(This is the conclusion of a two-part series. For the first part, click here.) To say that the Sabbatai Zevi messianic movement of the 17th century was a personality cult would be an understatement. It was surely a great deal more than that--just what, historians are still debating--but … [Read more...]
Messiah of Transgression – Thoughts on Sabbatai Zevi (Part 1)
"Tell me, dunce: are you quite certain you will have a blessed afterlife for believing, without any sign or miracle, in a man insane? Who perpetrated, moreover, one lawless act after another? In Izmir, for example, he spoke the sacred Name of God in the city streets; he taught the rabble and the … [Read more...]
Sabbatai Zevi, the “Holy Serpent,” and the Passover Plate
This is a post for Passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating the Exodus from Egypt, which starts tonight. It's on a subject, though, that at first sight doesn't seem to have much to do with the festival. Snakes. Snakes, not as a zoological but as a psychological reality. Snakes, not for what … [Read more...]
God in His Mother’s Womb – Journal of an Eibeschuetz Translator
I intended to blog about UFOs this week. I really did. But my mind and spirit have been where they've dwelt for the past several weeks: in the eerie Kabbalistic world of Jonathan Eibeschuetz, the 18th-century rabbi, alleged pornographer, and in fact designer of a new faith that was to redeem all … [Read more...]
“I Came This Day … ” – Journal of an Eibeschuetz Translator
Once upon a time, I've learned from reading the comic strips, schoolkids coming back from summer vacation were made to write essays on "What I Did Last Summer." (Linus to Lucy: "What did I do last summer?" Lucy to Linus: "You read comic books and watched TV.") I was in elementary school back … [Read more...]
