the Doenmeh con-

