Nathan of Gaza (; 1643–1680) or Nathan Benjamin ben Elisha Hayyim haLevi Ashkenazi or Ghazzati) was a theologian and author born in Jerusalem. After his marriage in 1663 he moved to Gaza, where he became famous as a prophet for the Jewish messiah claimant Sabbatai Zevi.
Biography
Nathan of Gaza was born in Jerusalem around 1643-1644; he died on Friday, January 11, 1680 in Macedonia. Although he grew up in Jerusalem, his parents were not born in Ottoman Syria. On the contrary, they had emigrated from Poland or Germany.
His father, Elisha Hayyim ben Jacob, was a distinguished rabbinic intellectual who served as an envoy of Jerusalem collecting donations for impoverished Jews. During his travels he would distribute kabbalistic works which he had obtained in Jerusalem. Upon settling in Ottoman Palestine, Elisha Hayyim ben Jacob took on the surname "Ashkenazi" as a means of differentiating his family and himself from the largely Sephardic inhabitants of the Ottoman province. He died in Morocco in 1673.
Prior to his father's death, Nathan of Gaza began studying Talmud and Kabbalah under Jacob Hagiz. The relationship between these two would continue for many years. In fact, Nathan of Gaza would spend a majority of his life – up until about 1664 – with his teacher at a rabbinic college. During this academic period, documents were written that described his interest in and persistence towards academic work. It is said that he was "…an extremely gifted student, of quick apprehension and a brilliant intellect. His talents…[were] noteworthy for their rare combination of intellectual power and capacity for profound thinking with imagination and strong emotional sensitivity…" At the age of nineteen or twenty, he married the daughter of an affluent Jew named Samuel Lissabona. The nuptials were believed to have taken place before the end of the year 1663, when he joined his wife's family in Gaza. There, he was able to focus considerably on his religious studies.
It is upon moving to the area of Gaza that Nathan of Gaza began to take up a more in-depth study of Kabbalah. Only upon delving into the mysterious realm of Jewish mysticism did he begin to embark on mystical experiences. An example of such a transformative incident can be seen with his prophetic awakening, which he describes in a letter written in 1673:
This vision lasted approximately twenty-four hours and was said to have had a powerful impact on his overall perception of reality as well as his entire self. While the revelation was overpowering and transformative, it was the only visual moment where Nathan of Gaza felt that he was a true prophet. Nevertheless, in addition to his physical and mental alteration, there was another important component to the vision: Nathan of Gaza believed that a man by the name of Sabbatai Zevi was the messiah. This strong belief in Sabbatai Zevi as the next leader of the Jewish people marked the initiation of the first Sabbatean believer, Nathan of Gaza. It also constituted the beginning of the Sabbatean movement itself.
Nathan of Gaza's prophecy about Sabbatai Zevi was not his only mental visualization. On the contrary, as the years passed, he would have many other visions, all of which would aid his movement and promote the belief in Sabbatai Zevi. His second vision came on the evening of the Shavuot festival in the spring of 1665. Nathan of Gaza was said to have undergone a spiritual possession by a maggid, or a divine spirit. At the moment of this spiritual takeover, he was described as dancing wildly and emitting a special kind of odor. This smell is described in the Zohar and is believed to be associated with the scent of the Garden of Eden as well as of the prophet Elisha and Rabbi Isaac Luria.
While the vision itself is significantly different from that of the prophetic awakening, it does contain several similarities. One of the parallels is that of transformation. Like the prophetic awakening, as soon as the maggidic possession ended, Nathan of Gaza underwent a kind of alteration. Unlike the first vision, this change was not physical or mental. On the contrary, it was one that involved the perception of Nathan of Gaza by the Jewish community. He became viewed by others as a prophet and as a spiritual "doctor". The public's acknowledgement of Nathan of Gaza as a mystic and as a seer in particular allowed there to be later on an immediate acceptance of Sabbatai Zevi as the next messiah. In general, it is the use of prophecies that plays a central role in this particular movement. The numerous predictions made by Nathan of Gaza and Sabbatai Zevi himself caused a significant part of the contemporary Jewish community to become Sabbatean followers.