In 1666, the year which the Christian Millenarians regarded as Messianic by reason of a passage in Revelation xiii, 18, Judaism was stirred by Sabbatai Zebi of Smyrna, who proclaimed himself the Messiah. Expelled from that city he went to Egypt, where he received the enthusiastic support of Raphael Joseph, a wealthy tax-farmer. In Palestine, whither he went, he found many admirers, and the prophet, Nathan of Gaza, proclaimed him the true Messiah. Being denounced for high treason, Sabbatai was brought to Constantinople and imprisoned in the fort of Abydos, but the means supplied by his followers enabled him to hold court like a prince. Everywhere in Europe the majority of the Jews believed him to be the Messiah. The representatives of the Jews in Poland sent two prominent rabbis as a committee to him, but Nehemiah Hakohen, the Polish Kabbalist, who had come to ascertain the truth, denounced him as an impostor. Sabbatai Zebi was brought before the Sultan to answer a charge of high treason; and, in order to save his life, he turned to Islam. The Sultan gave him an office, and for ten years, until his death, he remained in contact with the Jews. Many of his followers turned to Islam, and still exist as a special sect called Donmah in Salonica. Others of his followers who remained true to Judaism formed a mystic community, which adopted the name of Hasidim. They were excommunicated by the most prominent rabbis, but progressed rapidly, although many of them were unmasked as frauds. Nehemiah Hayon, an Oriental, wrote a book in which he taught the doctrine of the Trinity (1712) and Jacob Frank, a Polish Jew, formed a Judæo-Christian sect. The latter was supported by those who wished to convert the Jews to Christianity, and lived in princely style in Offenbach, where he died in 1793. The center of Hasidism was in Podolia and Volhynia; Israel Besht, 1695-1760, may be considered as its founder. His work was continued by his disciples, among whom Baer Mezdzyrzecz (1700-1772) was the most prominent. Later Nahman of Bratzlav (1779-1810) developed the theory of miraculous powers of healing granted to favored individuals and the mystic interpretation of the Bible and the Rabbinic commands. They still have a great number of devotees in parts of Austrian and Russian Poland.