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During the times of false messiah Shabbetai Tzvi, and for several decades afterwards, many well established rabbanim [1] believed him to be Moshiach. Some even maintained this belief after his conversion to Islam. May one learn from the seforim of those who maintained such belief?

[1] see Bezalel Naor's Post Sabbatian Sabbatianism for a recent survey of the academic literature on this topic

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since some include reb Yonsan Eibshitz I guess yes since everyone holds of the Kreisie Uplasee yet the scholarly works have no effect on Halacha – simchastorah Feb 21 at 1:50
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Moshe, if you don't tag @simchashatorah he won't see it. But to answer your question, Kreisi UPleisi is a major Halachic work. I don't think it's possible to get Semichah without encountering it. – Seth J Feb 21 at 2:21
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(In my mind) It's like the early, disillusioned followers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who came up with excuses after he died that he could die and still have been the Mashiach Ben Yosef, not Ben David (distinct from those who still believe he was and is Mashiach and that he'll return - that's much closer to heresy). In other words, people were devastated by his betrayal, not to mention his death, and they weren't sure what to make of it. They desperately clung to the hope that the end of the bitter exile was near, because they couldn't face the fact that it was nowhere near over. – Seth J Feb 21 at 3:08
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@SethJ It sounds like you just wrote an answer! – Double AA Feb 21 at 3:45
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@jake 1) Bar Kosba did not convert to another religion. 2)Rebbi Akiva did not maintain his belief that Bar Kosba was Moshiach after he died. But many of Shabbetai Tzvi's followers continued to believe he was Moshiach well after both of those events. Even formulating a religion to maintain their beliefs. – none Feb 21 at 14:12
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It would appear based on the article Reb Shlomo and Tu Beshevat (scroll to the bottom) that the sefer Hemdat HaYamim, which clearly contains sabbatean material has been accepted.

for those following Lithuanian tradition, both the Gra and Haayim of Volozhin accepted Hemdat Yamim.

So I would surmise that as long as no sabbatean theology is espoused works of this nature should be permissible to study (obviously this is not a psak, just speculation).

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reason for the downvote? – none Mar 1 at 21:50
The Sefer En Yitzchak (R' Yitzhak Yosef) accepts it I believe. – Hacham Gabriel Mar 2 at 3:02
Why are you answering your question about the validity one rabbi's Halachic works in light of possible sabbatean connections by showing that another rabbi's works are deemed valid despite sabbatean elements? It would seem to me that this new information merely serves to strengthen your question and cast a wider net around more works that might require more scrutiny. I think this answer would be best as a comment on your question, especially since its "conclusion" is speculative at best. Just my two cents. – Seth J Apr 1 at 3:17
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