Cardozo (1627-1706), a follower of the false messiah Sabbatai Zevi, was one of the most vivid, complex and original personalities to emerge within Judaism during the 17th century. A early modern Jew, he was above all an individual. He suffered horribly for his individuality, yet remained faithful until his death - his strange, violent, eerily messianic death - to what he believed to be the true and authentic Jewish faith.