Der Soton in Goray ["Satan in Goray"]

This historical novel by I.B. Singer has as its setting the town of Goray, Poland in the years 1665-1666. Based on the debacle of the false messiahhood of Shabthai Tzvi, the book graphically illustrates the great impact of that event on quotidian Jewish life. This early work by the future Nobel laureate contains many motifs that are signature Singer: antinomianism, sexual debauchery, mysticism and the breakdown of rabbinic authority. The book contains a preface by Aaon Zeitlin. The translation of Satan in Goray was Singer's literary debut in the English language (1955). See B. Naor, "Isaac Bashevis Singer-A Belated Sabbatian" in: B. Naor, Post-Sabbatian Sabbatianism, pp. 98-103.