Historical Background
There were numerous secret societies of Sabbateans (followers of Sabbatai Zevi) in Eastern Poland (now Ukraine), particularly in Podolia and Galicia at the end of the seventeenth century
In expectation of the great Messianic revolution, the members of these societies violated Jewish laws and custom. The mystical cult of the Sabbateans is believed to have included both asceticism and sensuality: some did penance for their sins, subjected themselves to self-inflicted pain, and "mourned for Zion"; others disregarded the strict rules of modesty required by Judaism, and at times were accused of being licentious. The Polish rabbis attempted to ban the "Sabbatean heresy" at the assembly at Lviv (Lwów) in 1722, but could not fully succeed, as it was widely popular among the nascent Jewish middle class.
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