eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
The Donmeh is a Jewish community in Turkey numbering several thousand people who are descendants of the followers of the false messiah Shabtai Zvi. One of the group’s members recently returned to Judaism in a ceremony in New York. Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund tells his story.
There have been quite a few articles about the Donmeh. Here are a few:
Marc David Baer has written a new book calledThe Dönme: Jewish Converts, Muslim Revolutionaries, and Secular Turks. It is the first scholarly study of this Turkish group. The online magazine Tablet has a review.
Sheldon Kirshner writing in The Canadian Jewish News also reviews Baer’s book while providing some excellent background material on the Donme.
Lauren Davis has written a comprehensive study of the Sabbateans (another term used for the Donme, indicating their roots as followers of Shabbtai Tzvi). The 13-page paper, entitled “Hidden Lives: Sabbateans and the Search for Religion and Identity in Turkey,” was originally published in Kedma Magazine – the entire article is available for free download as a PDF by following this link.
There is another free PDF on the Sabbateans in Turkey. This one, by Leyla Neyzi of Sabancı University, is called “Remembering to Forget: Sabbateanism, National Identity, and Subjectivity in Turkey.” The 22-page paper, profiles Fatma Arıg, described as “an articulate, professional woman living in Istanbul, (who) was among the small number of people of Sabbatean background willing to be interviewed for the film Sazanikos(Blumental and Grosman 1992). Several years later, she accepted my invitation to narrate her life history and allowed her name and photograph to appear in the Turkish media.” Download the PDF here.
Fuente: shavei.org
