Deep Sabbatianism pt. 1 Multiple Paradoxes

This is a long one, getting into the thick of it, into the issues that I categorize together, because they are all sorts of paradoxes and theological dilemmas, and it seems, layer upon layer, and they receive creative attention, theological twists and turns, spiritualizations and reinterpretations...

Primary Dilemma

What a crux the believers found themselves in! Hundreds of thousands of those who expected the messianic redemption NOW with Shabbtai Zvi were in that moment immediately disillusioned, disappointed, and disassociated. 

Besides them, we are left with perhaps tens of thousands (?!) that experienced something EXTRAORDINARY in regards to the Sabbatian messianic person.

They lived with great pressures - that of their own faith skepticism, social pressure from other Jews opposed to the Sabbatian faith, and also pressure from non-Jews in the surroundings.

As they struggled to understand what their faith meant and still meant, after they had internalized the messianic Sabbatian faith so deeply, they figured it had to be understood and applied anew.

For those thousands of believers it was never a question of Messiah or not, it was only a question as to the nature of the messianic case - why conversion to Islam.

No Big Deal

Naturally, there was a new creative interpretation. The Sabbatian logic of interpretation was already from before quite paradoxical, strange, and mysterious, as well as anti-rational.

With these roots, they deduced that their messianic expectations needed only to be rectified and redirected. 

They expected a traditional Messiah to gather the diaspora, establish a kingdom in Israel, etc. No such thing became a reality. So the new interpretation was based on that which is hidden from the eye, against traditional anticipation. 

Thus it became paradoxical in regards to the messianic traditions, with the new creative alternative messianic insight and discreet reality. Sabbatianism became a mix of explanations why Shabbtai Zvi is indeed Messiah despite the reality.

Reminscient of Christianity

Evidently this crux created a tension that was a generator of energy, like a magnetic force, between opposite powers in tension.

To be more precise, what was also particular about their messianism, similar to Early Christianity indeed, was the absence of Shabbtai Zvi, their Messiah. So the messianic reality-not-reality was no longer built upon interaction with the man himself among them, but rather in his absence. That is when the creativity kicked in and blossomed and became more and more interesting.

Compare Jesus surrounded by his disciples in the Galilee or in Jerusalem, versus all the Jesus followers when Jesus had already gone... and then compare that to those in that generation who did not have any exposure to Jesus at all, and generations to follow who also had no direct exposure. It becomes more and more of a creative religious operation.

So was the case of Sabbatian messianism, what began as interaction with Shabbtai Zvi himself, or at least with Nathan the Prophet, turned into a totally “free” creative endeavor theologically. Exciting new meaning was revealed to the plethora of texts, to the world of concepts, and to faith ideas. 

For example, like in Early Christianity, some of the Sabbatian believers developed an idea according to which the unfulfilled redemption will be fulfilled in a second coming, or second appearance. This is paradoxical logic!

Religious Cryptology

A group of believers converted to Islam following their Messiah, but they were not the majority, who sought to be just like him, understanding that to as their mission in life. They weren’t the majority! but they were the most well known, perhaps, because of the blatant nature of their lifestyle and changes.

They were crypto-Jewish-Sabbatians amongst Turkish Muslims. They were called the Donmeh, which in Turkish means converts. On the outside, they were Muslims, but secretly, they were Jewish (and Sabbatian).

Shabbtai Zvi indeed ordered a group of his followers to convert like him and with him, but in general he was not so consistent in communicating that message to his followers. Nathan of Gaza himself of course did not convert to Islam. 

Alas, the most significant group and behavior of Sabbatian believers were crypto-Sabbatians amongst the normal Jewish communities. And here is where this story gets even more complicated and interesting - if you thought things were paradoxical enough, now it gets more intense.

Tracing the Process

It’s like there were layers upon layers of paradox in their thinking. We had the mystical Lurianic Kabbalistic logic, spiritualization of all the religious deeds causing a mystical redemptive progress, and the going deep into the evil husks to release the divine sparks for that process.

Then we had the alternative messianic logic that upheld to the traditional messianic redemption as the standard, and believed in the manifestion of the messianic person and process, which was unfulfilling, so it was turned into a partial messianic redemption. In the case of Shabbtai Zvi, this meant more and more strange acts, pre and post conversion, because of the new messianic era and Torah. It was messianic-post-messianic paradox.

And then there were also hordes of anusim (remember them?) who were Jews that were converted to Christianity while secretly they practiced Judaism and maintained their Jewish identity - hordes of them saw Sabbatian messianism as an entry point back into mainstream Judaism…

This was their opportunity. However, they brought with them Christian influence, consciously or not, which on the one hand could be seen as problematic, but on the other hand this helped them utilize the new Sabbatian thinking - they brought Christian concepts and logic, including the martyed Messiah, and also the nature of being ‘crypto’, of dissimulation. They had their whole world of mixing religious themes and rituals and mindset.

Imagine, you are living daily, for generations, in communities struggling with the psychological dissonance of living one way internally and another way externally, your identity is split. It then serves you mentally and practically, that your faith not only explains the necessity of your behavior, it spiritualizes and extols as virtuous your lifestyle of bearing the pressures inside and outside, the twisting of truths to others, cherishing secrets, living a double life. Wow!

So, Lurianic sparks in evil husks descent to asend; post-messianic messianism, or induced manifestation of messianic redemption components; then all the crypto state of mind and practice; and on top of that the post-anusim level.