Shabbetai Tzvi שבתי צבי
false messiah who swept half the Jewish world and then converted to Islam
Shabbetai Tzvi was born in Izmir in 5386. He was a strange man: periods of ecstasy alternated with deep melancholy, and he performed acts that broke the law — pronouncing the Divine Name, abolishing fasts — until the rabbis of Izmir expelled him.
Everything changed when Nathan of Gaza, a young kabbalist, declared him the Messiah and himself his prophet. Nathan was a brilliant preacher and organiser, and letters went out across the world. The ground was prepared: the Khmelnytsky massacres of 5408 had destroyed the communities of Ukraine, and Lurianic Kabbalah had taught the imminence of redemption. In 5426 almost everyone believed — from Yemen to Amsterdam, including famous rabbis. People sold their houses and prepared to return to the Land of Israel.
He travelled to Constantinople and was arrested. In the autumn of 5426 the sultan offered him death or Islam. He put on the turban.
The shock was immense. Some followers recanted; others declared the apostasy the deepest secret of all, and from them grew the Dönmeh in Turkey and the Frankists in Poland.