The False Messiah Who Caused a Century of Upheaval in the Jewish World

In 1665, a young Jewish scholar named Shabbetai Tsvi declared himself the messiah in the synagogue in Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey) to shouts of joy from those present. Soon messianic fervor swept Jewish communities across the world, in what would be the last global Jewish movement until the First Zionist Congress in 1897. He converted to Islam a year later after being arrested by the sultan, and died in 1676—but not before disseminating his unusual and heterodox mystical doctrines, which would continue to cause controversy in the Jewish world for the next 100 years. Some of his followers still live in Turkey today. Matt Goldish tells the story of Sabbatianism and its aftermath in a two-part conversation with Nachi Weinstein. Listen to the first part below, and to the second part here. (Audio, 105 minutes.)