A FALSE MESSIAH IN ANATOLIA

Although the Ottomans called anyone who converted to Islam a muhtadi (one who has found guidance), they withheld this name from one group, referring to them instead as awdati (returnees or Dönmes). Although few in number, the Dönmes held very important positions in Ottoman social and political life and managed to maintain power for many years.

A significant Jewish community had long lived in Ottoman lands. The Ottoman government recognized them as a distinct millet (community/nation). Many of them were Jews who had fled Spanish persecution in 1492. They spoke a language called Ladino, a mix of Hebrew and Spanish. Thessaloniki, İzmir, and Istanbul were the cities where they lived in greatest numbers.

The Kingdom of God

In 1648, a rabbi named Sabbatai Zevi (or Sabetay Zwi) living in İzmir claimed to be the messiah. Indeed, Jews had long awaited a messiah to save humanity before the Day of Judgment, overthrow the ruler of the time, gather Jews in Jerusalem, and establish the “Kingdom of God.” Christianity and Islam also hold belief in a messiah, though in different forms.

However, few believed in Sabbatai Zevi. He traveled through various cities. Finally, in 1666—which he considered the beginning of the apocalypse—he declared his messiahship to everyone. He changed Jewish prayers, removed the sultan's name from prayers and inserted his own. Some began to believe he was the long-awaited savior king of the Jews. He divided the world into 38 kingdoms and appointed his loyal followers to each.

As a result, the chief rabbi in Istanbul reported him to the government. Zevi was exiled to Çanakkale. When he continued his activities, he was brought to Edirne before Sultan Mehmed IV. Fearing execution, he pretended to convert to Islam and took the name Mehmed. The Sheikh al-Islam Vani Mehmed Efendi, who was present at the time, could not help but say: “I am as sure as my name that this man has not truly become a Muslim. But alas, our religion judges by appearances.”

His followers also publicly declared that they had become Muslims. Islam judges based on appearance. Even the Prophet Muhammad did not confront those he knew to be hypocrites for this reason. Moreover, among them may have been sincere Muslims.

Sabbatai Zevi

18 Principles

Zevi, who was placed under residence in Gallipoli, did not stop his activities. He published 18 principles of the sect called Sabbateanism (Sabbateanism):

“God is one. Sabbatai Zevi is the messiah. False oaths shall not be taken. When the names of God and the Messiah are mentioned, respect shall be shown. Meetings shall be held to understand the secret of the Messiah. No one shall be killed. Adultery shall not be committed. The 16th day of Kislev (the 9th month of the Jewish calendar) shall be celebrated. False testimony shall not be given. Mutual kindness and compassion shall be shown. Psalms (hymns from the Torah) shall be read secretly every day. The customs and apparent religious practices of Muslims shall be followed. Fasting shall be observed. Sacrifices shall be offered. No marriages with Muslims shall occur. Muslim holidays shall be respected.”

Zevi was caught while conducting secret rituals with his followers. He was interrogated by Grand Vizier Fazıl Ahmed Pasha and exiled to Albania with his followers. He died there in 1675. Since the issue was resolved through exile, the government did not resort to execution. For the Ottomans, so long as the order was not threatened, no one’s belief was interfered with.

The grave of Sabbatai Zevi in Ulcinj, Montenegro

Key Points...

Sabbateans referred to themselves with names such as ma’aminim (believers), haberim (associates), and ba’ale milhamah (warriors). They interpreted the esoteric meaning of the Torah, and by interpreting many Jewish laws and commandments differently, followed a path similar to the Batinis in the Islamic world. They read Zevi’s commentary on the Torah called Zohar (Light).

A hundred years after Zevi's death, they split into three groups. Those who considered Zevi’s brother-in-law Yakub Qerido as the next messiah were called Yakubis. Another group believed that Osman Baruhya Ruso carried the soul of Sabbatai Zevi; a different group rejected this. The first were called Karakaşlar, and the second group that continued Zevi’s tradition were called Kapancılar.

They lived separately. They did not marry among each other or with outsiders. Even their cemeteries were separate. Üsküdar’s Bülbülderesi and Karacaahmed (8th section) cemeteries belonged to the Karakaş and Kapan communities; Feriköy was for the Yakubis. The Bülbülderesi cemetery was divided into Karakaş and Kapan sections. After 1960, Muslims also began to be buried there. The Kapan cemetery was used until 1935. The Karakaş section is still active and well-maintained. The Karakaş community buried multiple deceased in a single grave. The Kapan section is neglected. They now also bury in Zincirlikuyu. Yakubis bury in Feriköy. Tombstones bear images and symbols.

Even the Jewish community, considering Sabbateans heretical, excluded them. For many years they lived as apparent Muslims while practicing their beliefs and worship privately in their homes. Among them were Bektashi, Mevlevi, and Melami sheikhs, and even a Sheikh al-Islam (Hayatizade Emin Efendi – 1748). The poet Esat Dede (d. 1911), the head of the Kasımpaşa Mevlevi lodge, was one.

Even the cemeteries of the followers of Sabbatai Zevi, who split into three groups, are different

Sütçü Baba 

The most important day for the Dönmes is the Kuzu Festival on 21 Azar (March), commemorating Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice of his son. A lamb feast is held. There are rumors that, in the past, wife-swapping occurred. Some Dönme even believe that the 1917 Great Fire of Thessaloniki was divine punishment for this.

They refer to Sevi as “Sütçü Baba” (Milkman Father) to avoid mentioning his name; offerings of milk and honey are made for him. In the evenings, a candle is lit in front of the house to show signs of life inside. A guest room is always kept ready for the messiah. At gatherings, an empty chair is left.

Circumcision is performed not at 7 days old but later in life, like Muslims. Ladino prayers are recited at funerals. Community aid money is collected under the name “Sorma ver” (Don’t ask, just give). 

On July 24th, they celebrate a single Sabbath which they say substitutes for all Sabbaths of the year. They eat pork because Sevi was antinomian—that is, as he is accepted as the messiah, he can alter or abolish religious rules.

Religious instruction is conducted by volunteer rabbis within the community. The society has both religious and secular leaders. They gather in community houses, where young people meet and marry. 

To preserve the culture, wealth, and secrets, endogamy is practiced. They do not even marry other Dönme groups. Anyone who marries an outsider is ostracized—but not excommunicated. Calendars are shared, alms are accepted, and funeral services are provided. However, the person is not admitted into the community and must perform rituals alone.

Community children do not know they are Dönme; they learn by coincidence, as their parents do not tell them to protect them. This reflects Sevi’s command to remain silent. Some see this secret as a curse and hide it for that reason. They prefer to be called “Selanikli” (Thessalonian). In the past, everyone spoke Ladino within their families.

Especially since Sevi, almost every Dönme family has kept a genealogical tree. Everyone has one public and one secret name. The secrecy stems from the fear that knowing both names could allow for sorcery. Everyone is known to have a Spanish-origin surname, but it is not used.

The Status Quo and the Dönme 

The Dönme have always been a closed group living a European lifestyle, in contact with Europe, financially well-off or wealthy, educated, and multilingual. They believe they are different and superior, that God loves and protects them the most. 

They became the recruits of the Republic. They were familiar with the West and lived in a Western manner. They are distant from the rituals of both religions. A few pray or fast and are sincere Muslims. Very few follow Sevi’s rituals.

In the Dönme neighborhood of Thessaloniki where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is said to have been born, there is the Yeni Cami (New Mosque), built by the Dönme in 1902. Atatürk’s father, Ali Rıza Bey, is buried in this mosque’s courtyard. It is said that the houses in this neighborhood were connected from below, allowing people to move between them as if entering their own homes—thus enabling secret worship away from prying eyes.

From the 1880s onward, ethnic identity began to surpass religious identity. After World War II, intermarriage increased. Today, most describe themselves as distant from religion and faith. Almost all consider themselves ethnically Jewish. Some have no interest in these matters. Very few are connected to memories, traditions, and rituals. Today, the Dönme population is estimated at around 40,000 people, with about 5% said to follow religious rituals.

Food culture is very much alive among the Dönme. It is nearly the only continuing ritual of the community. Anyone who makes “mafiş” dessert, snow-white meatballs, or cracked-wheat dolma is a Dönme. Their cuisine also includes roasted chestnuts, leek meatballs, and eggplant börek.

CRYPTO JEWS IN TURKEY

Although small in number, the Dönmes (converts, crypto-Jews)) occupied a very important place in Ottoman social and political life due to their positions.

The heretical Jewish sect that emerged and developed under the leadership of a rabbi from Izmir named Sabbatai Zevi in ​​the 17th century gained an interesting identity when its members became Muslims. This community, which appeared to be Muslim but secretly practiced its own beliefs, established a strong social influence in Thessaloniki and its surroundings from the 19th century onwards. It played very important roles in Ottoman politics and cultural life.

Group D

The Dönme came to Türkiye in three waves, settling in Istanbul and Izmir. There are smaller numbers in Bursa and other provinces. These waves were the Balkan War (1913), the Thessaloniki Fire (1917), and the population exchange (1924). 

In Istanbul, they generally lived in Nişantaşı, Teşvikiye, Taksim, and Maçka. The Wealth Tax of 1942 was collected from the Dönme—known as Group D—at a rate double that of Muslims and half that of non-Muslims. However, İş Bank provided loans enabling some to pay their debts, effectively rescuing the Dönme—meaning the regime protected them.

The Yakubis, who had long preferred to abandon their identity, became military and civil bureaucrats. The Kapancıs, who shed their identity later, engaged in industry and foreign trade. The Karakaş were small tradesmen. Most are involved in the textile trade. Many of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) members were Karakaş.

To prevent the Dönme, feared to become competitors in trade after migrating from Thessaloniki, from entering, revelations made by a Karakaş Dönme named Rüştü about the community were suppressed by the government. Some within the community say of Karakaş Şükrü, “He had capital in Thessaloniki. To prevent it from being transferred to Türkiye, he claimed the group wasn’t Turkish, but rather lived a crypto lifestyle and was therefore insincere.” Others say, “He blackmailed the group to escape a financial crisis he was facing at the time.”

The Dönme attained significant positions in the new era. Deputies, ministers, governors, undersecretaries, and professors emerged from among them. Their lifestyle became an example of secularism. They dominated cinema and the press. One of Türkiye’s first film companies, İpek Film, belonged to the İpekçi family. They have always lived in constant conflict with the Jews. Jews consider Sabbateans heretics and do not accept them into their fold. Muslims, on the other hand, call them Dönme and do not consider them sincere Muslims.

Şemsi Efendi (Simon Zwi), one of the descendants of Sabbatai Zevi

Ottoman modernization and Dönmes

They mostly lived in Thessaloniki, İzmir, and Istanbul. Those who had gone to Albania eventually settled in Thessaloniki. They were an intellectual community in contact with Europe, knowing several foreign languages. With these qualities, they played a significant role in Ottoman modernization and came to occupy key positions. They also brought others from among their own acquaintances into these key positions. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, an effective Sabbatean rule was established in the Ottoman Empire.

Most of those who deposed Sultan Abdulhamid II belonged to this group. There were many Sabbateans among journalists, filmmakers, and writers. 

Some notable figures include: Talat Pasha (grand vizier), Mithat Şükrü Bleda (general secretary of The Committee of Union and Progress), Cavit Bey (minister of treasure), Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın (journalist), Hasan Tahsin (journalist), Halide Edip Adıvar (writer), Ahmed Emin Yalman (journalist), Halil Lütfi Dördüncü (journalist), Fatin Rüştü Zorlu (minister of foreign affairs), Ahmed Salih Korur (prime ministry secretary), Sıddık Sami Onar (law professor), Sahir Erman (law professor), Emre Gönensay (bureaucrat), Abdi İpekçi (journalist), İsmail Cem (journalist), Dinç Bilgin (businessman), Engin Cezzar (actor), Halil Bezmen (businessman), and Sabiha Sertel (journalist). 

Among these, Sabiha Sertel, Sahir Erman, and Halil Bezmen were Kapancı. Halide Edip, the Ece family, and Ahmet Emin Yalman were Yakubi. Cavit Bey, Talat Pasha, the İpekçi family, Engin Cezzar, and Mısırlı Triko were Karakaş.

To ensure both an intellectual upbringing and preservation of identity among Sabbatean children, institutions such as Feyziyye Schools and Şişli Terakki High School were established. Many Sabbatean youths and some Muslim children were accepted into the school only for appearance’s sake.

Şemsi Efendi (Simon Sevi), the principal and religious teacher of the Thessaloniki Feyzi Elementary School, was a successful educationalist. Terakki High School belonged to the Kapancıs; Işık High School to the Karakaşs.

The Yakubis, in order to live comfortably in this society, distanced themselves from the Sabbatean tradition early on. When the Kapancıs arrived in Turkey during the population exchange, they decided to distance themselves to avoid discrimination. However, the Karakaşs tried to maintain their tradition despite everything. 

The section of Bülbülderesi Cemetery belonging to the Dönme community

Shema Yisrael

In recent times, an unserious literature has emerged about Sabbateans; in fact, a psychology of searching for a Sabbatean under every stone—like with Freemasonry—has become widespread. It is also a fact that Sabbateans themselves have remained silent in the face of propaganda claiming that well-known and respected figures are of their descent.

A Jewish journalist named Itamar Ben-Avi (1882–1943), in his memoirs published in 1940, wrote that in 1911 he conducted several interviews on war with a young Ottoman officer named Mustafa Kemal Bey, who was staying at the Kamenitz Hotel in Jerusalem before heading to Tripoli. Allegedly, he told him that he descended from those who believed in Sabbatai Zevi, but considered himself a Turk, and even that his father had hired a Karaite Jewish teacher to teach him a Torah printed in Venice; and that the only prayer he remembered was “Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu ve Adonai Ehad” (“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is One”). When the journalist said, “Sir, this is the most important prayer of the Jews,” he replied, “It is also my secret prayer, sir, mine too!” This incident was recounted by Hillel Halkin in an article titled “When Kemal Ataturk Recited Shema Yisrael” published in the Forward newspaper of New York, dated January 28, 1994.

The story was revisited in the February 1999 issue of the Jewish Daily published in America; the same claim was repeated in an article titled “Was the Father of the Turks the Son of a Jew?” written by Heinz Gestrein in the July 24, 2007 issue of The New York Sun and the November 26, 1999 issue of Aufbau, a magazine published in America by German Jews.

This article is based on the Zachronoth magazine issued by the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece. Is being from Salonica and studying at the Feyziye Schools enough to be considered a Sabbatean? One must think about this thoroughly. It is certain that Mustafa Kemal met Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the famous Hebrew scholar and father of Ben-Avi, in Jerusalem; but official sources do not confirm a meeting with Ben-Avi.

The Broken Caste

In his book “Hatırladıklarım”, (What I Remember), Zekeriya Sertel provides some interesting information while recounting his marriage to Sabiha Sertel: “The girl belonged to a ‘Dönme’ family. The Dönme were a handful of Jews who had escaped the Inquisition in Spain during the Middle Ages and took refuge in the Ottoman Empire, settling in Salonica. Afterward, they converted to Islam. Though they changed their religion, they couldn’t be considered to have fully embraced Islam. They also faced resistance from their surroundings. They did not observe any Islamic rules. They didn’t pray, fast, or mingle with Muslims and Turks. They lived as a caste.

They were intelligent, hardworking, skillful, and charming people. But they lived within their own shell, did not integrate into the Turkish community, did not intermarry with Turks, and maintained their narrow existence as such. They mostly dealt with commerce. Because of this, they had close relations with Europe. This situation also influenced their lifestyle. Their income was good, and their standard of living was higher than other communities.

After migrating from Salonica to Istanbul, they mostly settled in the Nişantaşı and Şişli districts, again forming their own community life. They even established two schools, ‘Feyziye High School’ and ‘Şişli Terakki High School,’ so they wouldn’t have to send their children to Turkish schools. They did not send their children to public schools but educated them in these institutions.

The girl I wanted to marry belonged to this community. If her family consented, it would be the first time that a Dönme girl married a Turk…

After migrating to Istanbul, tremors had begun within the ‘Dönme’ community. The caste had somewhat lost its unity. Their decision to intermarry with Turks would break the caste shell and completely disrupt the unity of this community…

They had informed the Committee of Union and Progress headquarters that I was about to marry a ‘Dönme’ girl. One day, Doctor Nazım, a well-known member of this committee, called me in. He congratulated me. He asked whether I realized the importance of what I was doing.

•       You may not be aware, he said, but you are paving the way for the union and integration of two communities that have looked askance at each other for centuries. You are delivering a death blow to the Dönme caste. We should properly evaluate this event and celebrate the union of the Turks and the Dönme on this occasion. This should be regarded as a national and historical event, he said.

I was surprised. - So, what should we do, sir, I asked.

•       We will officiate your wedding. We will announce it to the newspapers. We will turn this wedding from a family event into a national event…

At our wedding, the bride’s representative was the then Prime Minister and one of the most influential figures of the Committee of Union and Progress, Talat Pasha. My representative was Tevfik Rüştü Aras, who later became Atatürk’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. The prominent bigwigs of the Committee of Union and Progress were also present at the wedding…

The next day, all newspapers gave great importance to this news. From that day on, our marriage became a precedent among the ‘Dönme’ community. After us, many boys and girls began to marry Turks. Thus, the Dönmeh caste collapsed and passed into history.”