SABBATAI SEVI. The False Messian of the Jews of Asia Minor.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 238, 21 January 1888, Page 5

SABBATAI SEVI.

The False Messian of the Jews of Asia Minor.

A slight, sketch of, the t?a'r { eer .pf , this extraordinary deceiver is all thdt> is' herenecessary, as we wish more specially >to enter,, into the 'customs'; and, precepts. of .tbedescon'dants of hie followers as^ we find them now,- in:' Salonika only.- I was told' that a few>families of these Danmehs exist still'at Adrianopie.and in othpr Turkish towns," Dfit these are of Salonikan origin', so that' to all intents*, and. purposes, the; Dunmehs ,Of Salonika are the.sole representatives of, tho. onde* numerous, followers of, ;the, false, Messiah,' -This .community- is formed of about 1, 000 families, and number 8,000 souls, all dwelling together in one quarter of the town, an,d all,, held, in bondage. <by thesame curious ties. ;'*/> ( ' Sabbatai Sevi was a SmyrniotaJ Jew ? born in 1625, and the son of a broker in' that, city.; he was- a clever youth, and" so well versed in ''the and Otliqr Jewish books'thafr at the age of 18 he' was made, a rabbi. Doubtless some accounts of the Fiftfi Monarchy men, and the then accredited i;eport that the Messiah w,as tp'reappeaf in"1666,' reached Smyrnaand worked u,pon his imagination so much that he de-" cided •to make himself out- to be ! that' Messiah, and to assist'his object lie secretly 1 caused reports to be promulgated to the* effect that a prophet would shortly' appear who'Syould-rob'the Sultan of his crown and restore again ino kingdom of Israel,- When he thought that the. right time had come,' to the dismay of ' the * Smyrniote rabbis, l he pronounced the .name of " Jehpyah " aloud, in open' conclave, for wliich . offence he. .was summoned before "'a tribunal, and Condemned tq' die, 'but, dpubtless he' had been prepared" for this, and hud arrangements made for his escape from Smyrna, and with the one object in View he •went as a pilgrim to Egypt .and,, Jerusalem, where he chose as his Elijah, one Nathan' Benjamin, a man of asdetic' life*, who professed £q.'see visions. ] Before he Veturned" to Smyrna he* sent his attendant -Nathan before him to prepare the way, and in the capacity pf a' second St. Jphn |t thtf Baptist to announce thai he was coming to deliver men from the oppression of the Turks,- and to lead back the -yews to-Palestihe. Nathan did his workjWelj^ writing a ,,circularr r letter addressed to ( tbe ri " ; Remnant of the Israelites,, peace without end," tho result being that intense ahfa mad excitement seized upon toe Jews of that place. They nearly killed themselves with . penances ; they administered'to one another thirty-nine lashes and tortures of all kinds 5 and ari influential Jew,,Pennia by name, Whose daughterprophesied .< and wrought miracles, assisted Nathan in his work of preparation. . ' • In due tuna Sabbatai Sevi landed at Smyrna,, styling „h imself the "King of Kings," ■ and so scarried away .were the •people by his adroit, /eloquence • that a throne was set.up for him in the synagogue, And from r Smyrna prophets were sent all over the Turkish dominions to ', all, the, Jewish colonies to preach that " the true Messiah of the 'race of David was come*, arid,' that to him the crown and 1 the kingdom was , given."- At this, juncture Sevi ventured to elects from among his most), trusted followers twelve princes, who -were to act- as generals ,to sthe twelve tribes on< their, journey back, to theircountry; and, as we-. know, from English records, the report reached even as-far, ag to our shores, andjthat.there was some talk of sending ships to assist in the transport, and even ,the> sceptic, Spinoza, fromall he heard, was at one time inclined | to waver in .his, disbelief. The scenes of frenzied.excitement in Smyrna; werejntpnse, business was entirely suspended;* and gave j place to eager* fanatical worship" of Sevi \\ presents pquVe'^^nto 1 him from, all, x parts, tiritil H at lerigtKHhe Sultan was roused to action and suminone^ "him to Adrianople: The stjory 9f '/Sevrs'Jintervie^'Jwith.the j , Sultan' is,\vell;kn6wn, how '? the holy, j noble and divine Messiah " was orderedi by that {potentate to 'choose between.three | things— eitliqi 4 ' to '^ork amiracle'.'and thereby proye i His identity-, or to have * three poisoned arrows shot 1 at him by the Sultah, or to' become a, Mohammedan. "Jam a' follower of Mohammed, '* replied Sevi to this . test, and turning to his' followers ? who were dismayed beyond measure at the | collapse of their hero, I he added, " and he was numbered with the transgressors." - I The extremely firm hold that" Sevi had established over his. followers is evinced by i the tenacity with which- many adhered to him after his i exposure and fall. 'These devoted • followers did not scruple sto embrace Islamism themselves and likewise to be numbered . among the transgressors ; and, ,with certain secret reservations, into which we will go presently,! large bodies of, Jews became Mohammedans at this period. They were the ancestors of the thousand families of Dunmehs who live at Salonika to-day. Sabbatai Sevi died in- 1675 » in i prison at Belgrade, but his i followers gay« out that he wasnJot:* really Ideadj.^but had ascended lintbtheo'v.en, and mow* at Salonika, in their secret places of worship,, called. "Kais," they always keep beds ready, in .which the Messiah may, repose 1 from the fatigues « of hissecotld adyent,: Probably from>the fact "of hishaving disappeared,frOm the i worldat they^have decided that iat-"his-<«e"cbftd comings hejwfll visit theni by way of >the northerh: road,- known 1 as ' the ITskup « • road];^ therefore,' every . day ! a ' m^n« is dcs- * patchedin this direction to meet him;'' When 1 , at Salonika I was told lately since the'-op'en* ing of, the- railway from Uskup *ttr that' -town, the point had been raised i in their asseniblyiHtha.t'*h6! might '.come, by- traint Accordingly .am eye has toibekopt on' tihe statiomon tlieiarrivaliof'each train from the'north. The custom finds a parallel among the othcrti Jews, of / Salonika;: j but "Ith'eu? opipiqnjtas.that theiMes'diah lwili-fcomef by* seaj so on^thes ©ay, <6fis Atonement they g& down-to, theseai to'r<meet fhim;- and>at"tnG> same time perform the quaint .nte'oicasbing thehUin^ roto the Bay pf Salonika^-thattin-expressible lovelycbay^twhichivif it 'Cf6uld r relatßjtoln^tlib'jcusfeonis^of tlie : va,rious>oults 'that hav>e-)floiu'ish'ed on ifcs margin, would. iaVe-Btra&agejtales»to tell..- 11 ' J^^i«"' "'" '