Saturn “In The Beginning…”

The Kabbalah places great emphasis upon the first word of the Torah, Bereshit (בראשית), meaning “in the beginning.” The Sabbatians found encrypted in this word the name of their Messiah, ‘Sabbatai,’ which means ‘Saturn.’ Every letter in the name ‘Sabbatai’ (שבתאי) is also contained in the word ‘Bereshit’ (בראשית).

The letter Resh (ר) is the only letter in ‘Bereshit’ (בראשית) that is not also in ‘Sabbatai’ (שבתאי). According to the Sefer Yetzirah, the letter Resh (ר) corresponds to Saturn.

Sources:

• Gershom Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah
• Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah Commentary