Arrested by the Sultan, Sabbatai Zevi opts for the Muslim turban instead of death. His followers establish a crypto-Jewish sect, and the false Messiah passes away in exile in 1676.
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The Sabbatean movement drove Jewish communities into turmoil. Scholem noted that Marxism misrepresented its history, wrongly portraying it as a poor versus wealthy Jewish uprising. In truth, affluent Jews and notable political figures supported Sabbateanism, such as Rafael Supino of Livorno (who accompanied Menasseh Ben Israel on his journey to England), Jerónimo Núñez da Costa (the Portuguese King’s agent in the Netherlands), and Daniel Levi de Barrios (a former Spanish army officer in Belgium). Scholem further identified the Marrano—Sephardic Jews feigning Catholic conversion—as the demographic most drawn to Sabbateanism. Their Catholic education made them more inclined towards religious syncretism. They even revered relics of their “saint,” the martyr Solomon Molcho, who had attempted to persuade Emperor Charles V to recapture Palestine with a Marrano army for the Jews.
Nonetheless, Ashkenazi Jews exhibited similar tendencies. In Germany, Yiddish tracts about the Prophet Nathan Levi circulated widely. He reportedly anointed a king in Jerusalem named Sobeza—a distorted name given by Sabbatai—who later went by Joshua Helkham, meaning “Jesus, God-Rised-from-the-Dead” in Hebrew.
The final documented messianic event by Sabbatai in Smyrna involved bestowing royal titles. On December 30, 1665, for reasons unknown, he embarked on a boat with three or four rabbis he declared kings and departed Smyrna for Constantinople. Fueled by Nathan of Gaza’s propaganda, Jewish hopes surged that the Sultan would bow before their music-loving Messiah and cede power to him. This excitement led to a flood of sensational letters, prompting a group of skeptical rabbis to uncover a letter-forging operation selling correspondence at high prices. The counterfeiters were harshly dealt with.
Once in Constantinople, Sabbatai was detained. Scholem’s analysis suggests economic motives behind the arrest, as Jews controlled much of Turkish trade (especially overseas) and had ceased working. Even collected donations failed to sustain the community. This “rebellion” lacked armed conflict; Jews boldly told Gentiles they would become their slaves under the Messiah, yet only rioted in streets, fell to the ground “prophesying,” or collapsed from excessive fasting. This is reminiscent of the January 8th riots in Brazil, where fanatic Pentecostals waving Israeli flags absorbed improbable news from monetized YouTube channels—events that invariably provoke authorities to crack down.
Though arrested, rumors spread that Sabbatai had not been captured but instead ascended to heaven, replaced by the Archangel Gabriel who assumed his appearance for reasons to be uncovered later. Similarly, Shiites believe Christ was substituted before the Crucifixion.
For unclear reasons, the Messiah (or Gabriel?) rejected any attempts by followers to bribe the Ottoman officials for his release. This act deepened his followers’ awe, interpreted as a readiness to descend into the qelipot. The notorious Turkish vizier’s reputation for cruelty left Jews fearing a death sentence. Scholem argues the vizier likely prioritized social stability: killing the Jewish Messiah risked unrest and the Jews refusing to resume work.
In March 1666, Sabbatai was moved to improved lodgings in Constantinople. Amid his residence, the city experienced food price inflation caused by Jews traveling from eastern cities to witness the divine figure. Ottoman guards noticed that Jews were treating the site as a pilgrimage destination, even visiting Sabbatai’s mother’s tomb like Italians. The authorities began charging entrance fees to the prison to view Sabbatai’s face, who received visitors only during his “illumination” phases, avoiding them during “concealment of the face” periods.
Amidst inflation and disorder, in April 1666 Sabbatai was relocated to Gallipoli, where guards expanded the enterprise by charging Sabbateans for access to parties held in the “Strong Tower” where the Messiah lived. This turmoil continued until at least July. From Gallipoli prison on the European side of the Dardanelles, Sabbatai led the movement and abolished the fast of the 9th of Av.
At that time, the Sabbatean prophet Nehemia Kohen arrived from Poland not just to see the Messiah’s face but to negotiate. A challenge for Sabbateanism was reconciling the Messiah Ben Joseph, the assisting figure who falls in battle, traditionally representing a Polish martyr in the 1648 pogrom. This did not sit well with followers. A theological dispute ensued, with two rival versions: the Sabbatean account and the Christian observers’—which Scholem favors. Sabbateans claimed Nehemia and Sabbatai discussed doctrine, but Nehemia failed to grasp Sabbatai’s ideas. Christians reported that Nehemia demanded Sabbatai recognize him as Messiah Ben Joseph and criticized Sabbatai for declaring himself Messiah prematurely. Offended, Sabbatai rejected this, causing confusion among Jews who remained under Sabbatai’s leadership and labeled Nehemia a schismatic. In retaliation, Nehemia reported Sabbatai to Ottoman authorities, sparking Jewish outrage that led Nehemia to seek Turkish citizenship, evading Jewish jurisdiction.
At that time, converting from Judaism to Islam in the Ottoman Empire meant discarding the Jewish hat for a Turkish turban—an easy switch not involving circumcision. Nehemia’s conversion lasted only until he returned to Europe, where he resumed claiming to be Messiah Ben Joseph and insisted Sabbatai was Messiah Ben David.
Reports suggest Sabbatai and followers held decadent gatherings at the Tower including virgin girls and “favorites.” Sabbatai boasted of sleeping with virgins yet returning them “untouched”—notably in Smyrna, requesting three virgins and keeping them as claimed. Beyond debauchery, accusations of sedition arose.
As Jewish unrest persisted, Turkish authorities pressured Sabbatai to choose between death or adopting the turban. In September, he chose the turban. This took place in a semi-official audience with the Sultan, mediated by his doctor, a Muslim convert from Judaism. Sabbatai, unable to speak Turkish, required an interpreter—the doctor. The Sultan observed and issued commands behind lattices without sharing a room. During this meeting, Sabbatai renounced his messianic claims, a stance he maintained before gentiles, even fervent Calvinists such as the noted Dutch millenarian Petrus Serrarius, Menasseh Ben Israel’s friend.
The meeting occurred in Adrianople (modern-day Edirne), following travel that allowed rumors of Sabbatai’s audience with the Sultan to spread. Jews prepared celebratory carpets, expecting the Sultan to hand over his kingdom. Still, after Sabbatai’s apostasy, no one accepted the renunciation as genuine or permanent.
Ultimately, Sabbatai was favored by the Sultan, receiving a palace, an additional wife, and a pension. The Sultan hoped Sabbatai would spearhead widespread Jewish conversion to Islam. Some conversions took place as Sabbatai vacillated between mania and depression. Jews continued seeking him privately as a rabbi. He even commanded one to surrender his bride—a grave sin among the 36 capital transgressions. More frequent, or at least better documented, were orders for Jews to convert to Islam. Nathan feared this fate but it did not occur.
Nathan proposed a rationale for Jews who wished to keep faith in the Smyrna Messiah: if the Messiah’s mission was to end the Law and proclaim sanctification via transgression, then apostasy was consistent with this plan. Jews converting to Islam under Sabbatai formed a crypto-Jewish community in Turkey, known as the Dönmeh, which persists today. Claims linking the Dönmeh with Turkish politics, Freemasonry, and the assertion that Atatürk was Dönmeh, are now regarded as antisemitic conspiracy theories by mainstream discourse.
In the 18th century, Scholem identified a Sabbatean follower of Jacob Frank—a proclaimed reincarnation of Sabbatai—in the Austro-Hungarian Empire who was ennobled, converted to Catholicism, joined Freemasonry, and participated in the French Revolution. (See From Frankism to Jacobinism.)
This topic remains both fascinating and enigmatic for historians. Once the Sabbatean fever subsided and the movement’s heretical label was cemented, much of its evidence was destroyed or concealed, pushing it underground. The publication of Scholem’s initially Hebrew work prompted Israeli President Zalman Shazan to provide an 18th-century Yiddish manuscript to the researcher, who refined the English and later editions. This manuscript survived wars across generations, yet countless others remain undiscovered or lost forever.
Sabbatai spent his final years in Dulcingo, now Ulcinj in Montenegro, where he was exiled after early 1670s accusations of heresy. He died in 1676, making the Balkans the last chapter in the saga of the Messiah of Smyrna.
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