From the Hasmoneans, to a famed poet, to the rabbi and imam who coauthored a book.

In the words of Gershom Scholem, “Nonsense based on me!”

Why did one great rabbi help a cantankerous social misfit and rabbinic genius tar a third rabbi as a heretic?

Conspiracy theories about the Dönme.

Zalman Shazar and Shabbetai Tsvi.

What happened after Shabbetai Tsvi chose conversion over death.

A new book tells their story.

Was the example of a failed Jewish messiah the inspiration for John Milton’s brief epic poem, Paradise Regained, published in 1671?