Radical Rebellion of the Sabbatean-Frankists

Radical Rebellion of the Sabbatean-Frankists Mysticism Meets Rebellion The Sabbatean-Frankist movement was fueled by the deep currents of Jewish mysticism, especially the Kabbalah of Isaac Luria. But instead of using these teachings to deepen spiritual discipline, they weaponized mysticism to justify rebellion. They saw the world as broken, the divine in exile, and believed the only way to fix it was to break all boundaries—even moral ones. Their reinterpretation of tikkun (repair) and shevirat ha-kelim (shattering of vessels) led them to seek God not just in light, but in darkness. In their view, the messianic age wasn’t about order—it was about spiritual revolution through chaos.