Letter to Shabbetai Tzvi

Eliah ben Michael Judah Leon was a member of Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jewish community who was the scribe for a letter hailing Shabbetai Tzvi as the Messiah in 1666, signed by twenty-four prominent members of the community.

Nathan of Gaza (also known as Nathan Benjamin ben Elisha Hayyim ha-Levi Ashkenazi) was born in Jerusalem and moved to Gaza around 1663. The son of a respected religious scholar, he too became a scholar of Talmud and also of kabbalah. In 1665, he had a vision that Shabbetai Tzvi was the Messiah and urged him to proclaim himself. He served as Shabbetai Tzvi’s prophet, writing letters that spread news of the messianic movement to Jewish communities around the world.