Abraham Miguel Cardoso's Messianism: A Reappraisal

Author(s): Bruce Rosenstock

Source: AJS Review, Vol. 23, No. 1 (1998), pp. 63-104
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Jewish Studies
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 ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'SMESSIANISM:
A REAPPRAISAL
by
BRUCEROSENSTOCK

Introduction

AbrahamMiguel Cardosowas bornto a crypto-Jewishfamily living in

Rio Seco, Spain,in the year 1626. He left Spainwith with his olderbrother
Isaac in 1648.1AbrahamCardosohas usually been discussed within the
largercontext of the Sabbatianmovement,which he served as one of its
majortheoreticians.2Until his deathin 1706, Cardosofoundhimself almost
constantlyunderattackby the rabbinicalauthoritiesin the cities where he

1. Yerushalmi1971 offersa full-lengthstudyof IsaacCardoso,who brokewith his brother

over the questionof SabbataiZebi'sstatusas Messiah.
2. By Cardoso'sown testimonyin a work dated to around1700, he had writtensixty
"Treatises"(drushim),"scatteredthroughoutall of the Diaspora"(Scholem 1974, p. 295).
Scholem 1933, pp. 324-328, countedforty-sixdrushim(includingseveral"letters")extantin
manuscriptform. Molho and Amarilio 1960 publishedseveraltexts, includingan important
autobiographical letter,froma manuscriptnot knownto Scholemin 1933. In this articleI will
use the followingconventionsfor referringto the texts of Cardoso:
'al ha-Hamarahbe-Saloniki,a sectionso titledby Scholemin his partialpublicationof MS
Adler2432 of the JTS;paginationrefersto thereprintedversionin Scholem1974,pp. 278-296.
'al Ziufha-'emunah,a sectionso titledby Scholemin his partialpublicationof MS Adler
1653 of the JTS;paginationrefersto the reprintedversionin Scholem1974, pp. 296-297.
'aniMekhuneh,publishedin Bernheimer1927,pp. 112-127.
'iggeretDalet, publishedin MolhoandAmarilio1960,pp. 202-235.
'iggeretGimmel,publishedin MolhoandAmarilio1960,pp. 192-202.
'iggeretle-Dayyaney'izmir,paginationaccordingto the reprintededitionin Scholem1974,
pp. 298-335.
'iggeretle-YizhaqQardoso,publishedin Sasportas1954,pp. 287-297.
Maggen 'Abraham,publishedin Scholem1937,pp. 127-155.

AJS Review 23/1 (1998): 63-104 63

64 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

triedto settlewith his family,althoughhe sometimesfoundlocal non-Jewish

authoritieswho would offer him protection.He servedfor some time as the
personalphysicianto the bey of Tripoliand laterto the local potentatein
Tunis. In the last decades of his life, after the death of SabbataiZebi, he
engagedin bitterdebateswith otherleadingSabbatiansaboutthe divinityof
the Messiah.Cardosorejectedwholeheartedlywhathe saw as theiradoption
of a Christianmessialogy.3
GershomScholem's analysis of Cardoso'stheology as Gnostic has re-
mainedfundamentallyunchallenged.Scholemsaw in Cardoso'sthinkingthe
crystallizationof what he believed was the latent antinomianGnosticism
within Kabbalahand especiallywithin the later strataof the Zohar,and he
pointedto Cardoso'slikely acquaintancewith Gnosticideas,filteredthrough
the ChurchFathers(read duringtheologicalstudies in Spain),as the most
significantfactorin precipitatingthis crystallization(see expeciallyScholem
1980,pp. 333-334; Scholem1971a,pp. 65-74; Scholem1971c,pp. 104-107).
It is time to open up the case of AbrahamMiguel Cardosoonce again.
Withinthe lastdecadeanda half,MosheIdel,RobertBonfil,DavidRuderman,
Yosef Kaplan,RichardPopkin, and other scholarshave made significant
contributionsto the studyof the socialandintellectuallife of EuropeanJewry
in the earlymodemperiod,often with specialattentionto the role of former
crypto-Jews,amongwhom the Cardosobrothers,Abrahamand Isaac,figure
prominently.The study of the Kabbalah,the primarysource for Abraham

QodeshYisra'el, publishedin Scholem1960, pp. 253-270.

Zeh 'elive-'anvehu,withpaginationaccordingto theeditionin Scholem1974,pp. 332-369.
(All translationsof Cardoso'stextsin thisarticlearemy own;I havechosento offerextensive
quotationsbecauseCardoso'swritingsareso littleknown,andwhathas beenpublishedis often
difficultto access.)
AbrahamCardosohas been the subjectof treatmentsby Graetz(1897, p. 4), Bernheimer
(1927), Scholem(1980, pp. 324-334), andLiebes 1995b.Scholem1974 containsa convenient
collectionof previouslypublishededitionsof threeCardosomanuscripts, withintroductionsand
notes. Therearenumerousreferencesto Cardosoanda lengthydescriptionof Cardoso'sdrush
entitledMaggen 'Abrahamin Scholem 1973, s.v. "Cardoso,AbrahamMiguel"in the index,
and esp. pp. 814-820, and furtherdiscussionscan be foundin Scholem 1971a and Scholem
1971c. Thereis a biographicalentryin Scholem1978, pp. 396-400. Othershorttreatmentsof
Cardosoare foundin Yerushalmi1971, chap.7; Kaplan1989a,pp. 210-219; Carlebach1990,
pp. 98-104; Liebes 1993b,pp. 104-105; and Liebes 1995c. Cardoso'sacademicbackground
and theologyaretreatedin Yosha1988.
3. Thisis the majorargumentadvancedin the sectionof Cardoso'sDrushKinuimpublished
in Scholem1980, see esp. p. 345.
ABRAHAM MIGUEL CARDOSO'S MESSIANISM 65

Cardoso'stheological speculations,has also been enrichedin recentyears,

especiallyby the workof MosheIdelandElliotWolfson.Thenew scholarship
permitsa reinterpretation of Cardosowithinthe contextof the historicaland
intellectualcurrentsof the day,reachingfarbeyondthe Sabbatianmovement.
To view Cardosoas only a Sabbatiantheologiansuggeststhat his thinking
had little or nothing to do with the broadertheologicaland philosophical
debateswhich lay at the centerof early modem intellectuallife, and this, I
argue, is not the case. We also need to reevaluateScholem'sposition that
Cardosowas broughtto his theologicalviews by the latentforceof antinomian
Gnosticismwithin Kabbalah.Withoutaddressingthe controversialtopic of
whetherKabbalahindeedpossesseda latentGnostictendency,and,if it did,
what its origin was,4 let me offer some commentsaboutCardoso'salleged
Gnosticism.
I do not find the Gnostic label particularlyuseful for understanding
Cardoso'stheology,andin manyways it is simplymisleading.Firstof all, the
Gnosticlabel turnsCardoso'sthinkinginto a kind of atavism,a resurgence
of mythemesthathad been moreor less dormantwithinthe Kabbalah.I will
arguethatCardoso'sthinkingis farmorea responseto intellectualcurrentsat
workwithinhis own day,suchas fideism,rationalism,andthe philosophizing
Kabbalahreflectedin thewritingsof menlikeR. AbrahamYagelandAbraham
Herrera.Second,it is difficultto acceptthatCardosois a Gnosticsimplyon
the basis of his distinctionbetweenthe hiddenFirst Cause and the God of
revelation.Cardosodenies any role in salvationto the deus absconditus,the
First Cause. He does not sharein the Gnosticsense of alienationfrom the
materialcosmos, nor does he believe it to be the productof an evil god or
demiurge.And even if certainthemes in Cardoso'stheologymay resemble
some found in Gnostictheology,we cannotconcludethatthis resemblance
demonstratesthatGnosticismhadanyappealforhim.If Cardosowas familiar
with Gnosticism,andI wouldgrantthathe was, it is likelythathe wouldhave
seen it as one more exampleof the false tracktakenby ancientphilosophers
and the whole esoteric traditionrepresentedby, for example,the Hermetic
corpus,to which he does referin some of his writings,preciselybecauseit
gives prideof place to the hiddenFirstCause.
In orderto set the stagefor ourreappraisalof Cardoso'stheology,we need
to rehearsebrieflythe majorepisodes in the early historyof the Sabbatian

4. For a discussion of this topic, see Idel 1988, esp. pp. 30-32; Dan 1994; and Wolfson
1994, pp. 272-273.
66 BRUCE ROSENSTOCK

movement.Wemay beginournarrativeon September15, 1666,in the city of

Adrianople.In the space of the precedingyear, SabbataiZebi, self-declared
Messiah,had sweptup the Jewishworldin the most widespreadoutbreakof
eschatalogicalfervorin its history.Now, arrestedsome time earlierby the
Ottomanauthoritieson chargesof libertinismand seditiousproclamations
(Scholem 1973, pp. 668-671) he is about to appearbefore the sultan for
examination.Many of his followers had long believed that SabbataiZebi
would one day enterthe sultan'spalaceand emergewith at leastpermission
to returnto the Holy Landand rebuildthe Temple.Here is how Nathanof
Gaza,Sabbatai's"prophet,"puts it in an epistlewrittenin 1665:

AndnowI shalldisclosethecourseof events.A yearanda few monthsfrom

today,he [Sabbatai]willtakethedominion fromtheTurkishkingwithoutwar,
forby the [powerof] thehymnsandpraiseswhichhe shallutter,all nations
shallsubmitto his rule.He will takethe Turkishkingaloneto thecountries
whichhe will conquer, andall thekingsshallbe tributary
untohim,butonly
theTurkish kingwillbe hisservant.5

WhenSabbataiemergedfromhis meetingwiththesultan,hehadnotcompelled
the sultanto becomehis servant.Instead,the Messiahhadconvertedto Islam,
althoughhe continuedto proclaimhimself the now "occulted"Messiahof
Israel.
Someof thosewho wishedto remaintrueto theirbeliefthatthe messianic
age had been inauguratedwith SabbataiZebi decidedto follow the lead of
their Messiah and follow him into apostasy.Otherstook a more moderate
course, consideringSabbataiZebi's apostasyto be a uniqueact which was
not intendedto be a model for others.The most prominentspokesperson
for this position was AbrahamMiguel Cardoso.Scholem saw Cardoso's
continuedallegianceto SabbataiZebi as an exampleof the attractionwhicha
"hidden"Messiahhadon formercrypto-Jewswho themselvesmayhavespent
a considerablepartof theirlives in hidingtheirreal identities(see especially
Scholem1971c,p. 95). ForCardoso,at least,the Messiah'sapostasywas not
an act which he soughtto emulate.
Cardososet out to definethe theoryand practiceof the Sabbatianfaith
by downplayingthe apostasyandthe imageof a debasedMessiah.Cardoso's
Jewishtriumphalistmessiansim-he believedthatIsrael'sredemptionwould

5. Quoted in Scholem 1973, pp. 272-273.

ABRAHAM MESSIANISM
MIGUELCARDOSO'S 67

meantheacknowledgment by bothChristianityandIslamthattheirrevelations
wereutterlywithoutmerit6--couldnotcountenancethecentralityof a debased
Messiah,nor the practiceof self-debasementthroughapostasywhich some
Sabbatiansadoptedin imitationof SabbataiZebi.Cardosowas fully awareof
how closely the imageof the debasedMessiahresembledthatof the Christian
Messiah.7Althoughhe was not afraidto use the SufferingServantpassage
in Isaiah53 as a prooftextfor the messianicstatusof the debasedSabbatai
Zebi, he soughtto distinguishSabbataiZebi'sdebasementfromthatof Jesus
by claimingthat SabbataiZebi would not die in a conditionof debasement
as Jesus had: "And we say that between the abasementand the glory of
the Messiahson of David, theremust be no death,for the Messiahson of
David does not have to die" (from an unpublishedmanuscriptof a letterof
AbrahamCardosoto his brother,quotedin Yerushalmi1971, p. 337). When
in fact SabbataiZebi died in 1676 withouthavingemergedin glory fromhis
apostasy,Cardosodevelopeda theoryabouttwo Messiahs,one thedescendant
of David,the otherthe descendantof Ephraim.(The latteris also sometimes
spokenof as the Messiahson of Joseph,Ephraim'sfather.Cardosoprefersthe
designation"Messiahson of Ephraim.")Cardosoidentifiedthe Messiahson
of Davidwith SabbataiZebi, andthe Messiahson of Ephraimwith himself.8
Cardosouses the notionof two Messiahs,I will argue,to get beyondthe focus
on an apostasizingandhumiliatedMessiah.
In the next section I will examine a text in which Cardoso'sclaim
to be the Messiah son of Ephraimis the main focus of the discussion.
Then, in the following sections,I will attemptto situateCardosowithinthe
intellectualtopographyof his day.I arguethatthe way Cardosounderstands

6. In Ze 'eli ve- 'anvehu,p. 342, CardosoexplainsthatMuslimsandChristians,andindeed

Jewstoo sincethe close of the Talmud,havemistakenlybeenprayingto theFirstCause,a being
withoutprovidentialconcernfor humanity,ratherthanto the God of revelation,the Godof the
Torah.See also Scholem 1980 for Cardoso'sfullest discussionof the derivationof Christian
theologyfromcorruptedJewishtraditions.
7. Fora discussionof AbrahamCardoso'suse of Christologicalmotifsin his explicationof
the debasementof SabbataiZebi, see Yerushalmi1971,pp. 335-341.
8. It is not as unusualas it may seem at firstto makesuch a messianicclaim or to make
it made aboutsomeone.Some of R. Isaac Luria'sdisciplesconsideredhim to have been the
Messiah son of Ephraim(Scholem 1973, pp. 54-55, 70), and the same was believed about
R. Samsonb. Pesah of Ostropol,who was martyredduringthe 1648 Ukrainianuprising(see
Scholem 1973, p. 82; Liebes 1987, p. 244). A certainR. NehemiahCohen(!) claimedto be
the Messiahson of Ephraimand even engagedin a debatewith SabbataiZebi over this claim
(Scholem1973, pp. 658-668).
68 BRUCE ROSENSTOCK

his messianic role serves to position him against both the anti-Sabbatian
rabbinicestablishmentas well as its many intellectualopponents,including
certainphilosophizingkabbalistsandrationalistcritics.Cardoso,I will argue,
representshimself as an "anti-elitist"Messiahwho will sharethe secretsof
Israel'sredemption-bearing knowledgewith the whole Jewishpeople.
I conclude by returningto Cardoso'smessianicclaims, and I offer an
analysis of his teachingabout the unity of the Messiahson of David and
the Messiahson of Ephraim.Cardosomakesthe two Messiahsinto a single,
powerfulicon of redemption.Thissingleicon is the imageof thetwo Messiahs
joined togetheras one. Cardosois constructinga messianiciconwhichwould
carrythe same force amongthe broadspectrumof Jews as the image of the
unity of God and his Shekhinahcarriedfor the elitist, mysticaltraditionof
ecstaticKabbalah.Justas the vision of this unionbroughtthe mystic into a
transformed state,so the imageoriconof theunionof thetwo Messiahswould,
Cardosohoped,drawthe entireJewishpeople forwardinto redemption.

TheMessiahson of David and the Messiahson ofEphraim

Cardoso'steachingaboutthe Messiahdownplayedthe figureof Sabbatai

Zebi as a model. Cardososoughtto avoid concentrationon the apostasyas
the culminatingact of Sabbatai'smessianicidentity.SabbataiZebi, Cardoso
believed,was the precursorto anothermessianicfigure,one who wouldbring
thedramaof redemptionto completionthroughthefull explicationof Sabbatai
Zebi'steaching.Cardosomakesthis clearin a treatise(drush)entitled"Israel
was holy to the Lord,the firstfruitsof his harvest"(Jer.2:3), whichwe will
referto hereafteras QodeshYisra'el. Thistextmentionsthe deathof Sabbatai
Zebi (1676), and yet it reveals a heightenedexpectationof the cessationof
Israel'sexile (galut). In 'al ha-Hamarahbe-Sa'loniki("Onthe Apostasyin
Saloniki"),p. 278, Cardosotells us that in 1680 he and his studentsbegan
to look forwardto an imminentend to the exile, and as Passoverof the
year 1682 approached,they had greathopes thatthe festivalwould not pass
withoutthe comingof redemption(p. 281). It is thereforereasonableto accept
Scholem'sdatingof the text to sometimeduringthis two-yearperiod,and
certainlybeforethe mass apostasyof the Sabbatiansin Salonikiin the year
1683, an event which devastatedCardosoand closed the book on his hopes
for an imminentredemption(Scholem 1974,p. 249).
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 69

In QodeshYisra'elCardosoplayswithacronymsderivedfromthefirstand
finallettersof severalbiblicalphrases,as well as of the phrases"Messiahson
of David"and "Messiahson of Ephraim"(MashiahbenDavid andMashiah
ben 'efraim,respectively).At one point Cardosoequatesthe sequence of
Hebrew letters mem, bet, alef of "Messiahson of Ephraim"with that of
"Michaelson of Abraham,"his own name. He goes on to declarethat he
possesses somethinglike a divine nickname,r'oshiy, "my head,"also the
name of a sort of supernalalter-egowho appearsto him as his spiritual
"guide"(maggid). This nicknameis fraughtwith kabbalisticsignificance.
In the context in which Cardosointroducesthe name, and in his further
discussionof it, it is clear,as we will see below,thatis is connectedwith the
sefirahof Yesod,the divine phallus.Cardosoexplainsthatthe consonantsof
this namecan be foundin the firstwordof the HebrewBible, ber'eshiyt,"In
the beginning[of]." The first name of the Messiahson of David, Sabbatai
(Shabtay),may also be foundin this word,butone mustrearrangethe letters.
In other words, Cardoso'snicknameis written"in order"within the first
word of the Bible, whereas SabbataiZebi's found "out of order."Cardoso
explainswhy this shouldbe so in a passageof tremendoussignificancefor
an understanding of his self-image.

Considerthat r 'oshiyis the head [r 'osh] of the tenthsefirah,9 and this pours
out in a straightline uponMalkhut,1oand for this reasonthe lettersof r 'oshiy
arein a straight
lineandclearlyvisiblein thewordber'eshiyt.Remaining
over
from the word are the lettersb [bet] t [tav], and she [bat means "daughter"]
is Malkhut.Because it [r 'oshiy]is from Yesod[the ninthsefirah,the divine
phallus],it is a "speculum
whichshines,"anditsnameshinesinthelightof the
wordber 'eshiyt.Andbecausethe Messiahson of Davidis fromMalkhut,"I
and
Malkhutis a "speculum whichdoesnot shine,"his deedsarehiddenandhis
nameis notin orderin thelettersof thewordber'eshiyt.Andlikewiseat the
endof theTorah,inthewordYisra'el,r 'oshiyis found,butnotinorder,because
he too [i.e.,Cardoso]
will cometo be withinIsraelin a stateof confusion.

9. I am acceptingScholem'ssuggestedreadingof l'"yfor ly in the manuscript,takingthe

yod to representthe number10 (Ben-ZviandBenayahu1960,p. 257).
10. This is the name for the tenthsefirah,sometimesreferredto as Shekhinah,andthus
r 'oshiyis bothCardoso'snicknameandhis specialnameforthe ninthsefirah,Yesod,the divine
phallus.
11. Cardosobases this uponzoharicpassages,andthe factthatDavid,as king, is relatedto
the sefirahwhose name,Malkhut,means"kingdom."
70 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

Andthereis yet anotherreason[forthearrangement of themessianicnames

in the word ber'eshiyt]:accordingto the sages of blessed memory,"in the
heels of the Messiahtherewill be an increaseof effrontery,abuse,and scorn,"
and in the Tiqquneyha-Zoharand in the Zoharwe readthatthe sages of this
[messianic]generation-and this is it-will hate the wisdomof the Kabbalah
completely,and they will cause a lengtheningof the exile and its tribulations,
and the light of [the sefirah]Hokhmah[wisdom]will withdrawupwardfrom
[thesefirah]Tiferet.Thenthe Messiahwill be humbledandlaidwasteanddried
up, andhis spiritwill leave andnot return.Becauseof all this, the Messiahson
of David will not be able to bringredemptionand to explainthe secretof the
faith in the divinitywith clarityand in all its details.Then the Messiahwill
sleep in the dust, and indeedhe will become dust.And then the Messiahson
of Ephraim,accordingto the reasonswhich I will explain,God willing, shall
grasphold of and declarethe faith of the First Cause within the Holy One,
blessedbe He, and his Shekhinahandthe faithof the divinityin all its details
to Israel.Forthis reason,the nameof the Messiahson of Davidis not in order
in the wordber'eshiyt,andthe nameof the Messiahson of Ephraimis in order
there.
(QodeshYisra'el,p. 258)

Cardosoidentifieshimselfas the Messiahson of Ephraim,a firgurewhom

he associates with Yesod,the divine phallus,within the configurationsof
the sefirot.12Cardoso'sdivinenickname,r 'oshiy,is containedwithinthe first
wordof the HebrewBible,ber'eshiyt,andthe letterswhichsurroundhis name
makeup the wordbat, "daughter," referringto thesefirahof Malkhut,aligned
with the Messiahson of David, SabbataiZebi. Althoughwe must returnto
this pointlater,it is importantto note now how we have in this explicationof
the firstword of the HebrewBible a representation of the penetrationof the
malesefirahof Yesodwithinthe spaceof the femaleMalkhut,andat the same
time the representationof the union of the two Messiahs.This union is, in
fact,the focus of Cardoso'sQodeshYisra'el. WhatCardosowantsto stressin
the passage just quoted, however, is that he, Cardoso, is the "straight"version
of the Messiah, whereas Sabbatai Zebi is the "out-of-order" version who
requires Cardoso to offer a clearer, more legible, rendering of the Messiah's
message concerning the "mystery of the faith.""

12. Liebes 1993a, p. 14 and passim points out that in the Idra Rabba,the Messiah is
identifiedwith the configurationof Yesod.
13. Althoughit is certainlyanachronisticto read "heterosexual" in the use of the term
"straight"by Cardoso,it is not imposinga foreignsense on the word if we see it as having
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S
MESSIANISM 71

Cardosouses a secondset of termswithwhichto contrasthis messiahship

with thatof SabbataiZebi. He says thathe, as the Messiahson of Ephraim,
is like a "speculumwhich shines," whereas SabbataiZebi, the Messiah
son of David, is like a "speculumwhich does not shine."These termsare
standardkabbalisticnomenclaturefor the male potencywithin the sefirotic
configurations(sometimesspecifiedas Tiferetand sometimesas Yesod)and
the sefirah of Malkhutor Shekhinah(Wolfson 1994, passim, and esp. pp.
306-317). They also distinguishbetweenthe level of revelationgrantedto
Moses (througha "speculumwhich shines")and that grantedto all other
prophets(througha "speculumwhich does not shine").Cardosois therefore
alludingto the superiorityof his vision of the divine over that attainedby
SabbataiZebi.
The contrastbetween this view of SabbataiZebi and that found in an
earlytext of Cardoso'sdealingwith the meaningof SabbataiZebi'sapostasy,
Maggen 'Abraham,writtenin 1668 (Scholem1973,p. 815), indicatesclearly
how the deathof SabbataiZebi in 1676 forcedCardosoto rethinkSabbatai
Zebi's messianic significance.14 In the earlier text Cardosodescribesthe

referenceto the erectphallus,whichCardosoexplicitlydescribesas "pouringout"in a straight

line uponMalkhut,an unmistakablekabbalisticreferenceto the seminaleffluxof Yesod.Since,
as a matterof fact,Cardosoclaimsthathis powerderivesfromYesod,andthatof SabbataiZebi
fromthe femaleMalkhut,perhapsit is not inappropriateto understandCardosoto be reinforcing
theheterosexuality of his "union"withSabbataiZebiand,thus,his "straightness."
I will returnin
a latersectionof the paper("Cardosoas Kabbalistandthe Unityof the Messiahs")to the theme
of the sexualjunctureof CardosoquaMessiahson of EphraimandSabbataiZebiquaMessiah
son of David.It will becomeclearthattherearehomoeroticelementsin this theme,butI would
cautionstronglyagainstconcludingthatCardosowas a homosexual.I am persuadedby recent
scholarshipwhich challengesthe notion that homosexualityrefersto a single transhistorical
psychic disposition.(For a recentsummationof the position,and special remarksaboutthe
constructionof sexualityin rabbinicculture,see Boyarin1997, esp. pp. 14-23.) On the other
hand,I will arguethat Cardosois not merelyreplayingthe homoeroticthemeswhich are so
basicto the Kabbalah(see Wolfson1994,esp. pp. 369-377). I will arguethatthesethemesalso
servewhatI call Cardoso'sphallicnarcissism.Thispsychosocialdynamic,verymucha feature
of Cardoso'scrypto-Jewishhistory,will be the subjectof a muchlongertreatmentin a future
book-lengthstudyon which I am currentlyengaged,andis broachedin this paperin "Cardoso
as Kabbalistandthe Unity of the Messiahs."
14. If, however,we agreewith Liebes (1995b, pp. 46-48) thatthis text is not in fact by
Cardoso,we maysee greatercontinuityin Cardoso'sthinking.I tendto acceptLiebes'srejection
of Scholem'sattributionof the text to Cardoso,but nothingin my argumenthinges on the
resolutionof this question.
72 BRUCE ROSENSTOCK

incomprehensibilityof SabbataiZebi's actions as a sign of their origin in

a higher wisdom vouchsafedonly to the Messiah son of David, the King
Messiah.

Nowwe mustmakeclearthatno creature

is ableto graspwithknowledge
the
affairsof the King Messiahbecausehis knowledgeis greaterand higherthan
thatof all who haveeverpassedthroughtheworldor who everwill, whetherin
purityor its opposite[i.e., whethermembersof Israelor not]. And this is what
the sages hintedat in saying [TB San83b]thatthe Holy One, blessedbe He,
would lay upon the Messiahcommandmentsas a heavy burdenwhich enjoin
uponhimstrangethingswhichwill be doneby theKingMessiahto thepoint
thatthey will appearstrangein the eyes of all the world.Indeed,becausethey
are establishedas a remedyfor theirown heavy burdens,the deedswhich are
strangein the eyes of all people areheavy [for the KingMessiah].
Thereis no one who is ableto comprehendthemin anyway or manner
becausetheyareprofoundly hiddenactsof reparation
[tiqqunim]
...
(Maggen 'Abraham,p. 137)

Afterthe deathof SabbataiZebi, Cardosoreinterpreted the incomprehen-

sibility of his actions as a test of faith for Israel,a stage in Israel'spathto
knowledgefromout the blindnessof its faith.I see this reconceptualization
of the strangedeeds of the Messiah as springingfrom Cardoso'sdesire to
presentan image of a Messiahwithoutthe taint of debasement,even if it
meanspresentinganotherMessiah,the Messiahson of Ephraim,as the one
who fulfillswhat SabbatiZebi began.

Faith vs. Knowledge

In 'iggeretle-Dayyaney'izmir("A Letterto the Rabbinateof Smyrna"),

writtennot long afterSabbataiZebi'sapostasy(May-June1669;see Scholem
1974),Cardosoinvokesthe samedistinctionbetweentwo levels of revelation
thatwe have seen him drawin the latertext Qodesh Yisra'el. In the earlier
text, this distinctioncorrespondsnot to the Messiah son of David and the
Messiah son of Ephraimrespectively,but to the levels of faith ('emunah)
andknowledge(yedi'ah).It is interestingto observethatbeforethe deathof
SabbataiZebi,Cardosois usingthe sameconceptualtools as he employsafter
SabbataiZebi's death,andin bothcases the aim is to downplaythe statusof
the debasedMessiah.In the earliertext, Cardosobeginshis reflectionon the
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 73

difference between faith and knowledge by commenting on the passage in the

book of Exodus where Moses, having been commanded by God to instruct
Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their bondage, asks God to release him
from the mission.

And the reasonwas not thathe was afraidof Pharaoh,or of the Egyptians,but
the core of his reasoningis foundin his statementthatthe Israeliteswill not
believe in him. But the questionariseswhatvalue suchbelief or lack of belief
in him has, if the exodus is the effect [of a chain of events, beginningwith]
Pharaoh'schoice, then the conflictwith Moses, then the battlewith Pharaoh,
and at the very end of it all, withouttheirwilling it, Israelwill leave Egypt.
But Moses knew that the promiseof salvationwould not be fulfilledeasily,
but with greattribulationsandwith immensetrouble,if the belief in whatwas
promisedwas lacking. Because of this he [Moses] was afraidneitherof the
sword of Pharaohnor of any other dangerexcept for the dangerposed by
those who lackedfaith,lest Israelnot believe in him. And in exactlythe same
way the secondredeemer[SabbataiZebi]requiresfaithaccordingto the secret
teachingregardingthe verse"righteousness shallbe the girdleof his waist,and
faithfulness['emunah]the girdleof his loins"[Isaiah11:5,RSV translation].'5
Whatthis meansis thatjust as a girdlestrengthensthe loins of the one whomit
girds,so faithincreasesthe strengthof the redeemer.Anotherreasonis thatthe
one who believes in him is joined to him in just the way a girdleis joined to
the loins of a man.And the secretteachingis this:the redeemingangel is [the
sefirahof] Malkhut,and also the Messiahis calledMalkhut.And it is evident
fromthe Zoharandthe Tiqqunim thatthe one who establishesthe kingdomof
the houseof Davidon the earthrequiresthe effluxof the higherlevels, and [the
sefirahof] MalkhutQadishahis calledfaith['emunah]andalso "thespeculum
which does not shine."And so long as he [the Davidic Messiah]lacks the
powerto shine as does the "speculumwhich shines,"which is the Torahas it
is issued forththroughpropheticpower like the light of the sun, but he only
shines as in a diminishedvision, then for so long faithis required.For if faith
were to shine like the sun it would not be faithbutknowledge.
('iggeretle-Dayyaney'izmir,pp. 314-3 15)

15. This verse is froma chaptercontainingone of the most famousmessianicprophecies

in the HebrewBible, and it seems to have been takenup in the Idra Rabbain referenceto
the "girdingof the weapons"by the "righteous,"i.e., the kabbalisticbrotherhoodwhich has
attainedmessianicpowers throughits mysticalpractices.For a discussionof this motif, see
Liebes 1993a,21-22.
74 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

CardosoarguesthatSabbataiZebi is the Messiahin whomone musthave

faith,and,whatis more,in whom one can only have faith,preciselybecause
he seems to do what no JewishMessiahwould ever do, namely,apostasize,
andbecausehe is a debasedfigureratherthana gloriousking. Whatis more,
the completionof SabbataiZebi'smessianictaskrequiresthatIsraelplace its
faithin him. Withoutsuch faith,his redemptivepoweris curtailed.But such
faith is only a preparatorystage in Israel'sredemption.The Jewishpeople
must pass throughthis test of faith before they can enterinto the full light
of knowledge.Just a little furtheron Cardosostates:"Faithis a speculum
which does not shine, and knowledgeis a speculumwhich does shine, and
someonewho wishes to ascendto knowledgemustenterthroughthe doorof
faith,becausethis is the gate of the Lord"(p. 315).16 As we havejust seen,
Cardosowill laterarguethatthe MessiahSon of Ephraimis the Messiahof
Knowledge,the Messiahwho will explicatefor the Jewishpeople the true
natureof God.WhenCardosospeaksof faithas the"speculumwhichdoesnot
shine,"he is, firstof all, rankingthe epistemologicalstatusof faithbelow that
of knowledge,in the samerelativepositionas "diminishedvision"standsto
"thelight of the sun."The level of faithis a level whichmustbe transcended
if the knowledgeof God, the clearanddirectvision, "inthe lightof the sun,"
through"thespeculumwhich shines,"is to be attained."7
The centralityof the knowledge of God for Israel's redemption,and,
indeed,humankind's,is a themeto whichCardosoreturnsfrequentlyin many
of his writings.Hereis the openingof his treatiseZeh 'eli ve-'anvehu("This
Is My God andI Will ExtolHim,"Exod 15:2),writtenone or two yearsafter
the mass apostasyin Saloniki,in either1684 or 1685:

It is widelyacknowledged thatAdamwas createdwithintelligence andfree

will so as to worshiphis Creator,
butit is notpossibleto worshipa beingin

16. Cardosois herealludingto the openingof Tiqquney ha-Zohar,whichcontainsextended

interpretations of the firstverse of the HebrewBible, andspeaksof Shekhinahas the "gateof
the Lord."Tiqquneyha-Zoharis clearlyalso centralfor Cardoso'sQodeshYisra'el, a text I will
discussbelow in "Cardosoas KabbalistandUnityof the Messiahs."
17. If we agreewith the argumentsadvancedin Liebes 1995bthatCardosois the author
of the majortheoreticalwork Raza de-Mehemnutawhich he himself and the latertradition
ascribedto SabbataiZebi, we may findCardoso'sjustificationfor this act of"ghostwriting"to
lie in his belief thathe is the divinelyappointedexplicatorof the "meaning"of SabbataiZebi
to the world.Cf. Liebes 1995b,p. 44, who rightlysuggeststhat"perhapsCardosodid not see
his act as totalforgery."
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 75

truthwhen thatbeing's realityis not known.In orderthatAdammightgovern

his life with wisdom, the CreatorgracedAdam with a knowledgeready to
graspHis divinity.But this was not sufficient,and thereforeHe declaredHis
realityto IsraelthroughHis servantMoses,"faithfulin [all]his house,"andHe
gave Israelthe Torahand its interpretation in orderthat Israelmightworship
Him in perfectionin accordancewith whatis writtenin the Torah.AndHe did
not want themto only believe in Him, but to recognizeHim and to knowHis
truthby meansoffundamentalprinciplesrootedin wisdom,discernmentand
knowledge.He wantedIsrael'sknowledgeto be.unshakable,and, indeed,that
was a generationof knowledge,as it is written:"Toyou it was shown,thatyou
might know that the Lordis God; thereis no otherbesides him";". ..know
thereforethis day,andlay it to yourheart,thatthe Lordis Godin heavenabove
andon earthbeneath;thereis no other";". . .andI will takeyou formy people,
and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord"[Deut4:35,
4:39; Exod 6:7, RSV translation].Thereforethe essence of the entireTorahis
"I am the Lordyour God who broughtyou out of the landof Egypt,"and the
interpretationof this is: in orderto know thatthe Lordexists. This is the first
commandment whichit is incumbentupona manto fulfillwithhis intelligence,
and thus David commandedhis son Solomon,"Knowthe God of your father
andworshiphim"...
(Zeh 'elive- 'anvehu,p. 335; emphasisadded)

Again, in 'iggeret Gimmel, a letter written to his disciples in the year

1701, nearly twenty years after the preceding text, we read:

God, may He be blessed, does not desire that people have faith in him like
fools,'"but thatpeople have discernmentand know in truthand with wisdom
His divinity,as it is written,". .. and you shall know that I am the Lord,"
"to you it was shown, that you might know that the Lordis God."And the
instructionwhichthey [Israel]receivedfromMosesourteacherwas not so that
they mighthave faithbut so thatthey mighthaveknowledge.
('IggeretGimmel,p. 193)

Almost immediately after this passage, Cardoso returns to what we have

seen is one of his fundamental motifs.

18. Wemay certainlysee in this expressiona referenceto Prov 14:15,"A fool will believe
everything,"butI thinkit is not going too farto readin it also a referenceto Erasmus'In Praise
of Folly. We shall see below that Cardosowas most likely conversantwith the theological
positionknownas fideism,and Erasmus'work was one of the most famousdefensesof this
position.
76 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

..faith['emunah]is a speculum whichdoesnotshine,a beautiful

maidenwith
no eyes,buttherighteous oneis a headanda speculumwhichshineswiththe
attributeof wisdom.Andthewisemanhaseyesin hisheadto seekthewayof
divinitywithintellectualwondersandvisions.
('IggeretGimmel,p. 193)

This lastpassageis particularlysignificantbecausewe see Cardosoagain

calling upon a series of associationslinkingfaith,the speculumwhich does
not shine, and the Shekhinah("thebeautifulmaidenwithouteyes")and also
connectingknowledge,speculumwhich shines, and head (r'osh), which is
connectedwith the sefirahof Yesod,the divinephallus.'9These are the very
associative links which are centralto the Qodesh Yisra'el,writtennearly
twentyyearsbefore,in whichCardosomakeshis mostexplicitclaimto be the
Messiahson of Ephraim.Cardoso,it is true,seems not to want to proclaim
himselfa messianicfigurein his laterwritings,20butdespitethisreluctancehe
continuesto insistthathe, andhe alone,is completingthedramaof redemption
by bringingto all Israel the full knowledgeof the mysteryof divinity.In
anotherletterto his disciplesalso writtenin 1701 (MolhoandAmarillo1960,

19. For the identificationof the headwith openedeyes and Yesod,see Wolfson1994, pp.
355-383, andWolfson1995a.I note in passingthatCardosoin this passagemay be influenced
by the verytext quotedin Wolfson1995b,p. 112,in which"thebeautifulmaidenwithouteyes"
is invokedin relationto the Shema' since Cardosotoo hadjust been discussingthe proper
ritualperformanceof this liturgy.
20. He deniesthathe hadmadeany claimof messiahshipabouthimselfin 'aniMekhuneh,
p. 127,a late autobiographicaltext, butthis passagemustbe understoodin its context.Cardoso
is discussinghow he acquiredhis knowledgeof the natureof the divinityof Israel'sGod, and
he refersto the talmudicdictumthatonly fourmen "knowGod innately[me-'azmo],"namely
Abraham,Job, Hezekiah,andthe King Messiah.This dictumis used by Cardosoin one of his
earliestwritings,Maggen 'Abraham, p. 138,as well as in thelaterautobiographical
writingslike
'aniMekhuneh,p. 127,and 'iggeretGimmel,p. 198,alwaysin referenceto SabbataiZebi.What
Cardososeems to be saying is that SabbataiZebi "knewGod innately,"but thathe, Cardoso,
was given the powerto know God froman "illuminated" readingof the Torah,aggadot,and
Kabbalah,and thereforehe is not the King Messiah.I would take this to be Cardoso'sway
of seemingto distancehimself froma claim to be Messiah,but what it reallysays is thathe,
Cardoso,has a highergrade of knowledgethan SabbataiZebi. Cardosodispenseswith the
messianictitle and pays an "underhanded compliment"tothe figurewho retainsit. Whether
he claims a messianictitle or not, he continuesto claim a messianicfunction.(See also the
polemicaltractateSeferMaribatKadesh,p. 18, in Freimann1912foranotheruse of the "innate
knowledge"motifby Cardoso,wherehe clearlystatesthatthis appliesonly to the Messiahson
of David, but thatthe Messiahson of David and the Messiahson of Ephraim"havea single
mysterywhich is sharedby them.")
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S
MESSIANISM 77

p. 233),Cardosowrites:"Yousee, andthemajorityof theDiasporaknows,

thatI aloneam revealingthe divinityof the Holy One,blessedbe He, in
wisdom,discernment andknowledge." It is clearthat,whetheras Messiah
son of Ephraim or not,Cardososees himselfas theonewhois liftingIsrael
fromfaithto knowledge.
Cardoso'sdistinctionbetweenthelevelsof faithandknowledge is typical
of seventeenth-century thought.It reveals a great deal abouthis position
withinthe intellectualtopography of his day.We see thatCardosois no
strangerto one of the basicconcernsof the age, namely,the questfor a
new epistemicgrounding forthe faithclaimsof religion,a consequence of
whatPopkin(1979)has called"theintellectual crisisof the Reformation."
In responseto Luther'sproclamation at the Dietof Wormsin 1521thathe
wouldacceptonly"whattheconscienceis compelledto believeon reading
Scripture"(Popkin1979,p. 3) as thecriterion of religiousknowledge,some
Catholictheologianshadadopteda fideisticdefenseof the authority of the
Churchin distinguishing truefromfalsedoctrine.Thisfideisticdefensewas
linkedto a skepticalattackuponall extra-ecclesiastical
claimsto knowledge,
whetherbasedon conscience,sense-perception, reason,orsomecombination
of these(Popkin1979,esp.chap.4). Thefideistarguedthatonlyecclesiastical
authoritycould provide a secure criterionof true doctrine,since all other
basesof knowledgewere inherentlyfallible.Onehad,therefore,to makefaith
in ecclesiasticaltraditionthe foundationof one's religiouslife, accordingto
the fideist.
Cardoso'sdenigrationof faith in favor of knowledgestandsopposedto
CatholicCounter-Reformation fideism,withwhichhe mayhavebeenfamiliar
fromhistheologicaltrainingin Spain.WhileCardoso
doesnotclaimthatthe
sole criterionof religiousknowledgeis the innercertitudeof conscience,he
does ascribea powerto recognizereligioustruth"innately"to SabbataiZebi
(see above,n. 19.)AndCardoso'suse of Scripture-forhimthiswouldinclude
boththewrittenandtheoralTorah,includingthezohariccorpus-againsthis
criticsresembles
anti-Sabbatian Luther'sstand.Wemayseethismoreclearly
if we look at how fideismfunctionedwithininner-Jewishpolemics.
Fideism had become a staple for many Jews in their argumentwith
the rationalistcritics of the scripturaland rabbinictraditions.Yosef Kaplan
(1989a,pp.316-318)discussestheusewhichIsaacOrobiode Castromakes
of fideisticskepticismin rebutting
the arguments
of Juande Pradoand,as
well, of the RemonstranttheologianPhilip van Limborch.Orobio,Kaplan
78 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

writes,arguedthatwithoutfaithin the Scriptureandin the OralLawby which

it is appropriatelyinterpreted,"thereis no possibilityof obtainingknowledge
of the Godhead"(1989a, p. 317). "Orobiogoes so faras to say,"Kaplanadds
in a note (1989a, n. 39, p. 317), "thatsince the cessationof prophecyin Israel
the Jewishpeople have lost all certainknowledgeof mattersesoteric,and of
the mystic qualityof Scripture."
Cardosoknew the work of Isaac Orobio,and in one letterhe describes
him,andhis own brotherIsaacas well, as "arrogant" in theirrejectionof those
aspects of scriptureand rabbinictraditionwhich smackedof the mystical
and esoteric.2 In his oppositionto the fideisticpositionof Orobio,Cardoso
enunciatesa claim aboutthe possibilityof religiousknowledgewhichstands
on the level of the "speculumwhich shines"and is, therefore,equalto that
attainedby Moses. This is, to be sure, a conceptionof religiousknowledge
which has its roots in the Kabbalah,but it also has parallelsin Reformation
theologianslike LutherandCalvinwho arguedfor the possibilityof a Divine
Illuminationby which the individualcould know the truthof Scripture.I
am not claimingthat Cardosowas familiarwith the writingsof Protestant
theologians.However,I thinkthecomparisonis heuristicallyuseful.Itpermits
us to appreciatehow Cardoso'sdisputewith Orobioand his denigrationof
faith in favor of knowledgerevealsthe conflictbetweenhis own reforming
"backto scripturalrevelation"positionand the fideisticdefenseadoptedby
manyJewishtraditionalists.22
One pointmustbe madevery clearly,however,in interpretingCardoso's
anti-fideisticposition.In maintainingthe primacyof knowledgeover faith,
Cardososhould not be seen as aligning himself with anothergroup who
opposedthe fideists, namely,the anti-skepticalrationalistswho claimedto
possess ways of justifying the fundamentaltenets of faith throughrational
demonstration.23 Cardoso,as we will see later,is vehementlyopposedto the

21. I am following here the argumentof Kaplan1989a, pp. 215-216, that Cardosodoes
not place Orobioand his brotherIsaac in the categoryof naturalistas,or rationalistdeists,as
Yerushalmi1971,p. 326, firstproposed.
22. We see the same conflictplayed out in the disputebetweencertainJews who reject
rabbinicauthorityandappealto the Karaitetraditionas theyunderstand it, andthe defendersof
the OralLaw.See Rosenberg1987 andKaplan1990.Rosenberg1987speaksof the Karaitesas
possessinga Protestanttemper,andhe alignsCardosowith this groupbecause,while Cardoso
does not attackthe talmudicrabbis,he opposes"therabbinictraditionandcalls for a returnto
the originalsourcesof the relgion"(p. 295).
23. Fora discussionof suchrationalistdefensesof faith,see Kors 1993.
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 79

rationalistagendaof groundingreligious faith upon what Limborch,in his

dispute with Orobio, describedas the "commonand direct use of reason
[communiset recta ratio] which is sharedby everyone,whetherChristian,
Jew,or Gentile"(Kaplan1989a,p. 318). WhenCardosocalls knowledgethe
"speculumwhich shines,"he is not speakingabout a knowledgeacquired
throughthe exerciseof rationalinvestigation(scientia),butaboutknowledge
as a highersapientia.24For Cardoso,knowledgeis beyondfaithbecauseit is
the revelatorymediumof a resplendentvision of the divine realm,whereas
faithprovidesonly a dim apprehensionof thisrealm,as in a "speculumwhich
does not shine."Knowledgein the sense of sapientiahas nothingto do with
rationalproofs for the existence of God. Sapientiadoes not justify faith, it
consummatesit.
The Jewish thinkerwhose conception of religious knowledge stands
closest to Cardoso'sis R. JudahLoew,the Maharalof Prague.Both Cardoso
and the Maharalare heirs of the anti-rationalist traditionin Jewishthinking
which descendsfrom R. JudahHalevi. David Ruderman(1995, pp. 95-97)
has suggested that the Maharalmay have been influencedby Protestant
theology, and we have seen that Cardoso,even if we deny his familiarity
with Protestantwritings,replaysthe "reformer" positionin his polemicwith
Isaac Orobio.In his analysisof the Maharal's"mysticaltheology,"Sherwin
(1982), firstof all, stressesthe Maharal'srejectionof the searchfor a rational
demonstrationof the basic tenetsof the Jewishfaith,includingthe existence
of God (p. 56), and the consequentneed to rely upon the knowledge of
God and his essence providedby kabbalistictradition(pp. 61-69). Cardoso
and the Maharalsharea conceptionof Kabbalah,takento be the "soul"of
the Torah,as the sapientialconsummationof faith (pp. 77-82). And like
the Maharal,Cardosobelievedthatmost rabbinicalleaderswere standingin
the way of Israel'sachievementof the highersapiencewhich would bring
the end of the exile (galut). We will returnto this point later,but for the
momentit is sufficientto recognizethe affinitybetween the two thinkers,
the Maharaland Cardoso,who positionedthemselvesas "reformers," each
raisinga battlecry for a returnto the authenticlegitimatingsourceof Jewish
faith,the "illuminated" of Scriptureprovidedby Kabbalah.
interpretation

24. I am using the terms employedby Ruderman1995, p. 97, in his discussionof the
epistemologyof the Mahral.In what follows I will arguethatthe Maharaloffersus an earlier
and somewhatmore explicitly formulateddichotomizationof faithandknowledgewhich can
help us understandCardoso'spositionbetter.
80 BRUCE ROSENSTOCK

Cardoso and "Prisca Theologia "

The intellectualtopographyof seventeenth-century Jewry is very com-

plicated, and frequentlybordersare It
ill-defined. is necessaryto demarcate
Cardoso'sviews aboutreligiousknowledgein relationto the views of a group
of Jewishthinkerswho also soughta highersapienceand advocateda return
to the authenticlegitimatingsourceof Jewishfaithin Kabbalah.I amreferring
to individualslike AbrahamYagel,AbrahamHerrera,andJosephDelmedigo.
Howeverdissimilartheirmodes of expression,each of these men believed
thatthe Kabbalahofferedaccess to a prisca theologia,or "ancienttheology,"
which containedthe highest revealedwisdom of humanityand had either
been forgottenor corruptedduringthe interveningcenturies.
The concept of a forgottenprisca theologia begins with Renaissance
humanistslike Ficino and Pico della Mirandolawho seek to harmonize
scripturalrevelationwith pagan wisdom. They proposethat there exists a
knowledge of the natureof God which predatesscripturalrevelation,and
which can be discoveredin the writingsof paganphilosophers,especially
Plato and the Neoplatonists,and in paganmysticaltexts like the Hermetic
corpus. Scripturalrevelationdoes not overturnpaganphilosophy;it fulfills
it. This "universalist"idea of revelationwas a weapon in the arsenal of
Renaissancehumanistsagainstthe medievalChristiantradition,which was
itself built upon the repudiationof pagan wisdom in favor of the unique
authorityof scripturalrevelation.The notionof prisca theologiachallenged
Churchauthorityand opened the door to an interestin pre-Christiantexts
undercover of a searchfor the antecedentsto scripturalrevelation.
In its developmentamong Jewish intellectualsin the Italy of the Re-
naissance and the Counter-Reformation, the Kabbalahtook a decidedly
philosophicaland universalistturn, as Idel has convincinglyarguedin a
seriesof studiesconcerningthe historyof post-Expulsionkabbalisticthought
(1987, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c). In this development,some Jews attemptedto
demonstrate thattheauthenticpriscatheologiacouldbe foundin theKabbalah,
all of which is compatiblewith paganphilosophy,properlyunderstood.The
Kabbalah,then, is the universalbody of knowledgewhose teachingscan
be translatedinto the terms of, for example, Neoplatonism.We will see
that Cardosois familiarwith some of these arguments,and rejects them
wholeheartedly.But let us first briefly examine one instanceof a Jewish
defenseof Kabbalahasprisca theologica,thatof R. AbrahamYagel.I choose
ABRAHAM MIGUELCARDOSO'S MESSIANISM 81

Yagel because this side of his thinkinghas received close attentionfrom

Ruderman(1988).
Ruderman(p. 143)pointsoutthatYagelfelt thatJewishwisdomwas most
closely paralleledby the philosophyof Plato,who studiedTorahwith none
otherthan the prophetJeremiah(Yagel says he is following the testimony
of Augustineon Plato's alleged dependenceon Jewish learning).Although
we see thatYagel places Jewishwisdom above paganphilosophy,the mere
fact thatpaganphilosophyis introducedat all indicatesa need to legitimize
Jewishwisdomthroughexternalcorroboration. Yagelatpointsis evenwilling
to countenancepaganwisdom's equal staturewith Judaism."Accordingto
Yagel,"Rudermanreports(p. 144), "Pythagorasdeservesthe same spiritual
status as Plato. In discussing a rabbinichomily that, he claims, refers to
the relationshipsbetweenthe ancientphilosophersand their students,Yagel
concludes:'Thisclearlyalludesto thosephilosopherswho trulydeservedthat
distinction[of being true philosophers],such as Plato, Pythagoras,and the
ancientswho were believers.'" In discussingthe Jewishconceptionof God,
Yagel also shows a willingnessto demonstrateits universality.He bases his
definitionof God on the philosophicallyorientedteachingof Maimonidesin
the openingchapterof his Sefer ha-Madda', and then employsextra-Judaic
sourcesto corroboratebiblicalnarrative.

Yagelemphasizes theunity,indivisibility, andimmutability

incorporeality, of
the Jewishconceptionof God.His innovation, however,is in demonstrating
thatfundamentalreligiousprinciplesregardingGodcanbe substantiatedbythe
testimonyof external
witnessesfromthemostunexpected source.Themiracle
of the partingof the Red Sea illustratesconvincinglythe notionof God's
providenceandabilityto intervene in nature.Quotinga recentaccountof the
discoveryof Peru,Yagelis thrilledto findpreciseconfirmation
of thebiblical
miracle.
(Ruderman 1988,p. 115)

Ruderman(p. 148) summarizesYagel'spositionsuccinctly,andconcludes

that,in his effortto harmonizeand universalizeJewishwisdom,he laid the
basis for its denigration.

FromOrpheusto Plato,thereexistedan unbroken tradition

of paganbelief
in monotheism, a chainof transmission
parallelto but independent
of that
of "theholy seedof Abraham" who"sawthe lightof the Torah." No doubt
Yagelcouldhaveeasilylocatedin rabbinic
andmedievalJewishtextsa fully
 82 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

developedattitudeof toleranceandrespectfor "therighteousof the nations

of theworld."However,he appears to haveextended thatattitude
beyondthe
usualunderstandingof tolerancewithinJewishtradition. In recognizingan
autonomoustraditionof paganbeliefin oneGod;in comparing paganattitudes
favorablywiththoseof therabbis;andin openlyquoting,albeitin a carfully
editedmanner,the pagansthemselves,evenan entireprayerof Hermes,he
impliedthatJudaism,despiteits unadulterated
tradition at Sinai,
originating
couldnotclaimthatits truthswereeitheruniqueorexclusive.

Rudermanclearly has located the essential problemwith the Jewish

appropriationof the notion of prisca theologia. It is bound to lead to the
effacementof the uniquenessof Jewishrevelation.It was clearto manyrabbis
who opposedthe searchfor a prisca theologiathatthe consequenceof this
view was the blurringof the distinctionbetweenChristianityand Judaism,
at least theologically.If Jewish and Christianthinkerswere equatingthe
theologicalheartof their respectivescripturalrevelationswith one and the
samethirdterm--theprisca theologia-then bothreligionsarereallysaying
the same thing aboutthe natureof God. So, many rabbisattackedthe idea
that, for example,the Zoharcould be interpretedby means of Neoplatonic
philosophy.25 R. Leon Modenaacceptedthe idea that the Kabbalahcould
be harmonizedwith philosophy,but went on to arguethat this showed the
dependenceof Kabbalahupon philosophy,and thereforeits statusas a late
Jewishforgerypassingitself off as revelation(see Idel 1987, pp. 150-157).
R. Modena'saim in this anti-kabbalistic
critiquewas to drawa sharpdividing
line betweenJudaismandwhathe perceivedto be extraneouselementswithin
Jewish thoughtwhich threatenedIsrael's claim to a unique and superior
revelation.
Thereis a point of similaritybetweenthe philosophizingkabbalistsand
the anti-philosophicalrabbinicestablishmentwhich needs to be drawnout
beforewe can adequatelyunderstandCardoso'spositionin this debate.Both
groupsconceive of themselvesas an intelectualelite which holds the key to

25. For an informativetreatmentof how a philosophizingkabbalistand a traditionalist

might on the surfaceappearto be stronglyopposedto one another,while at a deeperlevel
theirpositionsreveala sharedconcernto upholdrabbinicauthorityand fight "thedangerous
excesses of kabbalisticenthusiasm"and "the loss of rationalanchorsof Jewish faith,"see
Ruderman1995, chap.7. I will arguethatCardosoopposedboththe philosophizingkabbalists
and traditionalistsbecause they had each adopteda canon of rationalityin mattersof faith
definedby paganphilosophyandhad failedto maintain-allegiance to the Godof revelation.
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 83

a knowledgeof God beyond the reach of most Jews.26Yagel, for instance,

begins his Beyt Ya'ar Yisra'el "by stressingthe need for cautionin revealing
religioussecretsto theuntutoredmasses"(Ruderman1988,p. 144).ForYagel,
the Kabbalahis a meansof transcendingthe segregationof Judaismfromthe
broaderculturalcurrentsof the day, and he wants to protectthe untutored
masses of Jews from the dangerswhich such culturalrapprochement may
bring. In the case of the more traditionalrabbinicestablishment,R. Leon
Modenaexcepted,the Kabbalahwas seen as the reositoryof a profoundand
technicallycomplex wisdom whose meaningcould only be fathomedafter
one had gaineda full masteryof every otheraspectof Jewishlearning,from
the writtenTorahto the Talmudandbeyond.As RobertBonfilhaspointedout
in his studiesof ItalianJewryduringthe late sixteenthandearlyseventeenth
centuries(1990, 1992a, 1992b), this periodsaw a polorizationbetweenthe
Jewish intellectualelite and the generalJewishcommunity,whose level of
learning,including the knowledge of Hebrew,had declined significantly.
"Polarization," Bonfil writes (1987, p. 60), "meantthat, as againsta small
group of learned men, most of them rich or allied by marriageto rich
families,thereexisteda greatuneducatedmajority,incapableof participating
in the debatesof the scholarsor even of understanding them."27Cardosowas
certainly,by trainingandknowledge,a memberof that"smallgroupof learned

26. The elitistproclivitiesof philosophicallyorientedJewishthinkerswas one of the major

claimsof Barzilay1967, see esp. pp. 11-16. Barzilay'sinterpretation of anti-rationalist
rabbis
like R. 'AzariahFigo andR. Judahdel Bene,whomhe tendsto see as opposedto the elitismof
the rationalists,has come in for criticismby Bonfil 1992band Ruderman1995, pp. 185-212.
In particular, BonfilsuggeststhatR. del Bene in his sermonssoughtto mediatebetween"high"
(elitist) cultureand "low" cultureby tailoringhis message in such a way that each group
could feel itself to be the targetedaddressee.Of course,a preacherlike R. del Bene cannotbe
describedas elitist in the same sense we mightuse this termto describeR. Yagel.R. del Bene,
as Bonfilpointsout, was at painsto representhimselfas standingin unbrokencontinuitywith
rabbinictradition,withouttinctureof extrinsic,non-Jewishinfluence;on the otherhand,R.
Yagelwas not afraidto acknowledgehis pagansources.But bothmen sharedthe assumption
thatthe massesdid not need, andin factwere imperiledby, the knowledgewhichthey,andthe
few otherslike themselves,could alone properlyemploy.Cardoso'sattitudestandsin marked
contrastto this,although,like R. del Bene,he seeksto representhimselfas standingin unbroken
continuinitywith (authentic,not post-geonicrabbinic)Jewishtradition.
27. Bonfil's discussionof the role of Kabbalahin the process of modernizationwithin
Jewish society is extremelyimportantfor understandingthe social dynamicsof Sabbatian
Kabbalahin general,and Cardoso'suse of Kabbalahmoreparticularly. This papershouldbe
seen as layingthe groundworkfor a fullerappraisalof Bonfil'stheoryaboutthe mediatingrole
of Kabbalah.I would tentativelysay that SabbatianKabbalahdoes, indeed,play a mediating
role, only that it seeks to mediatebetweena wider public, including,for example,women,
 84 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

men."But he saw his missionto be the collapsingof the distinctionbetween

learnedand uneducated,and it is in this context that we must understand
his polemic with the philosophizingkabbalistsand the traditionalrabbinic
establishment.I will elucidatethe natureof Cardoso'santi-elitismbelow,
but first let us examine his attitudetowardthe notion of prisca theologia
advocatedby the philosophizingkabbalist.
To put it simply, Cardosofinds in the notion of prisca theologia the
root of the evil besetting the Jewish people in their exile. Just like the
moreconservativerabbinicestablishment,Cardosoopposedthephilosophical
reinterpretation of Kabbalahanddefendedthe positionthatIsrael'sscriptural
revelationstandsabove, and is very differentfrom, paganphilosophy.But
Cardosoalso stands opposed to the rabbinicestablishmentbecause it has
rejectedthe messianic claim of SabbataiZebi and is, therefore,preventing
the Jewishpeople frommovingthroughfaith(in SabbataiZebi as Messiah)
to knowledgeof God (throughthe writingsof Cardosohimself).
In an intellectualtourde force,Cardosostrikesat boththe philosophizing
kabbalistsand the rabbinicestablishmentwith a single attack.He accuses
the rabbinictradition,since the close of the Talmud,of having forsaken
the knowledgeof God which had been the uniquepossessionof Israeland
adoptingin its placea false ideaof Godwhichthepaganphilosophershadalso
proclaimed.Unbeknownstto themselves,therabbisandthe Jewishexponents
of prisca theologia are in fundamentalagreement!"Fromthe time of the
Geonimuntilnow,all Israelbelieves,just as theMuslimsandthephilosophers
do, thatthe creatoris the FirstCausewho is also the God of Israelandwhose
nameis YHVH."('al Ziufha-'emunah,"Onthe Corruptionof the Faith,"p.
296.)
Cardoso views the post-talmudicrabbinictraditionas being heavily
influencedby paganphilosophy.In particular, he singlesout SaadyaGaonand
Maimonidesas the primaryculpritsresponsiblefor this corruptiveinfluence.
The influenceof pagan philosophyled to the identificationof the God of
revelationwiththe FirstCause,the unitary,undifferentiated, infinitesourceof
all existence.Maimonidescarriedthe misidentificationof Israel'sGod with

anda nonestablishment elite, namely,men like Cardoso,Nathanof Gaza,andotherSabbatian

leaders.I would agreewith Bonfilthatthe Kabbalahbecomesin the the seventeenthcenturya
mediumfor the "restructuring of religiousspaceandtime"(Bonfil 1992a,p. 418).
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 85

the FirstCauseso farthatall traceof the God of revelationwas effacedfrom

Judaism,as Cardosoexplains:
a manversedbeyondothersin
Andthe amazingfact is thatthe Rambam,
every formof wisdom,andwho hadreadandunderstoodeverybook,declares
himselfto be a believerin the truthof whatis contained in the writingsof
HermesTrismegistus, thepriestsof Egypt,Socrates, Plato,and,morethanall
theothers,his belovedAristotle,namely,thattheFirstCausehasno spiritual
potencies,no name,no formin anyway.He writesin theMorehNevukhim
thatthe FirstCauseis wise butnot in virtueof wisdom,discerning butnot
in virtueof discernment, powerful butnot in virtue of power, real but notin
virtueof reality,onebutnotin virtueof oneness,andso on.Howcouldit ever
haveenteredhis mindor founda placein his faiththatthe Godof Israelis
theFirstCause,orthathis nameis YHVH?Doesn'ttheHolyOne,blessedbe
He, haveattributes, names,andformsaccording to the Torah,Prophets, and
Writings, andis thisclaimnotfoundeverywhere in thewritingsof thetanaim
andamoraim andgeonim,buthe [Rambam] alwaysinterprets all thisas if it
weremeantliterally.
('al Ziufha-'emunah,pp. 296-297)

Thetruththatrabbinictraditionabandoned,butwhichcanbe foundin the

Scriptures,in aggadicmidrash,andin the kabbalistictradition,is thatIsrael's
Godis a divinePersonwho emanatedfromthe FirstCauseandis the unifying
forceinheringwithinthe configurations of thetensefirot,butespeciallywithin
the male configurationof Tiferet,called the Holy One, blessed be He, and
the female configurationof Malkhut,also called the Shekhinah.At the heart
of Cardoso'scomplex vision of the investitureof the unifyingpowerwithin
the sefiroticconfigurationsis the idea that Israel'sGod standsrevealedin
thejoining of male and female configurationswithinthe emanatedpleroma,
andthatthe undifferentiated unityof the FirstCauseplays no role in Israel's
history, or indeed in the world's history. The First Cause did not create
the materialcosmos, and it has no providentialrelationwith humanityor,
more particularly,with Israel. But the rabbis,seduced by philosophyand
its worshipof abstractunity,have forsakenthe knowledgeof God and his
unity with his Shekhinahin favor of the worshipof the FirstCause.28This
28. I believethatCardoso'semphasisuponIsrael'signoranceof thetruenatureof Godas the
sourceof its exilic conditionmay ultimatelyderivefromargumentsadvancedby the influential
anti-Jewishpolemicalwritingsof Alphonsode Valladolid(as Abnerof Burgoswas knownafter
his conversionca. 1322). For a good generaldiscussionof the workof Alphonso,see Shamir
86 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

is also the mistakemadeby the philosophizingkabbalists,who turnall their

attentionto the infinitesourceof the emanatedworld,theEynSof whichthey
interpretin the light of the NeoplatonicOne, and which they identifywith
the God of revelation.In the precedingquotationit is evidentthatCardoso
means to equatethe entire Maimonideantraditionwith the views of those
who maintainthat Jewishwisdom is one with the prisca theologia.Indeed,
CardosoagreesthatJewishtraditionis one with theprisca theologia,butthat
traditionis a profoundcorruptionof the trueprisca theologiaJudaica, the
originalknowledgeof God held by Israelin biblicalandtalmudictimes.
Let me summarize.Cardosostandsopposedto rabbinicauthoritybecause
the rabbishave forgottenthe knowledgeof the natureof God, a knowledge
which had been Israel'suniquepossession.They have replacedthatoriginal
knowledgewith the knowledgeof the FirstCause,a knowledgecommonly
held by all humanity.Cardoso also stands opposed to the philosophical
reinterpretation of the Kabbalahasprisca theologia.In fact,Cardosoequates
the whole post-talmudicrabbinictraditionwith this latter tendency.The
falsehoodat the heartof both the rabbinictraditionand the philosophizing
kabbalistis the idea that Israel'sGod is the unitary,undifferentiated
source
of all existence.In contrastto this misrepresentation
of Israel'sGod,Cardoso
offers a returnto the truthonce known to Israelalone among the nations:
that the God who has a providentialconcernfor Israel and humanity,the
God revealedin the Scriptures,aggada,and Kabbalah,is the divine person
who is the unifyingforcejoining togetherandinheringwithinthe Holy One,
blessed be he, and his Shekhinah.Israel'sexile and fall from greatnessare
due to her forgettingthe knowledgeof God.Finally,Cardososees himselfas
sharingwith SabbataiZebi the messianicrole of bringingthe knowledgeof
the natureof God back to Israel.This is a messianicrole becauseit is this

1975, pp. 40-60. See also Rosenthal1961 for a letterby Alphonsoon this subject,and an
extendedresponsefromR. Yosef Shalom.Like Cardosomuchlater(cf. 'al Ziufha-'emunah,
p. 296) Alphonsoseems to have linkedthis claim with the line in the prophecyof Azariahto
Asa, recordedin 2 Chon 15:3, that Israelwill be (he takesthe line to referto the future,not
the past as the contextsuggests)"withoutthe trueGod, withouta teachingpriest,andwithout
law [torah]"(RSV trans.).Alphonsotakes"trueGod"('elohey 'emet)to referto the trinitarian
pluralitywithinthe divinewhichthe Jews fail to acknowledge,and,althoughhe interpretsthe
divinepluralitydifferently,this is the samepolemicalpointthatCardosois makingagainstthe
rabbis.I intendto offera full accountof the exegeticalhistoryof this prophecyin a projected
book-lengthstudyof Cardoso.
ABRAHAM MIGUELCARDOSO'S MESSIANISM 87

knowledgewhich is the key to Israel'ssalvation.Cardosois opposed,then,

to both philosophyand establishedreligiousauthority.In opposingboth,he
positionshimself on the side of the people,who have been falsely taughtby
the rabbisto worshipthe FirstCause,andwho have been simplyscornedby
the philosophizingkabbalistsas incapableof graspingthe profoundertruths
of theprisca theologia.He prideshimselfon the factthat,as he says ('iggeret
Dalet, p. 212), "in the first place I didn't speak in a style of concealment
but in complete openness. .. and I never denied any man who wanted it
permissionto readmy writingsor to listento them,andI neverrequiredany
man to swearthathe would neverrepeatwhathe heard."In 'ani Mekhuneh,
p. 119,Cardosodescribessome of his detractorsas agreeingthathe possesses
truewisdombutblaminghim for spreadinghis knowledgeamong"worthless
men, unletteredJews ['ameyha-'arez],boys andwomen,"Cardosoresponds
theirchargein the followingwords:

... all my intellectual

effortsthroughout
my life, as I wentfromcountry
to countryand poredover everybook,are directedtowardfullfillingthe
commandment of investigating, andseekingoutwhoha-Shem
interpreting, is,
sinceha-Shemis nottheFirstCause.I understoodandrecognized thatI have
beengivenstrengthfromGodtospread themysteryof Hisfaith[sod'emunato].

Cardosowants,then,to bringthe peopleof Israelbackto a knowledgeof

God. In the followingpassageof 'aniMekhuneh,Cardosois speakingabout
a group of his opponnentswho concede the importanceof knowing God
but deny thatmost people are capableof it. In his vehementdefenseof the
abilityof all Israelto know God, we may see one of the clearestexpressions
of Cardoso'santi-elitistposition, which consistedin a denunciationof the
traditionalrabbinicestablishmentand also the philosophizingkabbalistsfor
havingled the people astrayfromthe authenticknowledgeof Godthey once
possessed,and for blockingaccess to the kabbalisticteachingswhich could,
with the aid of Cardoso'swritings,restorethatknowledgeto the peopleonce
more.29
29. I thinkwe must see in Cardoso'santi-elitiststancethe sourceof NehemiahHayon's
position in the introductionwhich he wrote Oz le-'elohim, a commentaryupon Raza de-
Mehemnuta(probablyCardoso'swork and knownto be so by Hayon;see Liebes 1995b and
1995c).Carlebach1990,p. 99, characterizesHayon's"openadvocacyof individualinquiryinto
the most secretand sacredquestionsof religion,untrammeled by the bondsof tradition,"and
she furtherdescribeshow this advocacy"obviatedthe obligationsof submissionto rabbinic
authorityandinterpretation."Carlebach'sstudyof the effortsadvancedby R. Hagizandothers
 88 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

And there is anothergroup who concedes that it is desirableto know the

Holy One, blessed be He, and to seek Him and to understandthe faithof His
Shekhinah.However,they assertthatourintellectsarenot worthyof receiving
and understandinga thing as profoundas this. To these people the prophet
replies[Hosea6:3;RSV translation],"[Letus know,let us presson to knowthe
Lord;]His going forthis sureas the dawn;He will come to us as the showers,
as the springrainsthat waterthe earth."This verse is saying thatjust as the
dawncomes withoutpromptingandcontinuesto bringlight to the eyes of all
humanity,so ha-Shem,may He be blessed, is readyto be discoveredby by
anyonewho seeksto knowHim.Thereis no perilin thissearch;on the contrary,
He will come like the springrainthatwatersthe earthfor ourbenefitand our
salvation,and so forth.Becauseof all this, we are obligedto makeknownthe
unityof the Holy One,blessedbe He, andHis Shekhinahto ourchildrenandto
ourchildren'schildren,as it is said [Deut6:6-7; RSV translation],"Andthese
wordswhich I commandyou this day shall be uponyourheart;and you shall
teach them diligentlyto your children,"and the sages add, "to the least one,
the ones who need education."And if this thingis beyondthe heartof all the
childrenof Israel,how can we be commandedto exerciseourdiscernmentand
understanding throughoutthe day and night,when we lie down and when we
rise up, in every hourandeveryplace?
And if you will investigatethis with the power of the intellect,you will
understandthat the knowledge of ha-Shem,blessed be He, shall have its
inceptionat the end of the exile not fromthe sages [hahamim]andnot fromthe
greatest[gedolim],butfromtheleastsignificantone [ha-qetanim], in accordance
with the wordsof ha-Shemto Jeremiah[Jer31:34;RSV translation],"Andno
longershall each manteachhis neighborand each his brother,saying, 'Know
the Lord,'for they shall all know me, fromthe least of themto the greatest."
And it might have been more fittingto say "fromthe greatestof themto the
least,"on the groundsthat at firstit behoovesthe wise and the greatto seek
and to understandand to know ha-Shem,andafterwardsthe teachingand the
knowledgewouldspreadout in sucha way thatthe least significantpeopleand
the uneducatedpeople ['ammeyha-'arezot]would all know who ha-Shemis.
Buthe [Jeremiah]prophesizedwhatwill happenandhe wrotein whatsequence
it will happen,namely,thatfirstthe least significantones will receivethe faith
of His reality,and afterwardsthe great ones will receive it, just as you see
happeningtoday.And if this sequencewill be followed afterthe redemption,

to silence Hayon had influencedmy own understandingof Cardoso'srelationshipwith the

rabbinicestablishment.See also Rozen 1992, pp. 84-89, for a discussionof the responseof
Malkito theanti-elitist
RafaelMordekhai of Sabbatianism.
challenge
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 89

thenhowmuchmoreso priorto it. Andthe sayingof Isaiah[Isa11:9;RSV

"theearthshallbe fullof theknowledge
translation], of theLordas thewaters
coverthe sea,"meansthatforboththeleastsignificant peopleas well as for
thegreatestit is necessaryto entertheseaat its edge,whereit is shallowand
the watersaresmooth,andwhereit is appropriate for bothgreatandsmall
alike.Andjust as the depth,whichis in themiddleof the sea,is notforthe
leastsignificant butforthegreatwhoknowhowto swim,so theedgeof the
people.Andthe secretis that
sea is givenessentiallyto the leastsignificant
ha-Shem, blessedbe He,desirestheleastsignificantto knowHimattheendof
theexile... Therefore themajority of thesagesof thisgeneration shallalways
be opposedto thisissue,whether bytheirpowerorbytheirvacuousreasoning.
Maya stormsweepthemall away!... It is a factthatthegreatandthewise
areresponsible fordiminishing thespreadof knowledge andfordelayingour
salvation.
('ani Mekhuneh,pp. 118-119.)

Cardoso'santi-elitismcombinestwo facets:(1) anoppositionto thepower

wielded by the rabbinicestablishmentthatis being used to keep the people
in subserviencethroughenforcedignorance,and (2) an oppositionto the
esotericismwhich impliesthatthe intellectualcapacityof the generalJewish
populationis inherentlybelow that requiredfor comprehendingGod truly.
Of course, esotericismserves, accordingto Cardoso,to keep the rabbinic
establishmentin power, but it can also serve any elite that is unwilling
to let the people judge for itself whetherit holds the true interpretation
of Jewish revelation.Cardosowill therefore,in other contexts, argue that
the fact that some Sabbatianleaderskeep theirteachingssecretis evidence
that their teachingsare not in line with the true knowledgeof God that is
corporateIsrael'soriginalpossession.Cardoso'santi-elistismhas, therefore,
both anti-establishmentand anti-esotericthrusts,which sometimes work
together,as in the previouslyquotedpassage.30
An understandingof Cardoso'santi-elitismpermitsus to recognizethe
deepermotivationbehindhis messianicself-understanding. Cardoso,as we
have seen, perceivesthe religiousestablishmentto be the enemystandingin
the way of Israel's(re-)acquiringknowledgeof God and the salvation(end
of exile) which flows from it. Let me suggestthatthe prismthroughwhich

30. I am indebtedto an anonymousrefereefor suggestingthe nuanceddistinctionbetween

anti-elitismin the service of an anti-establishment
polemic and anti-elitismin the service of
anti-esotercism.
90 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

Cardosoviews his relationshipto the people andto theirreligiousleadersis

thatwhich he carriedwith him from Spain.The Israelwith which Cardoso
identifiesis the Israel of the crypto-Jewsof the IberianPeninsula,those
forced into ignoranceof their authentictraditionsand into the acceptance
of a faith which is, in Cardoso'seyes, a corruptionof that tradition.The
rabbinicestablishmentis seen by Cardosoin the mold of the ecclesiastical
authoritiesin Spain who opposed any effort directedtowardthe recovery
of their forebears'traditionson the partof the crypto-Jews.Cardosois not
unlikemany otherescapedcrypto-Jewsin his continuingidentificationwith
the NaCdo,the wider communityof crypto-Jewswhereverthey may be.31
Cardosodoes not see his own escape from Spain as permittinga simple
reentryinto the Jewishpeople, becausefor him, corporateIsraelis suffering
the samefateas the crypto-Jews.Onlytherestorationto Israelof the authentic
knowledgeof God will put an end to the people'ssufferingin exile.32
Given this spiritualphysiognomy,Cardosocannot truly overcome his
crypto-Jewishpast until the Jewish people are redeemedfrom their exile.
So long as Israel'sJudaismis crypto-Judaisnm-the enforcedworshipof the
God of the nationscoupledwith a longing for redemption,Cardosocannot
finda home in Israel.SabbataiZebi inaugurated the redemptionof Israel,but
he could not completethe process.Accordingto Cardoso('iggeretle-Yizhaq
Qardoso,p. 291), SabbataiZebi's messianictask requiredhim to assume
the identityof the crypto-Jewby separatinghimself from his people: "the
King Messiahwas destinedto become a forced convert[anus, 'converso']
like me" precisely in orderto atone for Israel'syears of "idolatry."While
SabbataiZebi's messianic trajectoryleads from membershipin Israel to
literalcrypto-Judaism,Cardoso'sown messianictrajectorybeginswith literal
crypto-Judaism and must pass throughan identificationwith the people of
Israel.Cardosoassumesthe role which Israelas a whole is called to play,
namely,witnessingto the truenatureof God. This witnessingis the essence
of the Shema', and we have seen that Cardosobelieves that he is teaching

31. Goldish 1994, p. 236, writesthat"a PortugueseJew of Londonor Amsterdamwould

feel far more kinshipwith his unrepenantcountrymanwho remaineda practicingCatholicin
the IberianPeninsulathanhe wouldwith any Ashkenazino matterhow religious."
32. Cardosowas not alone in viewing the conditionof the crypto-Jewsof the Iberian
Peninsulato be, as it were,a living exemplumof Israel'ssin of idolatry(althoughhe was alone
in understanding this sin metaphysically),and in seeing escape fromthe IberianPeninsulaas
ushering in a messianic future.See, for example,Kaplan1989a,pp. 373-374, for a discussion
of the messianicspeculationsof DanielLevi de Barrios,a contemporary of Cardoso.
ABRAHAM MIGUELCARDOSO'S MESSIANISM 91

Israel its meaning. In restoringthe knowledgeof God to Israel, Cardoso

is restoringto Israel its preeminenceamong the nations.In the following
passage,althoughratherheavilyladenwithkabbalisticimagery,Cardosovery
clearly contrastshis own messianicmissionwith thatof SabbataiZebi, and
we may see how powerfullyhis pastas a crypto-Jewhasshapedhis perception
of the messianicdramabegunwith SabbataiZebi.

Abraham Cardoso. tobebornamong.the

. .wasdestined inorder
uncircumcised
to bringforththe sparkswhichfell fromholinessandalsothe sparkswhich
fell fromYesodin accordance withthesecretof theemission.Andthegazelle
[zebi]alwaysturnsits face towardsthe placefromwhichit came,andthis
relatesto the Messiahson of David, who had to departfrom the entiretyof
Israel,fromtheTorah,andfromholinessintoimpuiityandevenfromhisbody,
whichmustreturnto him,in orderto hastentheingathering, andbecauseof all
thishis nameis Zebi.ButtheMessiahsonof Ephraim shallgo fromimpurity
intoholiness,andit is notfittingforhimto turnhisfacebacktowardtheplace
fromwhichhe came.Becausethe uncircumcisedarenow declaringJesusto be
likeGod,it is fittingfortheMessiahsonof Ephraimto say"Whois likeGod?"
[miykha-'el, a pun on Cardoso's
second name]... andthatis whyfromall
timehis namewasMichaelandnotZebi.
(QodeshYisra'el,pp. 265-266.)

Cardoso'strajectoryfromimpurityto purityandSabbataiZebi'strajectory
frompurityto impuritymustboth,of course,culminatein a single point,the
redemptionof Israel. Cardosowants the Jewish people to keep their sight
on that futurepoint of conjunctionand not despairover the debasementof
the Messiah son of David. In a sense, SabbataiZebi has not only stepped
outside Israel, he has steppedbackwardsin time as Israelmoves forward
towardredemptionwith the aid of Cardoso,the Messiah son of Ephraim,
who representsIsrael'sfuture.The deathof SabbataiZebi has lockedhim in
thatpast, and only Israel'sredemptioncan save him and bringback to him
his body (throughresurrection).It is not going too far to say that Cardoso
undertakesto redeemthe Messiahson of David as he undertakesto redeem
Israel,as he suggests in numerouspassagesin Qodesh Yisra'el with which
we beganthis study.In the veryfirstlines (p. 253) we read:"TheMessiahson
of David is not completewithoutthe Messiahson of Ephraim,and the son
of Josephis not a completeredeemerwithoutthe Messiahson of David."Of
course,each Messiahneeds the other,butonly the messiahson of Ephraimis
alive now: "Beneaththe heavensthereis no one besidesthe Messiahson of
92 BRUCE ROSENSTOCK

Ephraimwho is grantedthe powerto awakenthe supernaljoy [of the union

of the Holy One,blessedbe He, with His Shekhinah]becausehe is alive and
'the deaddo not praiseGod.'"
Let us now look more closely at how Cardosodescribesthe goal of his
and SabbataiZebi's messianictrajectories,namely,theirunion in the future
redemption.

Cardosoas Kabbalistand the Unityof the Messiahs

Before we look more closely at Cardoso'steachingregardingthe unity

of the two Messiahs,we need to say a few wordsabouthow his anti-elitism
shapeshis use of Kabbalah.
Firstof all, Cardosoforgoes all referenceto the fulfillmentof the com-
mandmentsas havingtheurgicpower,the powerto unifythe maleandfemale
aspects of God. Instead,he makes knowledgeitself a theurgicforce. The
severanceof the Shekhinahfromthe Holy One, blessedbe He, is, according
to Cardoso,the resultof Israel'sforgettingthe natureof divinity.Israel'sexile
and the Shekhinah'sexile resultfromIsrael'sfall fromepistemicunity with
God. The recoveryof this epistemicunitywill resultin the unificationof the
male configurationof the Holy One, blessedbe he, with His Shekhinah.We
may call this epistemictheurgy.Epistemictheurgyis effective,however,only
when practicedby all Israelat once, and it is, by its very nature,messianic
in function.Redemption,the ending of the exile, dependsupon collective
epistemictheurgy.Cardosohas in otherwords, reducedthe whole variety
of kabbalistictheurgicpracticedown to a single act, knowingGod, and he
has broadenedthe range of practitionersof the theurgicact from the few
kabbalisticelite to all Israel.
AnotherdifferencebetweenCardosoand traditionalKabbalahhas to do
withhis introductionof a new objectof visionaryecstasy,one moreaccessible
to corporateIsrael.AlthoughCardosowants to teach Israelthe knowledge
of the natureof God, he also wants Israel to share in the transformative
power of the mystical vision at the heartof traditionalKabbalah.But he
does not expect all Israelto soar to ecstaticheights;ratherhe offers Israel
anotherobjectto contemplate,the union of the two Messiahs.For Cardoso,
the unionof the two Messiahsmirrorsthe unionof the malesefirahof Yesod
and the female sefirah of Malkhut,which in turnmirrorsthe restorationof
the FirstAdam(AdamQadmon),the divinepersonin whom all the sefirotic
ABRAHAM MIGUEL CARDOSO'S MESSIANISM 93

configurations find their unity and in whose image the human Adam was
created. In contemplating the union of the two Messiahs, Israel is able to
reach an understanding of the highest levels of the divine pleroma and of
the perfect image of humanity which the messianic age will restore. The
messianic image of Sabbatai Zebi and Cardoso together is a medium in which
may be seen the restored perfection of the divine and human realms, and it
is this vision which will lead Israel toward its redemption. In the following
passage Cardoso begins with a concrete image of the union of the male and
female sefirot and then explains how the unity of two the Messiahs, Sabbatai
Zebi and himself, both represents and brings into being this higher unity. In
the conclusion of the passage Cardoso states that the resurrectionof Sabbatai
Zebi will take place during his own lifetime.

You alreadyknow thatwe use the very sametermn--"foundation" [Yesod]-to

referbothto the excavationin the earthwhichis madepriorto buildinga house
and also to that which is placed within the excavationand which holds the
house rising up over it. Now the earthis Malkhut,and the excavationis the
Yesodof Malkhut,and also the structurewhich is erectedwithinher is Yesod,
and it is necessarythattherebe unity betweenthe two. And the same is true
concerningAdam and Eve, who are togethercalled Adam,becausethe male
alone is not Adam.And the same is trueconcerningthe Messiahson of David
and the Messiah son of Ephraim,who both togetherare called Messiahjust
as each separatelyis the Messiah. And the very termMashiah ["Messiah"]
demonstratesthis fact:the Messiahis referredto as "Name"[shem],and from
Shem comes the Messiah son of David "And David made a name [shem;
2 Sam 8:13]"--and Yesodis called "Living"[hay]-"Joseph is living" [Gen
45:26---and fromhim comes the Messiahson of Ephraim.Now whenyoujoin
shemandhayyou get mashiah,readingeachword"fromthe bottomto the top"
[i.e., backwards],andyou get "LivingName"[heyshem]whenyou read"from
the top to the bottom."And you have alreadyreadhow in the recitationof the
Shema'one unitesthe Brother['ah, the firsttwo lettersof 'ahad,andreferring
in kabbalistictermsto the Holy One,blessedbe He] with His Name [Hisshem,
i.e., the Shekhinah;shem containsthe first two consonantsof the Shema'],
thusbringingaboutthe word 'esmah["Iwill takepleasure,"a referenceto the
supernalunion of male and female;the verb also containsthe consonantsof
the word mashiah].In this way too the unity of the two Messiahs"will take
pleasure,"and then ha-Shem"will take pleasure"in his creation,and Israel
"will take pleasure"in its deeds, and "Moseswill takepleasure"[a quotation
from the the Sabbathmorning 'Amidah]and "He raises the poor from the
dust"--theMessiahson of David,"andlifts the needyfromthe ash heap"-the
94 BRUCE ROSENSTOCK

Messiahson of Ephraim, "tomakethemsit withprinces"[Ps 113:7-8;RSV

As it is written,"ForI knowthatmy Redeemer
translation]. is living[hay,
Job 19:25a]"--thisis the Messiahson of Ephraim--"andat last he will stand
up upon the dust"[Job 19:25b]-this is the Messiahson of David. And the
meaningis thattheMessiahsonof Ephraim muststandupfromtheashheap,
andthe Messiahson of Davidmuststandup fromthe dust,andone word,
"stand"
[yaqum], is usedforbothindividuals.
"Mylivingredeemer"
willstand
up, andafterwardshe [the Messiahson of David]will standup uponthe dust,
and these things will happentogether[yahad],and for this reasonthe word
"stand" withtheMessiahsonof David,buttheword'sletterssum
is associated
upto thesamevalueas thelettersof "Joseph" wayof referring
[another to the
Messiahson of Ephraimas Messiahson of Joseph].
(QodeshYisra'el,
pp.260-261)

In ecstaticKabbalah,as Elliot Wolfson(1994, 1995a)has amplyshown,

the mystic seeks a vision of the union of the Holy One, blessed be He,
and his Shekhinahwhich is describedin overtly sexual terms, and which
translatesinto the more concentratedimage of the "crownedphallus"of the
Godhead,the conjunctionof the sefirot of Yesodand Malkhut.When the
phallusis crowned,the female has been rejoinedto male and theirunity is
complete,even though it means the effacementof the separateidentityof
the female and her absorptioninto the male as the coronaof the phallus.
WhenCardosospeaksof the unity of the two Messiahs,he adoptsprecisely
this figure,the crownedphallus,to representit, with himself assumingthe
identityof the phallus,and SabbataiZebi thatof the corona.It is not God's
coronatedphalluswhich he wantsIsraelto behold,butthe Messiah's.In one
particularlyrevealingritualof reparation(tiqqun)which Cardosodetailsin
Qodesh Yisra'el, we find the eroticsof ecstaticKabbalahredirectedtoward
the unionof Cardosoand SabbataiZebi.

Taketwobranches,thefirstfroma palmtree.Letit be yourintention

thatthis
branchis theMessiahsonof Ephraim,therighteousYesod,andsay[Ps92:12;
RSV translation],"Therighteousflourishlike the palm tree, and grow like a
cedarin Lebanon."And the intentionbehindthe words,"righteous... like a
palm tree"is that the letterssum up to "AbrahamCardoso"[864], and also
"cedar"sumsup to "sun"[shemesh],andthatis Yesod.Thepointis thatbecause
the palmis male and femaletogether[thepalmfloweris "perfect,"possessing
both stamensand pistil], which are YesodandMalkhut,thereis an allusionto
the Messiahstogether.
ABRAHAM MIGUELCARDOSO'S MESSIANISM 95

The single palm branch,says Cardoso,representshimself, the Messiah

son of Ephraim,and his union with his "femalehalf," SabbataiZebi, the
Messiahson of David. How this unityis intendedto be concretelyimagedis
madeexplicit in the symbolismof the secondbranchused in this tiqqun.

Andnow takeone branchfromthe pomegranate treeandsay [Num33:19;

"Andtheytraveled
RSVtranslation], fromRithmah, andencamped atRimmon-
perez."Andlet yourintentionbe thatthe exile is bitteras the broomplant
[rotem],and redemption,togetherwith the ingatheringof the exiles, is sweet,
likethepomegranate, whenall Israelis underits king.Andthepomegranante
is a crownedking,andall his peoplearecontained withinhim.So thisis the
meaning of the "And
verse: they traveled fromexile,andtheyencamped in the
Messiahson of David,"for he is "Rimmon"son of "Perez,"son of Judah.And
consider,too, thatrimmon,spelled resh, mem,vav,nun, sums up to the same
value as the nameShabtay[Sabbatai].

Thepomegranatefruitwithits greencrownis the symbolof theroyal,Davidic

Messiah.But it is also the symbolof the Messiahson of Ephraim.

But the Messiahson of Ephraimis also a pomegranate becausethe Yesod

containsall Israel,in accordance
withthesecretmeaningof theverse,"These
arethe generationsof Jacob:Joseph"[Gen37:2]. The generationsof Jacobare
all Israel,andJosephcontainsthem.

The seed-bearingfruitis like thephallus,containingthe fullnessof Israel's

generations,and so it is like Joseph,who containsIsraelwithin him. The
Messiah son of Ephraim,who is the culminationof Joseph'sprogeny,also
containsall Israelwithinhim, andso does the Messiahson of David,in whom
Israelis "encamped."And thereis anotherreasonwhy the pomegranatecan
representthe Messiah son of Ephraim.Cardosogoes on to explain:"Yesod
possesses a crown [the coronaof the phallus],and in this respectYesodis a
pomegranate." Withthis explanationwe see thatthe pomegranatesymbolizes
eachMessiahin turn,andtheirunity.Thepomegranate's crownsymbolizesthe
Messiahson of David, andthe fruitsymbolizesthe Messiahson of Ephraim.
The crownand the fruit,in turn,symbolizethe crownedphallus,and this is
the image of the union of Yesodand Malkhut.SabbataiZebi and Cardoso
are, in theirunity,likenedto the unionof the male andfemaleconfigurations
of the divine pleroma.Cardosohas adopteda daring symbol--the union
of the two Messiahs as the coronatedphallus-in orderto appropriatethe
96 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

esoteric teaching of the Kabbalahand make it imaginativelypowerfulfor

corporateIsrael.Of course,this symbolundoubtedlyplays a significantrole
in Cardoso'spsychiceconomy,suggestingas it does homoeroticdesireanda
largemeasureof narcissisticfantasyregardinghis own masculinity.We may
certainlyalso read Cardoso'suse of the termr 'oshiy"my head,"which we
have seen above clearlyrefersto Yesod,as a namefor his supernalalter-ego,
in the light of this narcissisticfascination.I cannotin the spaceof this paper
do justice to the complex issues raisedhere. I would suggest,however,that
Cardoso's"phallicnarcissism,"if we may call it that,will ultimatelytakeus
backto the broadersocial and historicaldimensionwithinwhich Cardosois
acting.Cardosooffersratherextraordinary testimonyabouta questionwhich
musthavebeen raisedaboutmanyformercrypto-Jews,namely,whetherthey
had been properlycircumcised.He states('iggeretDalet, pp. 220-222) that
two women confrontedhim with the charge (at the behest of Moses and
Aaron,who they said had appearedto them previouslyand told them to go
to Cardoso)thathe had a "blemish"(pegam)on the site of his circumcision
whichrenderedit improper,andthey spreadthis rumorin severalcities. They
claimedthathis blemishwas hinderingthe comingof the Messiah,and that
salvationdependedon his repairingthe circumcision.Wesee herethe obverse
of Cardoso'sphallicnarcissism,namely,the humiliationenduredduringhis
crypto-Jewishpast and the place on his body wherethatpast was inscribed,
whetheror not he had actuallybeen circumcised.In fact, Cardosoadvances
in proof of his being properlycircumcisedthe claim thathis penis did truly
have a blemishcausedby a faultycircumcision.The circumcisionwas faulty,
he tells us, because he had been born withouta foreskin,and afterhe left
Spain,a mohel had removedskin unnecessarily!Whateverwe may makeof
his claim to have been borncircumcised(not medicallyimpossible),33 what
this musthave meant to Cardoso was thatwhile he may have been bornin a
land of impurity,and consideredby its people to be of "impureblood"as a
New Christian,his trueidentitywas thatof purity,indeed,a natalpuritythat
puthim on a planebeyondotherJews.But the sign of his purityis blemished,
andthereforecalledinto question.Perhapswe mayrecognizein his alter-ego,
R 'oshiy,a projectionof an idealized,unblemishedselfhood.
If Cardoso'smessianicself-conceptionreflectshis phallicnarcissism,its
roots lie in the profoundhumiliationenduredas a crypto-Jew,something

33. For a discussionof the notion of inheritedcircumcisionin Jewish and non-Jewish

sources,see Gilman1993,pp. 52-56.
ABRAHAM MIGUEL CARDOSO'S MESSIANISM 97

which shapedthe experienceof manyothercrypto-Jewsas well, as has been

arguedby Yosef Yerushalmi(1971, see esp. pp. 122-136), StephenGilman
(1972, pp. 99-122, 130-170), Yosef Kaplan(1989a, see esp. pp. 173-178,
and 1989b),and David Ruderman(1995, chap. 10). Kaplan(1989a, p. 173)
summarizeswell the social and ideologicalcontextof this humiliation.

The Spainwith whichwe are dealingwas surrounded by a fierywall of

messianism andreligiouspurpose; andinthiscontextthequestionof unsullied
Christian descentmeant,of course,membership of a Christian familyof long
standing,including in
neither its pedigreenor in its the
livingrepresentatives
slightesthintof thepresenceof "NewChristians" of Jewishorigin.Thescions
of the originalchosenpeoplecameto be heldof low account,andindeedin
contempt, bytheself-styledsuccessorsto theirelectedstatus-thoseSpaniards
of uncompromised descentwhowerecarrying
Christian theChristiangospel
to theworldat large.

Perhapsmost appositely,Yerushalmi(1971, pp. 122-136) describesa

virulentlyantisemiticmedicaltreatisewrittenby one Don Juande Quifiones,
an associateof AbrahamCardoso'solderbrotherIsaacin Madrid.Quifiones
statesthatamongthe punishmentswhichJewishmenmustendurethroughout
time for their having persecutedthe "trueMessiah"is menstruation."If
Jewish males menstruate,"writes Yerushalmi(p. 128), "theyare, in effect,
no longer men but women, and the crime of deicide has been punishedby
castration."Wemayunderstand betterthenatureof AbrahamCardoso'sphallic
narcissismif we place it withinthe contextof the "machismo"antisemitism
of seventeenth-century Spain.
The continuingpresence of the a sense of being blemished,somehow
impure,because of his crypto-Jewishpast, is evidencedalso in one further
meaningwhich Cardosoattachesto the union of the two Messiahs.Their
unionaccordingto Cardosorepresentsthe unificationof all Israel:the house
of Judahwith the dispersedtribesof Joseph.This is a point which Cardoso
makesat the beginningandthe end of QodeshYisra'el, wherehe recallsthat
the lineage of the Messiah son of Ephraimgoes back to the first king of
the NorthernKingdom,Jeroboamson of Nebat,who is seen as the greatest
idolaterin Israel'shistory and the one who was ultimatelyresponsiblefor
the dispersionof the ten northerntribes.Here againwe see the obverseside
of Cardoso'smessianicnarcissism;he is descendedfromthe greatestsinner
98 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

in Israel'shistory.However,the divisionbetweenthe two royal lines which

beganwithJeroboamwill finallybe endedwiththeunionof thetwo Messiahs.
Youhavealreadynotedtheaffairof Jeroboam sonof Nebat,andthisextends
allthewaydownto theMessiahsonof DavidandtheMessiahsonof Ephraim,
betweenwhomtherewill be conflictandjealousyuntiltheendtime,andthen
"Ephraimshallnotbejealousof Judah,andJudahshallnotharassEphraim"
[Isa11:131.(QodeshYisra'el,
p. 253)

Because of Jeroboam'ssin, Cardososays nearthe end of this drush,he,

Cardoso,was destinedto be bornin a landwherehe was forcedto be an "idol
worshiper."We have seen that Cardosoviews SabbataiZebi's apostasyas
an atonementfor Israel'sidolatry;now we see thatCardoso'scrypto-Jewish
past is an atonementfor the sin of Jeroboam.Once this sin has been atoned
for,the dispersionof the ten tribeswill come to an end. This messianichope
was widely held by Jews and Christiansalike at the time,34and for Cardoso,
it must have meantespeciallythe cessationof the plight of the Jews on the
IberianPeninsula.We see again how powerfullyCardoso'sexperienceas a
crypto-Jewhas shapedhis imagination.His messianictask requireshim to
teachthe Jews outsidethe IberianPeninsulathe truthaboutGod in orderto
freethemfromtheirunwitting"metaphysical idolatry,"andoncethishasbeen
achieved, the Jews of the IberianPeninsula will be freedfromtheirenforced
idolatry.Clearly,one of the drivingforces behindCardoso'smessianismis
his continuingidentificationwith the sufferingof the crypto-Jews.35

Conclusion

We began this paper with the claim that Cardoso'stheological and

messialogicalspeculationsseek to downplaythe imageof a debasedMessiah,

34. See the evidence collected in the variousessays in Kaplan,Mechoulan,and Popkin

1989.
35. We may perhapsinvoke Popkin'sphrase"Marranotheology"to describeCardoso's
messianism.UnlikeLa Peyrere,aboutwhosemessianicviews Popkincoinedthe term,Cardoso
is vehementlyopposedto Jewish conversion,but he shareswith La Peyrerethe sense that
the salvationof all the Jews dependsupon a messianicdramawhich uses the crypto-Jewish
conditionas its majormotif. For his discussionof La Peyrere'sMarranotheology,see Popkin
1973and 1987,pp. 22-24.
 MESSIANISM
ABRAHAMMIGUELCARDOSO'S 99

andto demonstratethatSabbataiZebi'sapostasywas not an actthatshouldbe

imitated.In place of the imageof the debasedMessiah,Cardosoholds out to
Israelthe gloriousimageof the resurrectedMessiahunifiedwiththe Messiah
son of Ephraim,who togetherembody Israel'srecoveredgrandeuramong
the nations.Cardosouses the intellectualdebatesof his day surrounding the
statusof knowledgeversus faith and the existenceof a prisca theologia in
orderto positionhimselfagainstthe rabbinicestablishmentas well as against
the philosophizingkabbalists,both of whom, accordingto Cardoso,stand
opposed to the spreadof knowledge among the Jewish people. Cardoso's
anti-elitismhasits rootsin his continuingidentificationwiththecrypto-Jewish
community in the IberianPeninsula and his sense that all Israelis suffering
the same plight in a formof "metaphysicalidolatry"imposeduponthemby
the rabbinicauthorities.
The image of the unifiedMessiahsservesCardosoas a powerfulsymbol
of the redeemedfutureof Israel,and it crystallizesfor corporateIsraelthe
otherwiseesoterickabbalisticteachingconcerningthe unityof the male and
femaleconfigurationswithinthe divinepleroma.The moreaccessibleimage
of the union of the two Messiahs,each havinga historicalreality,goes hand
in handwith the anti-philosophicalknowledgeof the natureof God which
Cardososeeks to spreadamongthe Jewishpeople.
Finally,Cardoso'smessianicself-understanding can be seen to have its
rootsin his continuingsense of profoundhumiliationabouthis crypto-Jewish
past. Cardoso'smessianismmustbe understoodwithinthe frameworkof his
phallicnarcissism,the obverseside of the woundsinflictedby his experience
as a crypto-Jew.This interactionof psychodynamicsand historydeservesa
muchlongertreatment,which I hope to providein a subsequentstudy.36

Universityof California,Davis
Davis, Calif.

36. In particular,I would drawout the full implicationsof Cardoso'smessianicmissionto

revealthe secretsof Israel'sfaithwith his identificationwith the "unveiled,"i.e., circumcised,
Yesod,which, in turn,reflectshis standingrevealedto the world as an unblemishedJew, no
longerneedingto hide behindany mask, even if it be merelythe maskof "theproperprofile
of the Jewish communitywithin ChristianEurope,"in Ruderman'sphrase(Ruderman1995,
p. 225). On the relationshipbetweenthe revelationof secretsandthe unveilingof Yesod.see
Liebes 1993a,pp. 24-26, andWolfson1994,pp. 336-345 andpassim.
100 BRUCEROSENSTOCK

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