Satan in Goray is a novel by
Isaac Bashevis Singer. It was originally published in installments in a literary magazine called Globus and was Singer's first published work. It is set in the years following 1648, when the
Chmelnicki massacres, considered one of the greatest Jewish catastrophes, occurred. The story describes the Jewish messianic cult that arose in the village of Goraj (close to
Biłgoraj) and the effects of the seventeenth century faraway false messiah
Shabbatai Zvi on the local population.
Dar Williams' song "And a God Descended" (from The Green World album) uses imagery from the story to contemplate faith gone awry.
Sources
- http://darwilliams.net/library/gw-songbysong.html