Two Amens That Delayed the Redemption: Jewish Messianism and Popular Spirituality in the Post-Sabbatian Century
In the aftermath of the messianic failure of Shabbetai Zevi in 1666, two approaches were possible for Jews (according to the paradigm constructed by Scholem): the disappointed majority returned to the status quo ante, while a significant minority refused to relinquish their belief in his messianic r...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn Press
1992
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 1992, Volume: 82, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 241-261 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In the aftermath of the messianic failure of Shabbetai Zevi in 1666, two approaches were possible for Jews (according to the paradigm constructed by Scholem): the disappointed majority returned to the status quo ante, while a significant minority refused to relinquish their belief in his messianic role, and calculated dates for his future reappearance or resurrection. A close reading of other eighteenth-century texts, such as Yehudah Leib Zelechow's "Shire Yehudah," here analyzed and contrasted with works of popular Sabbatian messianists, reveals a third approach--an active messianism devoid of any specific Sabbatian content. Pietistic messianism, rooted in the popular kabbalah of the early seventeenth century intensified during the Sabbatian movement, and survived alongside, but distinct from, Sabbatian messianism. This may provide the key in the debate over the Sabbatian-hasidic connection. The many proto-hasidic features in "Shire Yehudah," such as the belief in the power of prayer to effect messianic redemption and the elevation of the second rank religious functionary to the central redemptive position of communal advocate before God, provide a better explanation of the spiritual matrix from which Hasidism arose. |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1454859 |