Chapters 14-15 Reading Response

    One facet of this course and the readings have been the overwhelming amount of people and characters we have met thus far. We have covered hundreds upon hundreds of year and the people we have encountered are all interesting in their own right, but keeping track of them has been difficult. Not having a strong religious background has made learning these people tough for me. It seems,though,  that the most eccentric ones seem to stick in my memory the best. In chapter 15, a person is introduced who I had never even heard of before. He was a very interesting (although I'm not sure if it's good or bad interesting) person, and I was inclined to read a little more about him after finishing these sections. His name: David Reuveni.
    In short, he was a mysterious Jew that not only aroused messianic hope for some Jews, but also, raised a red flag to those enjoying their new-found egalitarian positions in Jerusalem under Ottoman rule. His origins are not known; people speculate he could be from Khaibar, Afghanistan, or even southern India. Nevertheless, he arrived in Jerusalem in 1523 claiming to be the messiah. This scared many Jews because they had been enjoying their new positions in Jerusalem where they were free from most prejudices. He claimed to be the new King David and the son of King Solomon; pretty much, he thought he was a messiah for Jews. He had a small following, and because of the expulsion of Jews in Spain, many Jews were looking for leadership and cohesiveness, and he may have provided this for few. It was reported that he died in Spain, some texts say it was reported that "A jew who came from India to Portugal" was burned.
     He did not gain a tremendous following, but his existence was very interesting. It's weird to see how people throughout history have claimed to be messiahs or comings of g-d. Things like this still happen. I would like to know more about him, and I don't have much time to write more about him. I just thought he was an interesting figure to discuss this week and perhaps I could get back to him later.