50 Jewish Messiahs: The Untold Life Stories of 50 Jewish Messiahs since Jesus Book

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction: The Jewish Concept of Messiah	1
1. The First Jewish Messiah	8
2. The Second Moses	16
3. The Syrian Messiahs: The Unknown Militant and the Infamous Miracle Worker	19
4. The Persian Messiah Dynasty	23
5. The Messiah According to Maimonides	28
6. Maimonides Messiahs	32
7. The Jewish Messiah from the Arabian Nights	38
8. The Messiah Who Killed the Pope and the Messiah who Threatened Jewish Castile	45
9. The Messiah Prince and the Last Iberian Messiahs	50
10. The Role of Women in Spain s Messiah Stories	54
11. The First Ashkenazi Messiah	57
12. The Odd Couple	59
13. The General of the Phantom Army	62
14. The Messiah Who Was Saved by the Pope	70
15. The Kabbalist Messiahs	78
16. The Rabbi Who Became Christianity s Expert on the Messiah	85
17. The Greatest Messiah: Beginnings	91
18. The World Discovers the Messiah	98
19. The Disgrace of the Messiah	108
20. Shabbatai s Secret Movement Survives	116
21. The Jewish-Muslim-Christian Messiah	123
22. The Hasidic Master as Messiah	134
23. The Messiah Who Returned from the Dead and Other Yemenite Messiahs	138
24. Today s Messiah	148
Conclusion	153
Endnotes	156
Appendix
A. Note on Selecting the First Messiah	168
B. Note on the Beta Israel and the Ten Tribes	170
C. Note on the Power Conflicts among Pope Clement VII, Emperor Charles V, and King Henry VIII	172
Definitions	174
Sources and Bibliography	181
Index
A. The Messiahs	187
B. General Index	188