Letter

In the name of the Lord:

My brothers and my friends, the inhabitants of Albanian Belgrade [Berat, Albania]: may all who are worthy merit seeing the salvation of the Lord. Hurry and send me the maḥzor [prayerbook] of Rosh Hashanah and of Yom Kippur. These are the words of the man raised on high (2 Samuel 23:1) over all of the host of the high heaven on high, and above all of the kings of the earth that are on the earth [see Isaiah 24:21]. He will stand on generosity (Isaiah 32:8); he is the Messiah of the God of Israel and Judah, Shabbetai Tzvi.

From God arises the first day

The beginning of the month, the beginning of the months [see Exodus 12:2]

And the Lord called it by the name Nisan.

With the help of the Lord

Behold, I send the aforementioned messenger to you [see Exodus 23:20] to give you tidings, by way of the shore [of Albania] and he shall announce to you all of my glory, and some of what he has seen. Take heed of him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against all that he tells you in my name, for I will not pardon your transgressions [see Exodus 23:21]. And who is the god who shall deliver you out of my hands? (Daniel 3:15), for there is no god apart from me (Isaiah 44:6). If you listen to his voice and do all that I say, then I will surely raise you up, and I will fill your treasure chests [see Proverbs 8:21]. These are the words of the man raised on high, the lion of Bei Ilai [“lofty house”] and the deer of Bei Ilai [see b. ḥullin 59b]; this is the messiah of the God of Israel and Judah, Shabbetai Mehmed Tzvi.

This text is a copy of the writing that the king, may his splendor be exalted, sent to all of the diaspora communities of Israel, concerning the matter of the Festival of Comforts [i.e., Tishah be-Av], in 1666:

With the help of God, may He be blessed and may His name be exalted forever, amen and amen. The day of the end of my great Sabbath, and of my brothers and my people, the people of the tower of strength, the name of Yod-He-Vav-He and all that exists within Him. Tuesday, the twenty-fourth of Tammuz, the greatest of months, on the order of the Torah reading according to the verse: And they departed from Ritma, and pitched at Rimmon Perez (Numbers 33:19). This is the first day of the resurrection of my spirit, and it is a festival day of the month of Tammuz.

My brothers and my people, the people of my faith, the inhabitants of each and every city and each and every country, wherever the king’s commandment and decree came (Esther 4:3), great peace unto you is wished by the Master of Peace and by me, His son and His friend, King Solomon. I decree upon you that you shall turn the day of the ninth of the month of Av, which comes upon us in peace, into a feast day and into a day of great happiness [see Esther 9:17], with good foods and pleasant drinks, and with many candles and lights, and with numerous melodies and songs. For it is the day of the birth of Shabbetai Tzvi, may his splendor be exalted, your exalted king, above the kings of the earth. Concerning other matters of work, and the rest of such things, you shall make it into a complete festival day, with fine and glorious clothing, and with the order of prayers for a festival day, like a proper festival day. You are only permitted to tell a non-Jew to do everything for you that is forbidden, even work as outlined in the Torah. In addition, the cessation of playing instruments is allowed to you, and is even obligatory for you. And this is the wording of his prayer:

You shall read from the weekly Torah portion, until the verse: under the slopes of Pisgah (Deuteronomy 4:49). Five men, or five people, shall read from a kosher Torah, and shall recite the blessings as on a proper festival day. The maftir [i.e., the last person called to read] shall read the Haftarah that begins: Thus says the Lord: the people that were left of the sword have found grace in the wilderness (Jeremiah 31:1) until the verse: and their sin I will remember no more (Jeremiah 31:33). He shall immediately pray the Musaf service of a festival day, which is in place of the Musaf sacrifice. With the returning of the Torah scroll, he shall say the psalm [45], “Thou art fairer than the children of men,” in a loud and clear voice and with a holy tone, and from another psalm, he shall say: “And I will make him to behold my salvation” (Psalms 91:16). He shall also read the psalm [132]: “Lord, remember unto David all his affliction,” and the psalm [89:1–38]: “Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite,” until: “It shall be established for ever as the moon; and be steadfast as the witness in sky. Selah.” He shall also read the psalm [126]: “When the Lord brought back those that returned to Zion.” They shall read the full Hallel prayer with a proper blessing, and at night they shall say the Kiddush of a festival day, and the Sheheḥiyanu blessing. The Kiddush shall follow the wording of the prayer: “Give us a Festival of Comforts, etc.” They shall then say the first psalm of the evening services, Psalm 89, until the verse mentioned above. And this day shall be for you as a remembrance, a great festival day for all generations. It is an eternal sign of a covenant between Me and the people of Israel [see Exodus 31:17]. Listen to Me and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the faithful mercies of David (Isaiah 55:2–3). The saying of David the son of Jesse (2 Samuel 23:1), most high (Psalms 47:3), terrible to the kings of the earth (Psalms 76:13), the man raised on high, above every blessing and praise, the messiah of the God of Jacob and Israel, the lion of the lofty house and the deer of the lofty house, Shabbetai Tzvi.