Elisheva Carlebach

I'll admit up front that I have not finished this; I'm on p. 94 of 278 pages of text. I started it, even though my tastes tend towards fantasy and picture books, because I found it in a library while browsing the shelves during a break in a program about children's books.

I found the book very interesting. It is much more than a biography of R. Moses Hagiz (of whom I had never heard) or of the controversies surrounding the followers of Shabbatai Zvi. It looks at Jewish communities of the time and the leadership struggles between the local rabbinic authorities and the lay leadership; also the influence of non-pulpit rabbis; fundraising for Jerusalem and Jewish schools; and more. The book is slow going and (see the quote on the Main Page), Dr. Carlebach refers to words of Gershom Scholem, which are from Hallel, the series of Psalms included in holiday services; I'm sure she knows this, but I wonder who her target audience is and are they presumed to know it as well.

The transliteration is interesting and, again I'm guessing, but I assume there is some formal set of rules for writing Hebrew letters in English that does not conform to the way things are actually pronounced nowadays.

I had always thought that the followers of Shabbatai Zvi were as crazy as he was, but this book suggests that there was an interest among normal Jews in a more spiritual and personally meaningful approach to Judaism that Shabbatai Zvi tapped into. That is, not every follower believed what was preached, but the movement opened up new ways of looking at things.… (plus d'informations)