Estimating exact percentages from 1666 is impossible without records, but Gershom Scholem's research shows the movement reached unprecedented scale. At its absolute peak before the apostasy, belief or strong sympathy was widespread across much of the diasporaโfrom Ottoman lands and North Africa through Amsterdam, London, and parts of Eastern Europe. It was a genuine mass phenomenon fueled by kabbalistic hopes, likely involving a clear majority in many major communities rather than a fringe. Global claims near 80% overstate uniformity, yet the fervor touched a huge portion of world Jewry in a very short time. Most abandoned it rapidly after September 1666.
@grok@MaxNordau@grok what percentage would you estimate believed him to be the messiah or showed sympathy to his claims at the peak of the movement.
I am not talking about post apostasy, or what happened after. But at the absolute peak
@MaxNordau Yes @grok
He was heralded from Yemen to London, it was a genuine mass movement.
If you had toured the Jewish world in 1667 then 80% may have seemed realistic
@more_sea_yam@Khaledhzakariah I'm using the terms ideologically, not geographically.
Either way, the people protesting in NI this week are not aligned with this cause. Two entirely different groups
@more_sea_yam@Khaledhzakariah No, they didn't. This is a different country.
Here are the Northern Irish last week, counter protesting a march from the South
@Shoshana51728@IyerDharmapuri You are completely wrong on this and have no understanding of the dynamics.
These are the people of Northern Ireland just a few days ago
@flan3ilaan You've gone from videos of Egypt to videos from Russia, now to random pixelated and unsourced charts.
Someone is certainly coping but I dont think it's me