GENERAL DEMORALIZATION OF JUDAISM.
Low Condition of the Jews at the End of the Seventeenth Century--
Representatives of Culture: David Nieto, Jehuda Brieli--The
Kabbala--Jewish Chroniclers--Lopez Laguna translates the
Psalms into Spanish--De Barrios--The Race after Wealth--
General Poverty of the Jews--Revival of Sabbatianism--Daniel
Israel Bonafoux, Cardoso, Mordecai of Eisenstadt, Jacob Querido,
and Berachya--Sabbatianism in Poland--Abraham Cuenqui--
Judah Chassid--Chayim Malach--Solomon Ayllon--Nehemiah
Chayon--David Oppenheim's Famous Library--Chacham Zevi--The
Controversy on Chayon's Heretical Works in Amsterdam.
1700-1725 C. E.
At the time when the eyes of the civilized world were directed upon the
Jewish race with a certain degree of sympathy and admiration, and when,
at the dawn of enlightenment in the so-called philosophical century,
ecclesiastical prejudices were beginning to disappear, the members of
this race were making a by no means favorable impression upon those
with whom they came into contact. Weighed in the balance, they were
found wanting even by their well-wishers. The Jews were at no time in
so pitiful a plight as at the end of the seventeenth and beginning
of the eighteenth century. Several circumstances had contributed to
render them utterly demoralized and despised. The former teachers of
Europe, through the sad course of centuries, had become childish, or
worse, dotards. Every public or historical act of the Jews bears this
character of imbecility, if not contemptibility. There was not a single
cheering event, hardly a person commanding respect who could worthily
represent Judaism, and bring it into estimation. The strong-minded,
manly Orobio de Castro (died in 1687), the former victim of the
Inquisition, whose fidelity to conviction, whose dignity, and the
acumen with which he contested Christianity commanded the respect of
the leading opponents of Judaism, was indeed still living. But he left
no successor of equal standing within the highly cultured community
of Amsterdam, certainly not outside of it, where the conditions for
an independent Jewish personality possessed of culture were entirely
wanting. The leaders of the community were for the most part led
astray, wandering as in a dream, and stumbling at every step. But few
rabbis occupied themselves with any branch of knowledge beyond the
Talmud, or entered on a new path in this study. The exceptions can
be counted. Rabbi David Nieto, of London (born 1654, died 1728), was
a man of culture. He was a physician, understood mathematics, was
sufficiently able to defend Judaism against calumnies, and, besides
many platitudes, wrote much that was reasonable. The Italian rabbi,
Jehuda Leon Brieli, of Mantua (born about 1643, died 1722), was
also an important personage--a man of sound views, of solid, even
philosophical knowledge, whose style in the vernacular was elegant, and
who knew how to defend Judaism against Christian aggressiveness. Brieli
had the courage to disregard two customs, which was accounted worse
than criminal by his contemporaries: he remained unmarried all his
life, and though a rabbi, did not wear a beard. But Brieli's influence
on his Jewish contemporaries was very slight. He knew the weaknesses
of Christianity, but had not the same sharp vision for the faults of
Judaism and the Jews. Of the mischievous nature of the Zohar and the
Kabbala generally, however, Brieli was thoroughly aware; he wished that
they had not seen the light of day; but his critical knowledge extended
no further.
For the rest, the rabbis of this period were not models, the Poles
and Germans being for the most part pitiable figures, their heads
filled with unprofitable knowledge, otherwise ignorant and helpless
as little children. The Portuguese rabbis presented a dignified,
imposing appearance, but they were shallow. The Italians bore more
resemblance to the Germans, but had not their learning. Thus, with no
guides acquainted with the road, sunk in ignorance, or filled with
conceit, beset with phantoms, the Jews in all parts of the world
without exception were passing from one absurdity to another, and
allowing themselves to be imposed upon by jugglers and visionaries. Any
absurdity, however transparent, provided it was apparently vindicated
with religious earnestness, and interlarded with strained verses of
Scripture, or sayings from the Talmud artificially explained, or
garnished with scraps of the Kabbala, was persistently believed and
propagated. "The minds of men, estranged from life and true knowledge,
exhausted their powers in subtleties and the superstitious errors of
the Kabbala. Teachers spoke seldom or only in the words of the Talmud
to their scholars; no attention was paid to delivery, for there was no
language and no eloquence." The culminating point of the Middle Ages
was reached in Jewish history at a time when it had been passed by
the most of Western Europe. The spread of superstitious usages with a
coating of religion was in no wise checked. To write amulets (Kamea)
for the exorcism of diseases was required of the rabbis, and they
devoted themselves to this work; many wished to be thought conjurors
of spirits. A rabbi, Simon Baki at Casale in Italy, complained to his
master, the foolish Kabbalist Moses Zacut at Venice, that he had used
the prescribed formulas of conjuration for a woman at Turin supposed to
be possessed, without any successful result. Thereupon the latter gave
him more efficacious means, viz., whilst using God's name in prayer,
he was to hold burning sulphur to the nose of the possessed. The more
sensitive she was, and the more she struggled against the remedy, the
more might he be convinced that she was possessed by an evil spirit.
An instructed Jew of the Kabbalist school of Damascus once boasted
seriously before the free-thinking critic Richard Simon, that he could
evoke a genius of a high order, and began to make preparations. The
incredulous Father followed his movements with a satirical smile, and
the conjuror got out of the predicament with the remark that the soil
of France was not suited for apparitions.
To elevate Judaism in the eyes of the nations and to represent it
in a manner worthy of respect was at this time not in the power of
the Jews. They rather degraded and made it contemptible. Thoughtful
Christians stood astonished before this wonderful monument of history,
this people with its learning and its alternately glorious and tragic
destiny; but its own sons were too dull to feel their own greatness, or
sought it only in silly stories and absurd actions. Whilst Christians
industriously and with feelings of amazement investigated the history
of the Jews during three thousand years, the Jews had no such feeling,
not even the cultivated Portuguese Jews. Manasseh ben Israel had
outlined a history of the Jews, and probably suggested Basnage's work,
but he did not accomplish his own design. Three historians, indeed, are
named as belonging to this time--the itinerant rabbi David Conforte,
secondly, Miguel (Daniel) de Barrios, a Marrano, born in Portugal, who
returned to Judaism at Amsterdam, and lastly the Polish rabbi Jechiel
Heilperin, of Minsk. But all three resemble the monkish chroniclers of
the barbarous ages, and their style is more repulsive than attractive.
If literature is the true photograph of the thoughts and aspirations
of an age, then the century between Spinoza and Mendelssohn, judged
by its literary productions, must have had very ugly features. A
good deal, it is true, was written and published; every rabbi by a
fresh contribution to the already stupendous pile of Rabbinical matter
essayed to perpetuate his name, to secure his future bliss, and withal
to earn a pittance. Subtle Rabbinical commentaries, insipid sermons,
and books of devotion, acrimonious controversial writings were the
emanations of the Jewish mind or lack of mind at this time. The flower
of poetry found no soil in this quagmire. This age produced only two
Jewish poets, genuine sons of the Jewish muse, who lived at a great
distance from each other, one in the island of Jamaica, the other in
Italy--Lopez Laguna and Luzzatto--as if the old Jewish trunk,
crownless and leafless, wished to reveal the life at its heart and
prove its capability to renew its youth even under the most unfavorable
circumstances. Lopez Laguna, born a Marrano in France (about 1660,
died after 1720), came when but a youth to Spain, where he made the
acquaintance of the horrible Inquisition. In his night of suffering,
the Psalms, full of tender feeling, brought light and hope to him as to
so many of his companions in sorrow. Released from prison, and having
escaped to Jamaica, Laguna, under the Jewish name of Daniel Israel,
attuned his harp to the holy songs which had revived his soul. To
make the Psalms accessible to others, especially to Marranos ignorant
of Hebrew, he made a faithful translation of them into melodious,
elegant Spanish verse. This psalter, "a mirror of life," Daniel Israel
Lopez Laguna took to London, where his work procured him a triumphant
reception from several minor poets and also from three Jewish
poetesses, Sarah de Fonseca Pinto y Pimentel, Manuela Nuñez da Almeida,
and Bienvenida Coen Belmonte, who addressed him in Latin, English,
Portuguese, and Spanish verses.
Moses Chayim Luzzatto, a victim to the dreary errors of this time,
composed two Hebrew dramas full of beauty and youthful freshness.
With the exception of these poetical flowers this long period shows a
colorless waste. Daniel de Barrios, captain, historian, and beggar,
cannot be reckoned a poet, although he composed an astonishing number
of Spanish, as well as Hebrew rhymes, besides several Spanish dramas,
and he sang before, and without shame begged of, nearly every Jewish
and Christian magnate who possessed a full purse.
Not only the scientific and artistic spirit, but also the moral sense
was lost, or at least blunted in this general demoralization. The
fundamental virtues of the Jewish race continued to exist even at
this time in undiminished strength--idyllic family love, brotherly
sympathy towards one another, and chastity. Gross vices and crimes
occurred even then but seldom in the tents of Jacob. Thoroughly corrupt
outcasts were considerate enough to leave it, and to pollute the church
or the mosque with their immorality. But the feeling of right and honor
amongst Jews was on the whole weakened. There was a lowering in tone
of that tender conscience, which with a sort of maiden shame avoids
even what the precepts of religion and the paragraphs of the civil code
leave unforbidden. To make money was so imperious a necessity that ways
and means became indifferent, and were not exposed to censure. To take
undue advantage, and to overreach, not merely a hostile population,
but even their own co-religionists, was regarded for the most part
not as a disgrace, but rather as a kind of heroic action. From this
sprang worship of Mammon, not merely love, but also respect for gold,
no matter how impure its source. The democratic equality hitherto
maintained amongst Jews, who refused to recognize distinctions of class
and caste, was lost in the furious dance round the golden calf. The
rich man was held worthy of honor--one to whom those less kindly
favored by fortune looked up as to something higher, and in whom they
therefore overlooked many failings. The richest, not the most worthy,
were made the managers of the community, and were granted a charter for
arbitrary conduct and arrogance. A satire of the period scourges very
severely the almighty power of money, to which all bowed down. "The
dollar binds and looses, it raises the ignorant to the chief offices in
the community."
Increasing poverty among Jews was partly the cause of this state of
affairs. Only among the small number of Portuguese Jews at Amsterdam,
Hamburg, Leghorn, Florence, and London, there were men of considerable
wealth. Isaac (Antonio) Suasso, created Baron Alvernes de Gras by
Charles II, of Spain, was able to advance to William III, for his
semi-adventurous expedition to London to obtain the English crown, two
million florins without interest, with the simple words, "If you are
fortunate, you will repay them to me; if not, I am willing to lose
them." The millionaires at Amsterdam were the Pintos, the Belmontes,
David Bueno de Mesquito, Francisco Melo, who rendered many services to
Holland by his wealth. One of the De Pintos bequeathed several millions
for noble objects, making provision for Jewish communities, the state,
Christian orphanages, clergy, clerks, and sextons. At Hamburg there
were the Texeiras, who were related by marriage to Suasso, and Daniel
Abensur, able to make large advances to the poor rulers of Poland.
On the other hand, the Polish, German, and also the Italian and the
Oriental Jews, were extremely impoverished. The changes which commerce
had experienced brought about this alteration. The Jews could no longer
practice usury, they had no capital, or rather Christian capitalists
competed with them. Poorest of all were the Polish Jews,--they who
used to lord it over all the Jews in Europe. They could not recover
from the wounds which the Cossack disturbances had inflicted on them,
and the disruption of the Polish kingdom that followed caused them
fresh troubles. The increasing poverty of the Polish Jews every year
drove swarms of beggars to the west and south of Europe. They resorted
to the large communities to procure shelter and food from their rich
brethren. Polish students of the Talmud, superior to all other Jews in
knowledge of the Talmud, went principally to the important rabbinates,
Prague, Nikolsburg, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, and
even to Italian communities. Every Polish emigrant was, or proclaimed
himself to be, a rabbi or preacher, and was so regarded. Many of
them were a disgrace to the rabbinical office, for which they had no
qualifications, either mental or moral. They fawned on the rich from
need and habit. From them sprang the ever-increasing demoralization
among Jews. To their care, or rather to their neglect, were entrusted
the Jewish youth, who, as soon as they could talk, were introduced to
the Talmud, after the sophistical, artificial method. Through this
perversity the language of the German Jews, like that of the Poles,
degenerated into a repulsive stammer, and their manner of thinking and
love of disputation into crabbed dogmatism that defied all logic. Their
feeling for simplicity and truth was lost, and even the Portuguese
Jews, who kept themselves aloof from the odious jargon, did not remain
uncontaminated by the perverse manner of thinking prevalent at the time.
Added to this was the fact that the mud-streams of Sabbatian fanaticism
burst forth afresh. They besmirched all who came in contact with
them, but, nevertheless, they were regarded as a pure stream from
the fountain-head of the Deity. Their one good effect was that they
stirred up, and set in motion the stagnant swamp; or, to speak without
metaphor, the sluggish routine in which the Jews lived was broken,
and the rabbis, dull with unfruitful learning, were roused to a
certain degree of passion and energy. After Sabbataï's death one of
his followers, Daniel Israel Bonafoux, an ignorant officiating reader
(Chazan) at Smyrna, kept up the faith in the dead Messiah by all sorts
of jugglery. At one time he pretended to have seen a moving fire-ball;
at another, to have heard a voice say that Sabbataï was still alive,
and would reign forever. The community at Smyrna bribed the Kadi to
banish him from the city, but Daniel Israel took up his residence in
the neighborhood of Smyrna, and encouraged the sect to persevere in its
belief. He was aided and abetted by Abraham Michael Cardoso of Tripoli,
who reappeared on this stage, where he found a conventicle of Sabbatian
associates, who flocked round him, because with his scientific
education, his culture, and fluency of speech, he was far superior to
them. Cardoso announced dreams and visions, declared himself Sabbataï
Zevi's successor, the Ephraimite Messiah, practiced extraordinary
impositions, and visited graves to be inspired by departed spirits,
and obtain predictions to suit his theory. This consisted in the
blasphemous assumption that there are two Gods--one the First Cause,
incomprehensible, without will and influence over the universe; the
other the God of Israel, the actual Creator of the world, and Lawgiver
of the Jewish people, who alone should be worshiped. But the rabbis
of Smyrna put a stop to Cardoso's proceedings, threatened him with
death, and compelled him to leave Sabbataï Zevi's birthplace. He betook
himself thence to Constantinople with his Smyrna adherents, later
pursued his mischievous behavior at Adrianople, Rhodosto, in Egypt, the
Archipelago, and Candia; now as Messiah, now as physician, composed
numerous treatises on the advent of the Messianic kingdom, expounded
his theosophical-dualistic theory, incurred debts, drew women into his
Kabbalistic conventicle, and is said to have lived immorally even to
old age. At last Cardoso was stabbed by his nephew, who believed that
he had been cheated by him (1706). His imposture did not cease with his
death; for his writings, a mixture of sense and nonsense, were eagerly
read, and inflamed men's minds. Abraham Michael Cardoso remained at
least faithful to Judaism, did not reverence Sabbataï Zevi as divine,
vehemently contended against this blasphemy, and did not go over to
Mahometanism. His prophet, Daniel Israel Bonafoux, on the other hand,
assumed the turban, probably on account of the persecution suffered at
the hands of the rabbinate of Smyrna.
Far more important was the Kabbalistic fanaticism spread by an
itinerant Sabbatian preacher, and transplanted to Poland, where it
found congenial soil, and maintained its ground tenaciously. Mordecai
of Eisenstadt (Mochiach), even after the death of the renegade,
remained his faithful follower. A disciple of Nathan and partisan of
Cardoso, he returned to his home from the East, was of prepossessing
appearance and awe-inspiring features, lived an ascetic life, fasted
eleven days in succession, preached in Hungary, Moravia, Bohemia, and
Italy with much impressiveness on penitence and contrition--in fact,
played the part of a Jewish Vincent Ferrer. The applause which his
preaching excited awakened his confidence, and he gave himself out as
a prophet. In word and writing the preacher of Eisenstadt maintained
that Sabbataï Zevi was the true Messiah, obliged to become a Mussulman
by high mystical dispensation. The Hungarian, Moravian, and Bohemian
Jews listened to these Sabbatian preachings and prophecies with eager
interest. The Sabbatian frenzy had so blunted their power of thought
that they were not offended at the notion of a new Messiah who had
apostatized from Judaism. Mordecai went further in his folly, gave
himself out as the true Messiah of the house of David, and maintained
that he was Sabbataï Zevi risen from the dead. The latter had not
been able to accomplish the work of redemption, because he was rich.
The Messiah must be poor; therefore he, Mordecai, being poor and
persecuted, was the true redeemer. All this nonsense was accepted with
credulous devotion. Some Italian Jews formally invited the Hungarian
Messiah to come to them, and he obeyed the summons. At Modena and
Reggio he was received with enthusiasm. He talked of his mission--that
he must go to Rome in order to make Messianic preparations in the
sinful city. He cunningly hinted that he might be obliged to assume a
Christian disguise, as Sabbataï Zevi had been obliged to veil himself
in Turkish clothing: that is, in case of need he would apparently
submit to baptism. Some Jews appear to have betrayed his plans to the
Roman Inquisition, and his Italian followers advised him to leave
Italy. He went once more to Bohemia, but could not find a footing
there, and emigrated to Poland. Here, whither only a dim rumor of
Sabbataï and the Sabbatians had penetrated, he found, it appears,
numerous followers; for a sect was formed there which pursued its
baneful career until the beginning of the age of Mendelssohn, and even
beyond that period.
At the same time the old imposture reappeared under new forms in
Turkey. Sabbataï Zevi had left a widow, the daughter of Joseph
Philosoph of Salonica, a learned Talmudist. She is said either from
ambition or, as her enemies declared, from licentious motives, to have
led the Sabbatians into fresh frenzy. Having returned to Salonica, she
is said to have passed off her brother, Jacob (surnamed Querido, the
favorite), as her son by Sabbataï Zevi. This boy, who received the name
of Jacob Zevi, became an object of devout reverence to the Sabbatians.
They believed that in him the united souls of the two Messiahs of
the houses of Joseph and David were born again; he was therefore to
be regarded as the true redeemer, the genuine successor of Sabbataï.
This new fantastic idea found the more adherents because Querido's
own father, Joseph Philosoph, a man deeply versed in the Talmud, and
another learned Talmudist, Solomon Florentin, joined the believers,
and supported the new claimant. The widow of the Messiah and her
brother Querido are said straightway to have recommended and practiced
sexual indulgence as a means of promoting the work of redemption. The
sinfulness of the world, they maintained, could be overcome only by a
superabundance of sin, by the extremest degree of licentiousness. Among
these Salonica Sabbatians, then, shameless profligacy, even incest,
were openly practiced--so their enemies declared. One thing only
is certain, marriage was not regarded as sacred among these people.
According to the perverse teachings of the Luryan school of Kabbalists,
women who were not acceptable to their husbands, being a hindrance
to a harmonious mystical marriage, could be divorced without further
ceremony, and made over to others, who felt themselves attracted to
them. This precept was only too eagerly obeyed in the mystical circle.
It was a peculiar sort of "elective affinity." Several hundreds in
Salonica belonged to this Sabbatian sect, chiefly young people. Amongst
them was a young man named Solomon Ayllon, afterwards rabbi in London
and Amsterdam, who shared in the prevailing loose life. He married a
wife, as the one appointed by heaven, whom another man had forsaken
without formal divorce, and she was carried off from him by a third.
The Sabbatians of Salonica stood in close connection with other members
of the sect in Adrianople and Smyrna.
The rabbis could not regard this disorder with indifference, and
denounced the offenders to the Turkish authorities. The latter
instituted investigations, and sentenced them to severe punishments.
But the Sabbatians had learned from their founder a means of appeasing
the anger of Turkish rulers. They all, to the number of four hundred
it is said, assumed the white turban (about 1687), and displayed
more earnestness than Sabbataï in their newly-adopted faith. The
pseudo-Messiah Jacob Zevi Querido with many of his followers made
a pilgrimage to Mecca, in order to pray at the tomb of the prophet
Mahomet. On the journey back he died at Alexandria. The leadership of
the Turco-Jewish sect at Salonica was afterwards undertaken by his son
Berachya, or Barochya (about 1695-1740). He also was regarded as the
successor of Sabbataï Zevi, as the embodiment of the original soul of
the Messiah, as the incarnate Deity. His followers lived under the
name Dolmäh (properly Donmäh), that is, apostates from Judaism, a sect
distinct alike from Jews and Turks, who married only one another,
and attended the mosques now and then, but more frequently assembled
in secret for their own mystical service, to worship their redeemer
and man-God. There are still in Salonica descendants of the sect
of Sabbataï-Querido-Berachya, who observe a mixture of Kabbalistic
and Turkish usages. Of Judaism they retained only circumcision on
the eighth day and the Song of Solomon, the love dialogues and
monologues of which left them free play for mystical and licentious
interpretations. Recently the sultan granted the Donmäh, now said to
number 4,000 members, the free exercise of their religion.
In spite, perhaps on account of these excesses on the part of the
Sabbatians of Salonica, opposed alike to Judaism and morality, they
continually found fresh supporters, who clung to the delusion with
pertinacity, deceived themselves and others, and gave impostors an
opportunity to profit by this fanatical humor. From the East and
from Poland secret Sabbatians crossed to and fro, from the latter
as itinerant preachers, from the former as pretended messengers from
the Holy Land, and continually incited to fresh errors. The emissary
Abraham Cuenqui, from Hebron, who in Poland and Germany claimed charity
for the poor of that city, at the request of a mystic gave a glowing
description of the life of Sabbataï, whom he had seen and admired in
his youth. This biography, a sort of Sabbatian gospel, is an excellent
example of how in the field of religion history takes the shape of
myth, and myth again transforms itself into history. In Poland,
probably at the instigation of the crazy Mordecai of Eisenstadt, there
arose a Sabbatian sect, which believed that it was hastening the
advent of the kingdom of heaven by penitence. At its head stood two
men, Judah Chassid (the pious) of Dubno, a narrow-minded simpleton,
and Chayim Malach, a cunning Talmudist. Both agitated the people by
exciting sermons, and found an applauding audience, who joined them
in penances and Kabbalistic extravagances. The association was called
Chassidim. In Poland ignorance was so great that the rabbis themselves
did not recognize the power and mischievous tendency of these Sabbatian
enthusiasts. From 1,300 to 1,500 of this sect, under Judah Chassid,
emigrated from Poland at the beginning of the year 1700, intending to
journey to the Holy Land, to await redemption there. Like the Christian
flagellants of old, these so-called devotees distinguished themselves
by fasting many days, and by mortifications of every kind. The leaders
wore on the Sabbath white garments of satin or cloth, whereby they
intended to signify the time of grace. Wherever they went in Germany,
they preached, and exhorted to strict penance. Judah Chassid by his
powerful voice, his gestures, and bitter tears, carried away his
hearers. He wrought especially upon the weak minds of women, to whom,
contrary to custom, he was wont to preach, with a Torah roll under his
arm, in the women's gallery. While the greater number of the Chassidim
were assembling in Moravia and Hungary, Judah Chassid traveled with
about 150 persons through Germany from Altona to Frankfort-on-the-Main
and Vienna, everywhere preaching, wailing, and warning. The sect,
especially in the larger communities, was richly supported. On account
of the concourse of men and women who flocked to these sectarians, the
rabbis did not venture to oppose their proceedings. Samuel Oppenheim,
the rich court Jew at Vienna, supported the Chassidim richly, and
procured passports for them to the East.
The enthusiasm of this sect soon came to an end. On the first day
after their arrival in Jerusalem their principal leader Judah Chassid
died; his followers were helpless, and instead of speedy redemption
found only horrible misery. Some of the Chassidim, therefore,
disappointed and in despair, went over to Islam. The rest dispersed
in all directions. Many were baptized as Christians, amongst them
Judah Chassid's nephew, Wolf Levi of Lublin, who took the name of
Francis Lothair Philippi; another nephew, Isaiah Chassid, afterwards
caused fresh Sabbatian disturbances. Chayim Malach, however, who made
the acquaintance of the aged Samuel Primo, Sabbataï Zevi's private
secretary and counselor, remained for several years in Jerusalem, and
presided over a small Sabbatian sect. He also taught the doctrine
of two Gods or three Gods, and of the Divine incarnation, paid
Sabbataï Zevi divine reverence, and is said to have carried about his
image, carved in wood, in the synagogue, to be worshiped, and his
followers are said to have danced round it. Chayim Malach aimed at
the destruction of Rabbinical Judaism or Judaism in general. It is
incomprehensible how the community of Jerusalem could have witnessed
his proceedings for years without opposing them. Probably the rabbis
there shared the Sabbatian idolatry, or profited by it. However, Chayim
Malach seems at length to have been banished from Jerusalem. He then
betook himself to the Mahometan Sabbatians at Salonica, the Donmäh,
took part in their extravagances, then went about preaching in several
Turkish communities, and openly taught the Sabbatian imposture. At
Constantinople he was excommunicated, and on his second residence in
that community was banished by Chacham Bashi (about 1709). He thereupon
returned through Germany to Poland, scattering the seed of Sabbatian
heresy, destined to undermine Judaism. His death is said to have been
due to excessive drinking.
At the same time that Malach was sowing seed-grains in Poland for
the process of dissolution, the torch of discord was hurled into the
Jewish camp by two disguised Sabbatians, Chayon and Ayllon. The one
through imposture, the other through stubbornness and dogmatism,
promoted a movement which presents very unpleasant features. Solomon
Ayllon (born about 1667, died 1728), of Spanish descent, was born at
Safet, and his mind was filled with the errors of the Kabbala. In his
youth he fell in with the Sabbatians of Salonica, and in part shared
their extravagances. Later he went to Leghorn, and after the death
of the worthy and accomplished rabbi, Jacob Abendana, was invited to
London to fill his place (1696-1707). Ayllon had enemies in London
who, having heard of his not wholly irreproachable youth, implored one
rabbi after another to procure his dismissal from office. From dread
of the public scandal which would arise were it known that a former
adherent of the notorious Sabbataï had officiated as rabbi, all who
were consulted advised that the ugly story be forgotten. Ayllon was not
distinguished in any branch of learning, not even in knowledge of the
Talmud, nor could he have had an over-scrupulous conscience. While
treating for the post of rabbi at Amsterdam, the London community being
unwilling to lose him, he swore a solemn oath that he would not accept
the post offered to him, although he had already given his consent to
the Amsterdam council, and actually accepted the office. He palliated
his conduct in a sophistical and Jesuitical manner. His youthful
predilection for Sabbatian errors, which he does not appear entirely
to have abandoned even as rabbi of Amsterdam, induced Ayllon to give
his aid to an arrant rogue, and thereby to help in producing profound
dissensions in the Jewish world.
This arch-impostor, who in hypocrisy, audacity, and unscrupulousness
had but few equals in the eighteenth century, so rich in impostors,
was Nehemiah Chiya Chayon (born about 1650, died after 1726). He took
especial delight in mystification and extravagances, and from his
youth led an adventurous, easy life of dissimulation. The career of
this Kabbalistic adventurer is characteristic of the demoralization of
the age in various ways. Chayon received his Talmudical instruction
at Hebron, where the Sabbatian intoxication had made many victims. He
possessed considerable logical acuteness, was ready at discovering
contradictions and incongruities; but his giddy brain and cold
heart, bent on the satisfaction of low cravings, induced him to make
corrupt use of his powers. Of the Talmud and Rabbinical literature he
understood enough to be able to appear at home in them, but he had no
real attraction to these studies, nor any religious feeling. He was
observant from hypocrisy; when not watched, he disregarded the demands
of religion and morality. He could assume a serious, awe-inspiring
manner, and held men enthralled by his attractive appearance, his
Kabbalistic scraps, and his mysterious demeanor. He generally enacted
the part of a saint, at the same time singing love-songs and
associating with women. He was, as he himself confessed, in close
relation with the Sabbatians at Salonica, and had taken trouble to
get possession of their writings. He frequently conversed with their
leader, Samuel Primo, about Kabbalistic projects. It is said that
in one of these interviews he proposed a new doctrine of a Trinity.
He composed a work in which he maintained that Judaism, to be sure
Kabbalistic Judaism, inculcated belief in a triune God. With this
manuscript in his otherwise empty coffer he went to Smyrna, in the
spring of the year 1708, intending to seek his fortune either with
the Sabbatians or with their opponents. He did, in fact, succeed in
hoodwinking some rich men of Smyrna. His patrons pledged themselves
mutually and to Chayon to give him powerful support. The arch-rogue was
treated at Smyrna as a holy prophet, and nearly the whole community
escorted him to the ship which was to convey him back to Palestine. His
schemes were for the moment crowned with success. But before Chayon
could settle down, the rabbinate of Jerusalem launched a sentence of
excommunication against him, condemned his work, which they had not
even read, to be burned (June 1708), and refused to give a hearing to
the author. This gross blunder revenged itself afterwards. For the
moment, however, Chayon was defeated. As one formally interdicted by
the chief college in Palestine, he could not settle anywhere. The
enthusiasm of his patrons in Smyrna was extinguished as quickly as it
had blazed up, for the favor of men is changeable.
Thus Chayon after a few days of good fortune was again reduced to
mendicancy. In Italy, whither he had gone after leaving Egypt, and
where he spent some years begging (1709-1711), his schemes met with
little sympathy. At Venice only he met with some consideration from
rabbis and the laity. Here he printed a small pamphlet, an extract
from his larger work, wherein he openly set forth the Trinity as an
article of the Jewish faith, not the Christian Trinity, but three
persons (Parzufim) in the Godhead, the holy Primeval One, or Soul of
all Souls, the Holy King, or incarnation of Deity, and a female Person
(the Shechina). This nonsense, an insult to Judaism and its conception
of God, was repeated by Chayon in doggerel, which he recommended as
edifying prayers for the especially pious. Bold and venturesome, he
interwove with the first verses the words of a low Italian song, "Fair
Margaret." And this blasphemous pamphlet ("Secret of the Trinity,"
"Raza di Yechuda") was accepted and recommended by the rabbinate of
Venice, either because they had not seen it before it was printed, or
because by reason of Kabbalistic stupidity they did not perceive its
drift. Chayon did not stay long at Venice. He betook himself to Prague,
where he found credulous faith, favorable to his work of deception.
The leaders of the community, old and young rabbis and students of the
Talmud, were all filled with it.
David Oppenheim, chief rabbi of Prague, more famous for his rich
collection of books than on account of his deeds and literary work,
was an inveterate Kabbalist. To be sure he had no leisure to concern
himself about the itinerant preacher Chayon, or the affairs of the
community and the interest of Judaism. He needed his time for money
transactions with the funds which, together with a considerable
library, his rich uncle at Vienna, Samuel Oppenheim, had left him.
David Oppenheim, therefore, seldom met Chayon; but his son Joseph, who
was enchanted with his Kabbalistic juggling, took him into his house.
He was well received also by the Kabbalistic rabbi, Naphtali Cohen, who
was then living at Prague, and whose thaumaturgy had cost him dear.
And if the house of Oppenheim, and Naphtali Cohen paid him homage, who
would fail to exert himself for the pretended preacher or emissary
from Palestine, as Chayon professed to be? No wonder that industrious
youthful students of the Talmud, thirsting for knowledge, thronged to
Chayon! Among these was Jonathan Eibeschütz, afterwards so notorious,
who was living at that time in Prague. Chayon preached sermons at
Prague, and entranced his hearers by his sophistical and witty manner,
which made the most inconsistent things appear reconcilable. Now and
then he allowed the erroneous doctrine of the Salonica Sabbatians to
crop out, viz., that sin can be overcome only by a superabundance of
sinfulness, by the satisfaction of all, even the most wicked, desires,
and by the transgression of the Torah. He told his Prague adherents, or
caused it to be circulated by his Venetian companion, that he conversed
with the prophet Elijah, that he could compel the Godhead to reveal
itself to him, and that he was able to call the dead to life and to
create new worlds--all of which found credence. He wrote amulets,
which were eagerly sought after, and at the same time in secret led
a profligate life. The money derived from imposture he wasted in
card-playing. At last he ventured to submit his heretical work, his
Sabbatian confession of faith in the Trinity, to Naphtali Cohen for
his opinion, and showed him forged testimonials from Italian rabbis.
From admiration for Chayon's person Naphtali Cohen, without even having
glanced at the manuscript, expressed not simply his approval, but gave
him a glowing recommendation--a careless habit characteristic of the
rabbis of that time, which on this occasion was destined to revenge
itself bitterly.
Provided with forged and filched recommendations, Chayon deceived many
other communities, those of Vienna, Nikolsburg, Prosnitz, Breslau,
Glogau, and Berlin. He succeeded in passing himself off as a prophet
before the credulous German Jews, and in being maintained by them.
Secretly he entered into close relations with a Sabbatian enthusiast
or impostor, Löbele Prosnitz, who cut out the four Hebrew letters of
the name of God in gold tinsel, stuck it on his breast, and made it
shine before the dazzled eyes of the credulous by means of burning
alcohol and turpentine. Like savages, the Moravian Jews gazed at Löbele
Prosnitz's alcohol miracle. At Berlin, where Chayon spent several
months, he enjoyed the best opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
The community of Berlin, increased to more than a hundred families,
had fallen into disunion, apparently through two mutually hostile
families at court. The widow of the court jeweler, Liebmann, was a
favorite of King Frederick I, and was therefore disliked by the crown
prince, afterwards Frederick William I. The latter had his own Jew in
attendance, Marcus Magnus, the mortal enemy of the house of Liebmann,
not merely from complaisance to the successor to the throne. The feud
between the two Jewish houses in Berlin spread to the whole community,
divided it into two parties, and affected even the synagogue. When
the fire of faction burned most furiously, Chayon came to Berlin,
and turned the quarrel to his own advantage. He joined the Liebmann
party, which, though the weaker of the two, was rich, and therefore
more willing to make sacrifices. The rabbi of Berlin, Aaron Benjamin
Wolf, son-in-law of the court Jewess Liebmann, a simple fellow, treated
Chayon with honorable distinction. Naphtali Cohen, who had come to
Berlin, could have unmasked Chayon, but was afraid, as he said, to
inflame the quarrel still further. Thus Chayon without molestation was
able in Berlin to print his heretical book, with which he had begun his
mischievous proceedings five years before at Smyrna. He gave his work
the artful title, "The Belief of the Universe" ("Mehemenuta de Cola").
The main text, the production of a Sabbatian (some thought of Sabbataï
Zevi himself), proclaims the "holy king," the Messiah, the incarnate
Deity, as the God of Israel, and as the exclusive object of reverence
and worship. Chayon added two sophistical commentaries, wherein he
proved in various ways that the God of Judaism was the Trinity. In
the prayer, "Hear, O Israel, God is one," every Jew must needs think
of this Trinity, otherwise he cannot attain to salvation, even if he
fulfills all religious and moral duties. This belief alone can make
a man certain of bliss. So low had Judaism sunk, that such blasphemy
was printed before the eyes and with the consent of a rabbi--Aaron
Benjamin Wolf, at Berlin--probably at the expense of the Liebmann
party! Chayon had the audacity to order forged testimonials of rabbis
to be prefixed, as though they had read the book and recommended it.
With this work he hastened by way of Hamburg to Amsterdam, to make his
fortune in that Jewish Eldorado, and thus schism was introduced into
the Jewish world.
The community of Amsterdam had been sufficiently warned of the
machinations of the Sabbatians. The Jerusalem rabbi, Abraham Yizchaki,
who had been appointed an emissary to collect alms, behaved like a
papal legate, invested with supremacy over everything religious, and
like a grand inquisitor commissioned to destroy the heresy which had
been gaining ground. At Smyrna the heretical writings of the fanatic
Abraham Michael Cardoso were in the hands of a few secret Sabbatians.
At Yizchaki's suggestion these had to be given up by their owners under
threat of excommunication and severe temporal punishment, and they were
burned. The community of Smyrna thereby felt itself freed from a heavy
burden, and was thankful to its liberator. Yizchaki had also come to
Amsterdam, and had warned the rabbis and the communal council against
Sabbatian emissaries, and drew attention to the hint of the Smyrna
rabbinate, that a secret Sabbatian was on his way to print Cardoso's
writings. In fact a Sabbatian emissary did come to Amsterdam for that
purpose. Chayon at first conducted himself modestly, and affiliated
with the Portuguese. He presented the council with a copy of his work
on the Trinity printed at Berlin, in order to obtain leave to sell it.
He appears to have passed himself off as an emissary from Palestine.
Hereupon bickerings arose, which began with personal feeling and ended
in wide-spread dissension.
The rabbi of the German community, Zevi Ashkenazi, called Chacham
Zevi, was much excited at the news of Chayon's presence in Amsterdam.
This man, whose father had belonged to the most zealous Sabbatians,
while he himself and his son, Jacob Emden, were destined to fight
against them with vehement zeal, was gifted with a clear head, and
combined thoroughness with acuteness in the study of the Talmud. In
his eighteenth year he had been consulted as an expert in the Talmud.
Pampered, sought after, married while young to the daughter of a
rich man at Buda and thereby rendered independent, he became proud,
self-conscious, and vain of his knowledge of the Talmud. On account of
his Talmudical learning he was invited to be chief rabbi of the German
community at Amsterdam (1710); he preferred to be called Chacham. Here
he looked down with great contempt upon his Portuguese colleagues,
especially upon Solomon Ayllon, and would never regard him as his equal
in rank. "Chacham Zevi wishes to rank higher even than the prophet
Moses," was the judgment passed upon him by Ayllon.
As soon as the name of Chayon reached the ears of the German Chacham,
he connected it with a former enemy of his at Bosna-Seraï in Bosnia,
where Zevi had been rabbi for a short time, and he immediately
intimated to the Portuguese authorities that it would be wise to show
no sort of favor to the stranger, as he was a man of evil notoriety.
Nehemiah Chayon explained that the mistake in his identity was caused
by similarity of names, and behaved so very humbly towards Chacham
Zevi, that the latter soon informed the council that he had nothing
to urge against the stranger, whose identity he had mistaken. Chayon
appeared to have removed every obstacle from his path at Amsterdam,
when Moses Chages, of Jerusalem, who was in Holland, sounded the alarm
against him, perhaps because he feared him as a Palestinian rival. The
heretical work printed at Berlin was put before him for examination,
as some members of the council did not trust their Chacham Ayllon.
Scarcely had he looked into it, when he raised the cry of heresy. In
fact, it did not need lengthy search in the book to find an explicit
enunciation of the doctrine of the Trinity. The German Chacham,
having had his attention drawn by Moses Chages to Chayon's suspicious
doctrine, again notified, almost ordered, the Portuguese council, to
banish instead of favoring the stranger. The council, not disposed to
accept such abrupt orders, requested Chacham Zevi either to point out
the heretical passages in Chayon's book, or to join with some members
nominated by the council as a committee to examine it. Chacham Zevi,
at the advice of Chages, rejected both proposals flatly, saying that
as rabbi he was not obliged to bring forward proofs, but simply to
pronounce final judgment. Still less did he choose to take council
with Ayllon, as this would have been tantamount to recognizing him as
a Talmudist of equal rank with himself. The haughty behavior of the
Chacham, on the one hand, and Ayllon's sensitiveness, on the other,
kindled a spark into a bright flame.
The Portuguese Chacham had reason to feel himself slighted and to
complain. His own congregation had passed him over in this matter,
shown distrust towards him, and set his opponent over him as a higher
authority. Besides, he appears to have feared the cunning adventurer,
who if persecuted might reveal more than was desirable of Ayllon's past
history and relations to the Salonica heretics. He felt it his interest
to remain on Chayon's side and protect him against the threatened
banishment from Amsterdam. It was not difficult for him to prejudice
a member of the Portuguese council, Aaron de Pinto, a resolute,
unbending, hard man, indifferent to spiritual problems, against the
German Chacham, and persuade him of his duty to guard the independence
of the old, respectable, and superior Portuguese, against the
presumptuousness of the hitherto subordinate German, community. Ayllon
converted the important question of orthodoxy and heresy into one of
precedence between the communities. De Pinto treated the affair in this
light, and the other members of the council conformed to his resolute
will. He straightway rejected the interference of the German Chacham in
an affair of concern only to the Portuguese community, broke off all
negotiations with him, and commissioned Ayllon to appoint a committee
of Portuguese to examine and report on Chayon's work. Ayllon added
to the college of rabbis four men, of whom only one understood the
question. This one hesitated to join the committee, but was compelled
to do so. The others were totally ignorant of theology, and accordingly
dependent on Ayllon's judgment. Ayllon and the council, that is, Pinto,
made the members of the committee swear to let no one see the copies
of Chayon's work handed to them for examination, in fact, to keep
everything secret until the final judgment was pronounced. The petty
question of tolerating or expelling a begging adventurer thus attained
great importance.
Whilst the Portuguese committee was still apparently engaged in the
business of examination, Chacham Zevi, in conjunction with Moses
Chages, hastened to pronounce sentence of excommunication against
Chayon and his heretical book, because "he sought to draw Israel away
from his God and to introduce strange gods (the Trinity)." No one was
to have dealings with the author until he recanted his error. His
writings in any case were to be committed to the flames. This sentence
of condemnation was printed in Hebrew and Portuguese, and circulated
as a pamphlet. A great portion of the objections raised by these two
zealots against Chayon's writings was equally applicable to the Zohar
and other Kabbalistic books. Short-sighted as they were, they saw only
the evil consequences of the Kabbalistic errors, not their original
cause.
Great was the excitement of the Jews of Amsterdam over this step.
Chacham Zevi and Moses Chages were affronted and abused in the
streets by Portuguese Jews, and it was asserted that Ayllon employed
disreputable people for this purpose. When Chages appeared the rabble
shouted, "Stone him, slay him." Attempts at reconciliation failed;
partly through the dogmatism of Ayllon, who refused to admit himself
wrong, partly through the firmness of De Pinto, who simply had in view
the dignity of the Portuguese community. Pamphlets increased the bitter
feeling.
The quarrel of the Amsterdam Jews made a great stir elsewhere, and was
the cause of party strife. Ayllon and De Pinto forbade the members of
their community, under threat of excommunication, to read pamphlets, or
to express themselves either verbally or in writing upon the matter.
They also hastened the delivery of the verdict, which, however, was
drawn up by Ayllon alone. It declared, in direct opposition to the
decision of Chacham Zevi and Chages, that Chayon's work taught nothing
offensive or dangerous to Judaism; it contained only the doctrines
found in other Kabbalistic writings. It was officially made known in
the synagogues (August 14, 1713) that Chayon was acquitted of the
charge of heresy brought against him, and that he had been innocently
persecuted. The day after, the original cause of the strife was carried
in triumph into the Portuguese chief synagogue, and to the vexation
of his opponents, almost worshiped. The false prophet, who had openly
declared, "Come, let us worship false gods," was loaded with homage
by the Portuguese who had staked life and property for the unity of
God. They cheered Chayon in the synagogue, and cried "Down with his
adversaries." In secret Chayon probably laughed at the complications he
had caused, and at the credulity of the multitude. De Pinto took care
that Chacham Zevi should not be supported by his own German community,
but should be left exposed, without protection, to the rough treatment
of his opponents. He found himself entirely isolated, almost like a
person under interdict.
But help came to Chacham Zevi from without. The rabbis whose pretended
letters of recommendation Chayon had prefixed to his work declared
them to be forged. The deepest impression was made by the letters of
the highly respected, aged rabbi of Mantua, Leon Brieli, who, well
acquainted with the past history of the impostor, unmasked him, and
approved of the sentence of condemnation against his heretical book.
Brieli wrote urgently to the Amsterdam council, and to Ayllon, in
Hebrew and Italian, imploring them not to lend their authority to
so bad a cause. But they remained stubborn, answered him politely,
yet evasively. The quarrel rose higher every day in the Amsterdam
community; every one took one side or the other, defending his view
with bitterness, passion, and frequently with vigorous action. Peace
vanished from this pattern community, and dissension was carried into
family life. Matters had gone so far that the leaders could not yield.
Ayllon and De Pinto went to greater lengths in their obstinacy. They
suggested that the Portuguese council summon Chacham Zevi, the rabbi of
the German community (over whom it had no authority whatever), before
its tribunal, with the intention of shaming him or of inducing him to
recant. When he paid no heed, it laid him and Moses Chages under the
ban, most strictly forbidding the members of the community to have
dealings with them, protect them, or intercede for them with the civic
authorities.
As though the council and the rabbinate had been infected by Chayon's
baseness, they committed one meanness after another. In justification
of their course of action they distorted the actual state of the case,
and made use of notorious falsehoods. They encouraged, or at least
countenanced, Chayon in calumniating his opponents with the vilest and
most revolting aspersions, not only Chacham Zevi and Chages, but even
the wise and venerable rabbi, Leon Brieli, and supported Chayon in all
his audacities. The Portuguese council and the rabbinate, or rather De
Pinto and Ayllon, for their colleagues were mere puppets, persecuted
Chayon's opponents as though they were lost to all feeling of right.
With Moses Chages they had an easy game. He lived on the Portuguese
community; and when they withdrew the means of sustenance, he was
compelled to leave Amsterdam with his helpless family and migrate to
Altona. They also pressed Chacham Zevi hard, annoyed him, accused him
before the civil authorities, and prevented any one's assisting him.
He, too, left Amsterdam, either De Pinto procuring his banishment at
the hands of the magistrates, or Chacham Zevi, in order to anticipate
scandalous expulsion, going into banishment of his own accord. He
repaired to London, in the first instance, then by way of Breslau to
Poland, and was everywhere honorably received and treated.
His opponents, Chayon, Ayllon, and De Pinto, were not able to enjoy
the fruits of their victory. The apparently trivial dispute had
assumed large dimensions. Almost all the German, Italian, Polish, and
even some African communities with their rabbis espoused the cause of
the persecuted Chacham Zevi, and hurled sentences of excommunication
upon the unscrupulous heretic. These anathemas were published, and
unsparingly revealed Chayon's villainy, bringing to light the sentence
passed upon him years before at Jerusalem. The exposure of his
character by witnesses who came from countries where his past history
was well known, contributed to ruin the false prophet of the new
Trinity.
But the Portuguese of Amsterdam, or at least their leaders, would
not drop him, either because they believed his audacious lies or
from a sense of shame and obstinacy. They saw clearly, however, that
Chayon must take steps to calm the storm raised against him. They
therefore favored his journey to the East, providing him with money
and recommendations to influential Jews and Christians, who were to
aid him in loosing the ban passed upon him in the Turkish capital. But
the journey proved full of thorns for Chayon; no Jew admitted him into
his house, or gave him entertainment. Like Cain, curse-laden, he was
obliged to flee from place to place in Europe. At last he had to take
ship in haste to Constantinople. He was followed by fresh accusations
of heresy, not only from Chages and Naphtali Cohen, but also from
the highly esteemed Kabbalist Joseph Ergas, and the London preacher
David Nieto, who calmly exposed, in Hebrew and Spanish, the heresy,
falsehood, and villainy of this hypocritical Sabbatian.
At Constantinople Chayon was avoided by the Jews, and treated as
an outcast; but his Amsterdam letters of recommendation paved the
way for him with a vizir, who ordered his Jewish agents to accord
him support. In spite of his artifices, however, the rabbinate of
Constantinople refused to remove the sentence against him, but referred
him to the college of Jerusalem, the first to proscribe him. Several
years elapsed before three rabbis, probably intimidated by the vizir,
declared themselves ready to free Chayon from the ban, but they added
the condition that he should never again teach, preach, or publish
Kabbalistic doctrines. Chayon bound himself by a solemn oath, given to
be broken at the first opportunity. With a letter, which testified to
his re-admission into the Jewish communion, he hastened to Europe for
fresh adventures and impostures.
Meanwhile the Sabbatian intoxication had spread in Poland, especially
in Podolia and the district of Lemberg. There are revolting evidences
extant of the immorality of the Podolian Sabbatians: how they wallowed
in a pool of shameless profligacy, all the while pretending to redeem
the world. Their violation and contempt of Talmudical Judaism were for
a long time kept secret, but they strove to win adherents, preaching,
and explaining the Zohar to support their immoral theories. As their
sect grew, they raised the mask of piety a little, came out more
boldly, and were solemnly excommunicated by the Lemberg rabbinate
with extinguished tapers in the synagogue. But this sect could not be
suppressed by such means. Its members were inspired with a fanatical
desire to scorn the Talmud, the breath of life of the Polish Jews, and
to set up in its place the Kabbala and its Bible, the Zohar, and this
plan they endeavored to put into execution.
Their leaders secretly sent (1725) an emissary in the person of Moses
Meïr Kamenker into Moravia, Bohemia, and Germany, to establish a
connection with the Sabbatians of these countries, and perhaps also to
beg for money for their undertaking. Kamenker traveled through several
communities without being found out. Who could divine the thoughts
of this begging Polish rabbi, who understood how to dispute in the
manner of the Talmud, and rolled his eyes in a pious, hypocritical
manner? Moses Meïr entered into relations with Jonathan Eibeschütz at
Prague, who though young was regarded as a most thorough and acute
Talmudist, but who was entangled in the snares of the Sabbatian
Kabbala. Moses Meïr pressed on unrecognized to Mannheim, where a
secret Sabbatian of Judah Chassid's following passed himself off among
his companions as the Messiah returned to earth. From Mannheim these
two Polish Sabbatians threw out their nets, and deluded the simple
with sounding phrases from the Zohar. Their main doctrine was that
Jews devoted to the Talmud had not the right faith, which was rooted
only in the Kabbala. At the same time a work, apparently Kabbalistic,
was disseminated from Prague. Its equal can scarcely be found for
absurdity, perversity, and blasphemy; the coarsest notions being
brought into connection with the Godhead in Talmudic and Zoharistic
forms of expression. It also develops the doctrine of persons in the
Godhead--the Primeval One and the God of Israel, and hints that from
a higher standpoint the Torah and the laws have no significance. It was
reported at the time that Jonathan Eibeschütz was the author of this
production, as revolting as it is absurd.
Chance brought these underhand proceedings to light. Moses Meïr was
enticed to Frankfort by promises, and in the house of Rabbi Jacob
Kahana his conduct was exposed. Many heretical writings were found upon
him as well as letters by Sabbatians, amongst them letters from and
to Eibeschütz. An examination of witnesses was held by three rabbis
(July, 1725). Several witnesses denounced Moses Meïr, Isaiah Chassid,
and Löbele Prosnitz as closely allied fanatical Sabbatians, Eibeschütz
also being connected with them. These three, indeed, regarded him as
Sabbataï's successor, as the genuine Messiah. The witnesses averred
that they had received Kabbalistic heretical writings about the Song
of Solomon, and others, from Moses Meïr. They pretended also to have
heard many blasphemies that could not be repeated. Because of the
writings found upon Moses Meïr Kamenker and the testimony of witnesses,
the rabbinate of Frankfort pronounced upon him, his companions, and
all Sabbatians, the severest possible sentence, decreeing that no one
should have dealings with them in any form whatever, and that every
Jew should be bound to inform the rabbis of the secret Sabbatians,
and reveal their misconduct without respect of persons. The rabbis
of the German communities of Altona-Hamburg and Amsterdam joined
in this sentence; they ordered it to be read in the synagogues for
the information of all, and had it printed. The same was done at
Frankfort-on-the-Oder at fair-time in the presence of many Jews from
other towns, and several Polish rabbis did the same. They at last
realized that only by united forces and continuous efforts could an end
be put to the follies of the Sabbatians.
Just at this time Chayon returned to Europe, and increased the
confusion. To protect himself from persecution, he secretly approached
Christians, obtained access to the imperial palace at Vienna, partly
severed his connection with the Jews, reviled them as blind men who
reject the true faith, let it be understood that he, too, taught
the doctrine of the Trinity, and that he could bring over the Jews.
Provided with a letter of protection from the court, he proceeded on
his journey, and again played a double game, living secretly as a
Sabbatian, openly as an orthodox Jew released from the interdict. It
is hardly credible, as contemporaries relate of Chayon, that at the
age of nearly eighty, he took about with him as his wife a notorious
prostitute, whom he had picked up in Hungary. He did not meet with so
good a reception this time; distrust had been excited against secret
Sabbatians, especially against him. At Prague he was not admitted into
the city. At Berlin, Chayon wrote to a former acquaintance that, if
the money he needed were not sent him, he was resolved to be baptized
to the disgrace of the Jews. At Hanover, his papers were taken from
him, which exposed him still more. Thus the rogue dragged himself to
Amsterdam in the hope of again finding enthusiastic friends. But Ayllon
would have nothing more to do with him; he is said to have repented
having favored Chayon. The latter was included in the proscription
of the Sabbatians and excommunicated (1726). Moses Chages, formerly
persecuted by him, now occupied an honored position in Altona. He was
considered the chief of the heresy judges, so to say, and he dealt
Chayon the last blow. The latter could not hold his own in Europe
or in the East, and therefore repaired to northern Africa, where he
died. His son was converted to Christianity, and, whilst at Rome,
through his false, or half-true accusations, he drew the attention of
the Inquisition to ancient Jewish literature, which he declared to be
inimical to Christianity.