Spoilers for Damascus Gate

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Spoilers for the online annotated Damascus Gate

Jorn Barger October 1999

NEW: Discuss spoilers for this book: http://greenspun.com/com/DamascusGate/dgspoilers.html

The paperback edition includes surprisingly intelligent discussion questions at the end, that apparently got RS's approval. These will be noted below.

The characters of De Kuff and Razz are based on Sabbatai Zevi and Nathan of Gaza. pix

This backgrounder is a must-read. Highlights:

Versed in the kabbalah... Shabbetai Tzvi led a life of seclusion and piety in his early adolescence. During this period came the first manifestations of a severe psychic disturbance. Shabbetai Tzvi was agitated by sexual temptations. He began to suffer from alternating episodes of depression and exaltation. Nevertheless, handsome and endowed with a musical voice, he attracted many admirers. An eye witness reported that he acquired the reputation of an inspired man. At the age of 18, Shabbetai Tzvi was ordained a chacham, a title designating him as a rabbi. Young scholars his age collected around him, studying Talmudic and mystical lore. Like him, they took ritual baths in the sea and they accompanied him in the fields outside the city, where they devoted themselves to the mysteries of the Torah.
...In 1664, during a second visit to Cairo lasting two years, Shabbetai Tzvi married Sarah, a Polish-born orphan in her 20s. Sarah's parents had perished in the Chielnitzki massacres. Reputedly promiscuous, she wandered through Europe, arriving at the port of Leghorn, Italy, where she claimed she was destined to marry the messiah. When Shabbetai Tzvi heard this, he sent messengers to Leghorn to bring her to Cairo. The wedding ceremony was held with great pomp. His marriage was interpreted as an emulation of the prophet Hosea, who had married a whore under divine inspiration.
On September 16, 1666, sumoned before the Imperial Court in Adrinople, Shabbetai Tzvi was ordered to choose death or conversion to islam. A former Jew, Mustapha Hayatizade, physician to Sultan Mehmet IV, convinced Shabbetai Tzvi to accept Islam. Shabbetai Tzvi adopted the name Aziz Mehmed Efendi. To cope with the cruel reality of Shabbetai Tzvi's apostasy, his believers had to choose [text garbled]... For the faithful, however, a new, mystical theosophical interpretation emerged to legitimate Shabbetai Tzvi's apostasy. Shabbetai Tzvi's task as a Muslim was to gather the "holy sparks" that were dispersed among the gentiles - a necessary step toward redemption.
One of the Donme's distinctive rituals was the Festival of the Lamb, celebrated in spring on the night between the 21st and 22nd of Adar... As practiced in former times, at least two married couples and often many more participated in the ceremony. The meat of that spring's newly born lambs was eaten for the first time that year. After the meal, the lights were extinguished and couples made love without distinguishing between their partners. Children born from this encounter were considerd sacred.

"Nathan met Sabbatai Zevi in Jerusalem, and was convinced Sabbatai was the Messiah. He convinced the much older man, who was plagued by self-doubt, that his mission was legitimate." [more and pic], Nathan's own account

Title:

Damascus Gate: (does this have any relevance beyond vaguely appropriate connotations of exotica and macho-ness? the discussion questions bring up St Paul on the road to Damascus)

page ten

come to Jerusalem: the discussion questions draw attention to the fact that most characters in DG are 'foreigners' in Israel

Protestant: the discussion questions draw attention to Lucas's constant dissembling about his religious affiliations

page twentyone

the clothes she wore: the discussion questions contrast Sonia's calculated wardrobe-changes to Lucas's calculated ethnicity-changes

page sixtyfour

Sabbatai: Sabbatai Zevi (1626-76) Jewish mystic and messiah great fan site includes mailing list

page one hundred thirtytwo

a better cause: (RS is being a bit disingenuous here, wrt Razz's loyalties)

page one hundred eightytwo

take the fall: RS comes cleaner

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