Abstract
Eschatological expectations and messianic hopes aroused by the expulsion of Jews from Spain climaxed in the seventeenth century with the appearance of Sabbatai Tzevi. In 1666, Sultan Mehmed iv, eager to halt the uproar without creating a martyr, offered Tzevi a choice between conversion to Islam and death. Tzevi chose life. Although many Jews were devastated by his apostasy, a nucleus of Sabbatai's most ardent followers preferred to interpret it as the ultimate tiqqun. This article presents one of the most intriguing Sabbatian literary accounts of their Messiah's apostasy, the internal Sabbatian version of the romansa "Tarquin and Lucretia."
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 31-59 |
| Number of pages | 29 |
| Journal | Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2016 |
Keywords
- Karakaş Sabbatians
- Ladino/Judeo-Spanish oral literature
- Ottoman Jewry
- Sabbatai Tzevi
- Sabbatianism
- Sephardic romancero
- apostasy
- conversion to Islam
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Cultural Studies
- Anthropology
- Religious studies
- Sociology and Political Science
- Philosophy
- Literature and Literary Theory