Maoz Kahana: Smoke the Pipe and Win the War: One Sabbatean Smoking Ritual and Its Echoes in Chassidic Lore

The Department of Middle Eastern Studies at CU FA and Prague Centre for Jewish Studies at CU FA invite you to a lecture by Prof Maoz Kahana (Tel Aviv University) titled “Smoke the Pipe and Win the War: One Sabbatean Smoking Ritual and Its Echoes in Chassidic Lore.”

Annotation

In this lecture, we examine a unique Sabbatean smoking ritual from the late 17th century as a symbolic act of warfare. Analyzing primary sources, we reveal how a certain way of pipe smoking became a mimic-symbolic practice mirroring military tactics, allowing Sabbatean Jews to participate in the Donmeh’s (Muslim groups of Sabbateans) clandestine activities. This symbolic war was intended to subvert Islam from within as a form of taqiyya. We then trace this practice’s survival into a different cultural context in 19th century Chassidic tales. This study illuminates the interplay between religious symbolism and social dynamics in Jewish movements, showcasing the importance of mimic-symbolic rituals across traditions.

Maoz Kahana, PhD., is an Associate Professor in the Jewish History Department, Tel Aviv University. His research focuses on deciphering and elucidating rabbinical literature and Jewish law and legal cultures within the social and intellectual contexts of the early modern and modern European history as well as its minority Jewish culture. Characteristic themes of his work are print and book history, the scientific revolution, magic, law, and the divine; Rabbi’s allure to Sabbatian literature, Chassidic Halakhic writings, Jewish legal cultures and European romanticism, the emergence of European coffeehouses, and others.