Shabtai Zvi, the Mystical Messiah (1626-1676) 

"And yes i'm including the Torah scroll" almost made me fell

That southern banjo bit broke me 😂

Well lads, don't come onto that Torah scroll... She's spoken for 😂

Sam Aronow, you might be interested to hear that my school (Mount Scopus Memorial College, the largest Jewish School in the country of Australia) uses your last video when teaching about Spinoza in their 'Religion and Society' class. ... By my recommendation haha. Anything to give your incredible channel the respect and love it deserves.

I'm a Sephardic jew from Istanbul I've had never heard of Zvi or Dönmehs. It was a big revelation to me. Also kudos to that emperors for dealing with the Zvi in an extremely effective way.

In the 1980s, a member of my synagogue in New York City confided to a few of us that her family were Jewish Shabbateans, who had ritual family orgies among other Shabbatean reversals of normative Judaism.

Sam please you almost killed me playing the banjo behind that segment on the population rebound 💀💀💀

despite not being a jew, and knowing little of jewish history, this has been incredibly interesting to listen to

Greetings from Izmir! I grew up near the synagogue he declared himself Messiah (Havra st). How ironic that nowadays that area is a fish market! Perhaps, it is the Universe's way of honoring is obsession with Pisces and fish 😃

This was certainly one of the most fascinating episodes. The story of Shabtai Zvi gets crazier the more I learn about it. To be perfectly honest I kinda hoped we will hear more on this channel about the Jewish life in Poland-Lithuania before everything went downhill in 1648, for example about the forms of Jewish self-government: the kahals and the Council of Four Lands (and the separate Council of Lithuania since 1623), but maybe there will be an opportunity to mention this institutions latter, before or as they will be dissolved? Or maybe a mention of the Karaim (Karaites) community. BTW did you count the Karaites among the Jewish population of the Commonwealth? I was really surprised by that part about inbreeding (and the soundtrack was a very funny touch). Describing the Cossacks, specifically the Zaporozhian ones, as "Russian-speaking" at 4:27 might be very problematic to some, I think that Ruthenian or East Slavic would be safer terms (Ukrainian might be a bit anachronistic). Interestingly, I remember reading in Timothy Snyder's _The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999_ that during the Pereyaslav Council of 1654 Khmelnytsky's Cossacks and the representatives of the Russian Tsar discovered they need translators, despite both calling their language "Ruski/Rusky", because the forms that became modern Ukrainian and Russian were already becoming significantly different. I assume that the ending was a foreshadowing of Hasidism, but was the foreboding "for the most part" at 27:22 a foreshadowing of Frankism?

Great topic, even better jokes

You left out the scandalous reasons why he became infamous: lifting of the moral code and institutionizing redemption through sin and its accompanying ritualized practices.

Another wonderful vid, Sam! BTW, Izmir, Turkey is present day Smyrna. My Sefardi ancestors arrived there from Spain following The Expulsion of 1492. I'm assuming they'd have heard of Zvi LOL!

The adoption of the printing press by Jews at the time helped their ideas be spared much more easily. Consequently it also made watching your videos even more enjoyable and rewarding because of how everything seems to be so much more connected. Story lines are crossed with each other and affect one another in a way I have never seen. Really enjoyed the last few videos, your work is excellent!

"Gaza shall be the 5th holy city... No thank you :D" omfg, that got me (so did the "Yes, I'm including the Torah scroll")

I read about Sabbataism some years ago in a Paul Johnson's book but this video made me remember the essential parts plus learning some new things. Well done!

I am from Turkey and I often go to İzmir (Smyerna), I would say that the story of Sabatay Sevi is well known among the people here. The curriculum even touches upon him shortly.

Do you plan on covering Jacob Frank on this channel? He lived about a century after Zvi and claimed to be his reincarnation. He was also acquainted with Mayer Amschel, patriarch of the Rothschilds.

If we are counting the Torah scroll, then he technically had multiple wives at the same time

6:54 your reaction was absolutely hilarious

I didn't even know about this fellow (nor about your channel till today) , but your vid made it so rewarding to watch. This is one of the best history channels I've seen in the platform, the amount of detail and depth in the videos I've seen is astonishing, unlike anything I've seen about the time period. Keep it going man, this is too good.

If he'd been killed instead of imprisoned and converted, I feel like Sabbataism would be a major religion today.

Name "Dönme" means convert, which derives from the verb "dön-", meaning "to turn back", in an insulting way (like betrayal). Although Zvi and his followers converted to Islam, they were never welcomed by Turks. Even today, conspiracy theorists in Turkey depict them as people who are conspiring against the country lol. Although these theories aren't really taken seriously, they tell a lot about the impacts of these events on society. Also, a fun fact: Turkish government records the religious beliefs of citizens (originally to identify the Greek and Armenian minorities, since they have some minority rights given by Treaty of Lausanne). And only one person demanded that religion on his ID card changed to Judaism from Islam, saying that he's a dönme. Therefore, the official population of dönme minority in Turkey is 1.

This is absolutely my favourite channel with fewer than 10k subscribers. These topics are extremely interesting and your ways of explaining them are amazing. Hope you get 100k more!

I can't with the southern banjo lmao :'DD as soon as that started I knew where you were going next

That "nice" in the subtitles after 1569 did not go unnoticed

Love all your videos, thanks for the really great content!

Honestly, Zvi's story had a surprisingly happy ending for me. Mental illness and geopolitical prominence are a combination that almost always spell disaster for everyone involved, especially in the medieval/early modern period. Being imprisoned instead of executed by Pasa, being allowed to live relatively comfortable exile in future-Montenegro, and died naturally instead of by sword. For a mentally unwell man whose proclamation as messiah was causing riots and religious separatism across the continent during a time as charged with religious violence as the era of the Thirty Years War, that's about as storybook an ending as there is. I'm glad his days ended in peace.

Am really starting to love this channel.

9:02 its hillel the younger not the elder also great video as always it literally gets better every time.

That pause around 7:00 is woefully ironic and tragic given current events.

19:20 "Gaza would be the fifth holy city of Judaism -- no thank you!" It's hard to believe Gaza was once hospitable for Jews, even Ashkenazy Jews like Natan's family. That certainly died with the Hatuels.

Thanks for your work.

i keep listening to all of your videos very informative thank you

The Alabama banjo music that starts playing when discussing our polish ancestors was hilarious. We're all like, 30th cousins I guess.

This is your best video yet! כל הכבוד!

I've watched some other videos about shabtai Zvi but Aronow is by far the most detailed and complete.

Mate, I love your videos. Subscribed! Thank you so much.

Hey Sam! Just wanted to say thank you for all these wonderful videos! I descended from Russian and Ashkenazi Jews who came to America before WWI, and though we disconnected from the religion by the 1950s, rediscovering things I always thought was just strange family traditions are actually Jewish traditions or cultural behaviors, foods, etc has been so enlightening over the years. Your videos have been a wonderful dive into Jewish history I haven't been able to get access to yet, so again, thank you!!

I was today years old when I learned about Romaniote Jews. Really, we contain multitudes! Also, Shabai Zvi's story is a wild ride. The axe episode should be borrowed in some fiction or other!

I think this is your best video so far.

With ashkanazi DNA I am of the understanding that a large amount, not a majority but still a lot, is European due to intermarriage. When did this intermarriage occur? because I can't imagine it being very popular with modern day orthodox Judaism.

I love how buddy looks skeptical/disappointed for the whole video.

Dang it Zvi you were this close

“I couldn’t imagine what’s that like” in the new “we need to acknowledge that Persia exists”

What a great video!! And def laughed enough times 🤣🤣

6:57 - Yep, we're all thinking it.

"I'm going to depose the Ottoman Caliph. This is what I call a pro-gamer move"

When talking about Russian Orthodox counterbalancing “Catholic” Poles, it’s best to say “Roman Catholic” because the Russian Orthodox Church is also catholic-it’s just not Roman Catholic.

8:16 This came out of the left field... I don't think you ever mentioned the Romaniotes before, at least not by this name.

Why is it the funniest thing at 6:49 when his face pops up and he just says nothing? 😂

2:49 Alabama and the Habsburg approve.

I'm binging this series and I must say that I have found it to be impressively informative. It's been quite an eye-opener to someone who's connection to Judaism has been largely a vague familial experience (My paternal grandmother was the last practicing Jew in the family until she married my grandfather some 60 years ago). Thank you for your work. "You must struggle to truly remember this past in all its nuance, error, and humanity. You must resist the common urge toward the comforting narrative of divine law, toward fairy tales that imply some irrepressible justice. The enslaved were not bricks in your road, and their lives were not chapters in your redemptive history." ~Ta-Nahesi Coates, Between the World and Me

This episode has been wild, lol

0:07 Interesting pronunciation of "vast!" Great video!

The banjo music was a nice touch.🤣

The banjo im dying here 😂

I didn't know some Benveniste families changed there name to Epstien and Horwitz I thought only some of the Ha-Levi family Spain did. I have both names in my genealogy.

Shabatai was born in 9 av. This 9av was a saturday thus he had this name. The gematry of the name Shabatai Tzvi is the same as Elshaday as a result Shabatai and Natan concluded that Shabatai is God, he is the Messiah. Natan of Gaza and Shabatai made an huge usage of Kaballah. Probably this is the reason why Kaballah has become so restrict

Love the banjo 😂😂

There of course remains a big split about the concept of a messiah within Orthodox Judaism. We all believe he will come as per Maimonides, but is he a mystic figure a la Shabtei Tzvi? Or a political figure? You could argue that Bibi had a better claim on the title than the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but even people who call him King Bibi aren’t saying that while thousands of Hasidim still think a man dead twenty years is messiah.

What’s the name of the music at end credits??

One correction on cossacks: Khmelnytskyy didn't represent the Zaporozhians. Contrary -- his new state, the Hetmanate, was hostile towards Zaporozhian Sich, even tho several years before Zaporozhians helped him in his war. Thus, there were two independent cossack states, which later had a wild history together and politics between and around them.

Sam uploaded a new video - like it and then watch it :)

Great video, though what’s with the guy in the green shirt

He was the Messiah we just weren’t ready

Hey sam mentioned riots in morocco and bohemia being put down by the army. But i cant find any reference to that. Does anyone have any further information?

6:55 Never heard that before..........

I wanna say it's your best video yet, but i like Agrippa and the Rambam so much that their videos are first for me, anyway, the video was really good and the most interesting video for me personally in the late period (except the Rambam video cause Rambam) I wanted to ask, our last 2 videos were kinda longer then the rest of the series, is it just for those 2, or it's gonna be like the episode of John Hyrcanus and that will be the new normal? same thing about the time between episodes, is it gonna be 3 weeks now or it just was a one time thing? last thing: Is the shadowed character Israel Ba'al Shem tov, cause if yes oh boy, Hasidism evreybody!

Have you watched אגדת חורבן? if so, what did you think of it?

Someone needs to make a movie about that dude

13:20 where you getting this from??

What about King bulan?

"This is gonna get a little uncomfortable." Oh? *ohhhhhh*

watching while eating spicy food knowing full well my ashki stomach can’t take it: I love this banjo background music!

21:50 Both newspapers refer to Shabtai Zvi as "the King of the Jews". Did Shabtai Zvi claim that "political" title, or is that just the Christian observers describing his messianic claim? (Or his actual claim getting lost in transmission?)

Why does the Sabattean Frenzy sound like some midwestern Judgement Day frenzy? Anticipation for the Rapture, selling one's possessions before Doomsday (most likely to the ministers who suggest this course of action), etc.

@3:24 Does this not account for the Jewish populations in southern America and Caribbean islands? I know these weren't countries but I recall reading there being a population of around 200,000 or so around this time period.

6:55 sounds very familiar after September 30, 2022

This doesn't actually have anything to do with the video, but I just noticed how you pronounce certain words with long "ah" sounds when they would typically be pronounced with a short "a" in either a general American or New York accent, like "after" and "class". Is your original accent American?

Why the difference with Brody?

4:27 - where did you get the "russian-speaking" claim? I do not know of that

Did he ever divorce or get divorced with the Torah scroll

Btw, who called Agrippa messiah?, i never saw it anywhere

Sam Aronow, I hope you will see this comment. There is a book called Evet Ben Selanikliyim written by Ilgaz Zorlu. It is about followers of Shabtai Zvi in Turkey. Ilgaz Zorlu is also his follower afaik. The book also includes essays written by other Turkish authors, journalists etc. I don't know if it translated into English though. You can find the Turkish version online as a pdf ebook form and perhaps use google translate. However, google translate is not so accurate when it comes to translating Turkish into English. So in case you need a more precise translation of certain parts, feel free to reach me. I will gladly translate them to you as best as I can in my free time. Hope you will see my message. Cheers!

Another thrilling instalment of diasporic history.

Jewish Poland was the OG Alabama

I didn't know Bohdan Khmelnytsky had something to do with New Netherlands gobbling up New Sweden. Interesting

Interesting use of banjo music

22:23 I kinda missed what did you refrence

represent yo

There I was thinking Brian of Nazareth was the Messiah. Merely a very naughty boy!

sounds like the plot of The Producers

What a nice Vizier

Judaism has changed and evolved over time since the destruction of the second temple many came who claimed themselves to be the messiah anointed one.

2:50 all rise for the anthem of Alabama

Al Muqadimmah sent me.

How many ads do you usually place in a single video?

Are you going to address the Frankists? If you haven't already (I haven't got that far yet)

Virgin Sabbatean vs Chad Frankist