הגדרת ספרות השבחים השבתאית

The Sabbatian hagiographic literature is scattered within different literary genres: memoirs, letters, visions, poetry and homiletical discourses. Yet there has been no attempt made to collect it and review its place and function in the rise and fall of this fascinating messianic movement. Followers of the movement, as well as opponents or enthusiastic contemporaries at its peak, contributed their versions of the life, fortunes and misfortunes of the Messiah Sabbatai Ṣevi and his prophet Nathan. Collections of stories and reports of Christian diplomats and others should be compared to their Jewish counterparts. Heading the above-mentioned list of sources is the novel phenomenon bearing the title Meʾoraʿot Shabbetai Zevi — Sipurei Ḥalomot (Sabbatai Ṣevi — Dream Stories), an anonymous popular book, sixteen Hebrew editions of which were published in the course of the nineteenth century. The foundation of Sabbatian hagiographic literature within Jewish hagiography in general and kabbalistic hagiography in particular is discussed here alongside the book's picaresque plot.