which point Emden, with the permission of the Jewish community, pored over
Eybeschütz’s manuscripts and private correspondence, and even broke open
and read the parchments of his amulets. This unprecedented witch hunt and
violation of privacy revealed nothing conclusive, although Emden claimed
that there were occasional irregularities that suggested that Eybeschütz was
indeed Sabbatean.
At this point, Emden and Eybeschütz each rallied support from other
communities and rabbis, who began to threaten one another with excommu-
nication. Eventually, the two sides agreed to submit to arbitration, and
invited Ezekiel Landau, the up-and-coming rabbi of Yampol, to mediate.
Landau initially offered Eybeschütz immunity from prosecution if he admit-
ted to being a Sabbatean; Eybeschütz refused. While Landau agreed with
Emden that there was enough circumstantial evidence to validate his suspi-
cion of Eybeschütz, he instead opted for a compromise in the name of Jewish
unity. He ordered Emden and his supporters to desist in their persecution of
Eybeschütz. He also ordered Eybeschütz to leave his current position. The
controversy abated until, several years later, Eybeschütz’s son was suspected of
being a Sabbatean, at which point Emden went after the son and renewed his
pursuit of Eybeschütz himself. This pursuit continued even after Eybeschütz
died in 1764.
A similar type of controversy took place in Padua, Italy, during the 1750s,
revolving around the enthusiastic religious behavior of a Kabbalist named
Moses Hayim Luzzatto (RaMHaL). Luzzatto admitted to having been visited
by a Maggid –a mystical voice – who revealed secrets to him and to his circle
of illuminati. In and of itself, a visitation from a Maggidwas not cause for sus-
picion of heresy. Many leading kabbalists, including Joseph Karo and Isaac
Luria, had had this type of mystical experience. In this case, however, there
were those who suspected that the message Luzzatto had received had led him
down the path of Sabbateanism. He was hounded from Padua, and forced to
flee to Amsterdam.
In tandem, the controversies involving Jonathan Eybeschütz and Moses
Luzzatto reflect the impact of Sabbateanism and the pursuit of Sabbatean
heresy. By the end of the eighteenth century, Sabbateanism had become an
umbrella term for heresy, and the accusation of Sabbateanism a license for
exposing and denouncing any and all deviant behavior. This mentality was
galvanized by the emergence of radical Sabbateanism during the eighteenth
century.
Radical Sabbateans posed a more radical, utopian, charismatic challenge to
rabbinic authority. The earliest manifestation of radical Sabbatean belief was
the Donmeh (literally, converts). The Donmeh were believers in Shabbetai
Zvi who followed him into the mystical depths of Islam by converting when
he converted. They lived ostensibly as Muslims, while continuing to believe
secretly that Shabbetai Zvi would eventually reveal himself again and return
130 World Jewry in flux, 1492–1750