David Reubeni and Shlomo Molcho (Part I)
By: Nosson Wiggins
David Reubeni (1490–1541?) was a mysterious Jewish “half-mystic, half-adventurer” who presented various military and political plans to Christian rulers in Europe. Little is known about Reubeni’s origins, but from a purported autobiographical diary titled “Sipur David Reubeni” and a collection of letters that were exchanged during the 16th century, we can piece together the fascinating story of Reubeni and the return of the Portuguese converso Jew named Shlomo Molcho, who served as imperial secretary to King John III of Portugal.
Born around 1490, David Reubeni wrote that he hailed from the Desert of Chavor, which scholars believe existed in modern-day region of Kurdistan and is mentioned in Melachim II (17:6) as one of the regions that Sancheirev, King of Ashur (Assyria) exiled the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Eretz Yisrael prior to the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash.
David Reubeni claimed that in Chavor, his older brother, Yosef, inherited the kingdom of their father Shlomo, who ruled over 300,000 Jews from the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe. David also claimed that his family traced their lineage directly to David Hamelech, and the name Reubeni was adopted because they had ruled over the tribe of Reuven.
The following story is recorded by Rabbi Avraham Refael Tarbut of Tzfat in a letter he wrote to a colleague, Rabbi Avraham of Perosa, Italy. David Reubeni appeared in Eretz Yisrael in the mid-1520s and spent some time wandering the country. He announced to some Jews in Tzfat, including Rabbi Tarbut, that the Ten Tribes were preparing for the redemption but have an ancient tradition to remain in exile until they witness ten wondrous signs. They have already seen eight of the ten, but must also wait for the removal of a stone from the Kotel HaMaaravi. Reubeni claimed that he had been sent as the emissary to remove that stone and also fulfilled his mission in the presence of the Rabbi Yitzchak Sholal, who later informed Rabbi Tarbut of Tzfat that everything Reubeni told him was false and his fraudulent identity must be revealed.
On several occasions, David Reubeni claimed to have been appointed as a military general by this older brother Yosef, King of Chavor. His mission was to travel to the west to buy weapons to battle the Muslims in the east. It emerged from several incidents in his diary that David Reubeni was an ignoramus and was not scrupulous in his observance of the mitzvos. He seemed to have viewed himself as a military leader and not a spiritual leader in any sense.
Davd Reubeni arrived in Venice in the winter of 1524 and was described by the locals as a short, thin man dressed in the classic Arabic garb and speaking a jumbled mixture of Hebrew and Arabic. Reubeni, who must have been a charismatic and persuasive personality, won over a number of wealthy Jews in Venice and managed to convince them to finance his trip to Rome, where he wished to meet with the Pope. In the spring of 1524, Reubeni and a group of followers arrived in Rome, where his success continued and he was able to win the hearts of a number of influential and wealthy Jews.
After a short time, Reubeni was granted an audience with Pope Clement VII in whose presence Reubeni requested tha the Pope write to the French and German monarchs asking them to supply him with weapons to fight the Muslims. Reubeni’s request was initially ignored, but a year later, after a second meeting with the Pope, Reubeni received a letter addressed to the king of Portugal. However, the papal letter didn’t request that the king supply Reubeni with weapons, but rather suggested that the king investigate Reubeni’s claim. Although it was certainly not what he had hoped for, Reubeni took the letter and sailed from Livorno and arrived in Portugal in the fall of 1525.
In October, 1525, Reubeni and his entourage arrived in Portugal and waited to meet with King John III. During this period, Reubeni became acquainted with many converso Jews in Portugal, who grew rather fond of Reubeni’s predictions about the messianic era. This excitement led to a great deal of friction between the Christian clergy in Lisbon and Reubeni, which was brought to the attention of King John III.
Eventually, Reubeni was granted his long-awaited audience with King John III, during which he requested weapons to wage war against the Muslims. Reubeni’s request was pushed off for months until King John finally revealed the truth as to why he wasn’t willing to deal with him. The king had been informed that converso Jews in Portugal were kissing his hand and returning to their faith. Reubeni responded with a promise to disconnect from the converso Jews and King John promised to supply him with eight war ships and four-thousand guns and cannons.
Stay tuned for Part II.
Nosson Wiggins (@jewishhistorysheimhagedolim) is the author of two books on the subject of Jewish history, “The Tannaim & Amoraim” and “The Rishonim” (Judaica Press). He researches Jewish History at the Klau Library, HUC-JIR in his hometown of Cincinnati and leads tours of Klau’s Rare Book Room. He is a passionate enthusiast of Jewish history and when he’s not in the hospital working as a nurse, he can be found researching and writing posts for his Substack, “Jewish History—Sheim Hagedolim.”
