Born in Secrecy—Maaminim

Uluc Ozuyener founded the Society for Sabbatean Studies, the first international organization dedicated to preserving and illuminating the heritage of the Maaminim, the hidden followers of Shabbatai Sevi. He is a descendant of the Sabbatean Kapancı sect, born in Turkey, now living in the U.S. Professionally, Ozuyener leads global IT teams, but beneath the surface of his technical career has been a devotion to this subject. His public contributions include interviews and articles in Şalom, the leading Jewish newspaper in Turkey, and a widely viewed conversation with journalist Ruşen Çakır on Medyascope (you can turn on the English translation while watching), where he discussed the lived experience of Sabbatean descendants. His fluency in Turkish, English, and Spanish, and his deep grounding in Ladino culture, enable him to work with rare manuscripts, oral traditions, and mystical hymns with both intellectual rigor and emotional intimacy.

“This book offers a rare and intimate window into the world of the crypto-Sabbateans: inevitably idiosyncratic, yet deeply representative of the lived religious imagination of generations who held fast to a paradoxical faith in silence. It is at once personal testimony and collective memory—three and a half centuries of Ladino hymns, ancestral whispers, and inherited gestures, refracted through a mind fully conversant with modern Sabbatean scholarship and unafraid of its tensions. Written with lyricism and restraint, a distinctly mystical melody runs through every page. It is unlike any other book I know on a subject close to my heart: one that has much to say, but says the most through how it speaks—patiently, obliquely, and with profound fidelity to a tradition long practiced beneath the surface of history.” —J.H. Chajes, Wolfson Professor of Jewish Thought, University of Haifa

“Sabbateanism, which took shape in the seventeenth-century Ottoman world, marks a pivotal yet often misunderstood historical moment in Jewish history. Although nourished by Kabbalistic foundations, the movement developed its own distinct theology and ritual life. At its center stands a striking reinterpretation of the Messiah: a redeemer who must descend in order to ascend, entering darkness so that cosmic tikkun may unfold. This is a messianic drama announced through suffering rather than joy—a paradox that defines the core of Sabbatean thought. Written by a scholar formed within this very lineage, the book weaves rigorous historical methods with the subtle inheritance of a living tradition. It offers not merely an intellectual analysis but a study shaped by an inner familiarity with its sources, resulting in a work both authoritative and quietly poetic. It stands among the most significant contributions to the field in recent years.” —Kursad Demirci, Professor of History of Religions, Marmara University

“Credos are meant to express the most widespread consensus of a belief. As such, they are deliberately formulated in the first person singular. Compare Greek Πιστεύω to Latin Credo, Hebrew אני מאמין (ani ma’amin) to Arabic آمنتُ (āmentu). All of them say ‘I believe,’ not ‘we believe.’ Totally unexpectedly, the title of the long-awaited book Born in Secrecy—Maaminim adopts the first person plural. No doubt, this serious and dedicated work also reflects shared beliefs and perspectives of the Sabbateans in general and of the Kapancı community in particular. But before and after anything else, it is a personal mosaic: fragments inherited from family, conclusions drawn from careful observation of narratives and practices within the community, and academic knowledge gathered from dozens of books and scholarly studies. It is a mosaic created by a single contemporary Sabbatean intellectual, during a lifelong search for the meaning of the unique and beautiful heritage he was born into. The historical, social, and ethno-psychological importance of Ozuyener’s book for the Sabbatean community can be compared only to its immense contribution to the scholarly world.” —Eliezer Papo, senior lecturer, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; President, Israeli National Authority for Ladino Culture