Frankism was a Sabbatean religious movement originating in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th and 19th centuries. Created in Podolia, it was named after its founder, Jacob Frank. Frank completely rejected Jewish norms, preaching to his followers that they were obligated to transgress moral boundaries, embracing antinomianism. Frankists engaged in incest, orgies and sex rituals, such as the infamous 1756 incident in Lanškroun where they were allegedly caught dancing around a half-naked woman symbolizing the Shekhinah.
At its height, Frankism claimed perhaps 50,000 followers, primarily Jews living in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Later, Frankists were encouraged to convert en masse to Catholicism.
Description Frankists believed in Sabbatai Zevi, one of the most famous of all self-proclaimed messiahs in Jewish history. He believed in transgressing Jewish commandments to elevate the "divine sparks" constrained by them. He performed actions that violated traditional Jewish prohibitions, such as eating foods forbidden by kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws, and celebrating fast days as feast days. He eventually converted to Islam rather than face execution for claiming to be the Messiah. After Zevi's death, several branches of Sabbateanism evolved that disagreed over which aspects of Judaism should be preserved.
Jacob Frank claimed to be a reincarnation of Sabbatai Zevi and followed and extended his practice of transgression. Father-daughter incest was commonly practised by his followers, and orgies featured prominently in ritual. Frank claimed that "all laws and teachings will fall","The Collection of the Words of the Lord" by Jacob Frank, translated by Harris Lenowitz. Saying 103. and following antinomianism, asserted that the most important obligation of humanity was the transgression of every boundary.
Organization Jacob Frank stood at the head of Frankism. He regarded his followers as soldiers, and all were members of a company to build an army to secure Frank's rule over a Frankist country. There were four company locations, in Ivanie, Częstochowa, Brno, and Offenbach am Main.Klaus Samuel Davidowicz, Zwischen Prophetie und Häresie. Jakob Franks Leben und Lehren. Böhlau-Verlag 2004, p. 99 Members were required to wear plate armor, shields, and helmets, and to train hard.Words of the Lord Kraushar §1543, Volume 2, p. 341
His teachings were not intended for the ears of all Frankists, but only for his personally selected circle of so-called "Brothers and Sisters",Klaus Samuel Davidowicz, Der Messias aus dem Ghetto. P. Langer Verlag 1998, p. 294 of whom he demanded blind obedience.Worte des Herrn Kraushar § 104, Volume 1, p. 381 Frank tried to maintain absolute control over at least this circle, taking advantage of their tendency to believe in shedim and magic. Frank spoke directly only to the "Brothers"; according to his teachings, nothing could be done with women alone, since women had brought death into the world.Words of the Lord MS Krakau 6969, Zbiór… §560
Doctrine
"Words of the Lord" The most important Frankist text is the Księga Słów Pańskich ("Book of the Words of the Lord"). It is written in Polish in an elementary, almost folk style and consists of short sayings (some fewer than ten words), interpretations and parables, visions and dreams; longer speculations about the elements of the doctrine; various episodes from Frank's life, the Frankist "company" and contemporary rulers; and fairy-tale stories up to 1100 words long. To support them, there are quotations from the Torah and the Zohar and popular stories from the surrounding culture, quoted verbatim or paraphrased or adapted to Frank's doctrine.Davidowicz (1998) 294 The text begins and ends with a vision: § 1 is Frank's vision of his calling; § 2192 is Frank's final testament to his "company". The Words of the Lord belongs to Jewish literature, but its contents reject Jewish tradition and teachings. Biblical figures such as Jacob, Esau and Esther are the foundations of Frank's teaching.
Frank's "Brothers" compiled the work between 1755 and 1791 as a Zbiór (collection) of materials developed in numerous meetings. The original Polish title Księga (book) is therefore somewhat misleading and appears only once in the collection, in § 2192.Harris Lenowitz, "An Introduction to the Sayings of Jacob Frank", in: Proceedings of the Eighth World Congress of Jewish Studies 1981, Division C Thought and Literature, Volume 2 Jewish Thought, Kabbalah and Hasidism, Jerusalem 1982, pp. 93–98 It was written down starting around 1773 and distributed exclusively in handwritten form to his widely scattered followers.Davidowicz (2004) 14 The last known complete manuscript (Words of the Lord §§ 1–2192) was destroyed, along with numerous other Frankist sources, during the destruction of Warsaw in World War II. Until recently, all researchers of Frankism have relied on the extensive biography by the historian , the most important study of Frankism from the prewar period.Aleksander Kraushar, Frank i frankiśći polscy, 2 vols., Kraków 1895; trans. Herbert Levy, Jacob Frank, the End to the Sabbataian Heresy, Lanham/New York/Oxford 2001
The "V" doctrine In Frankism, Frank is the third messianic incarnation of Tiferet after Sabbatai Zevi and (1677–1720), and also the reborn forefather Jacob. Nonetheless, he is only a "helper". The actual guide in Frankism is the Virgin, the incarnation of the Shekhinah and the female Messiah. Frankists are supposed to follow her bravely, like soldiers, through all horrors. The path by which Frank sought to lead his followers to "life" was symbolized by the letter "V", which also represents Jacob's ladder. The seeker must first descend into the abyss to reach the deepest level of humiliation and then climb back up to "life". According to Frankist doctrine, the patriarchs and Moses had already tried to follow the path but failed, as had Zevi.
Frank proclaims that the Frankists' descent down the "V" ladder into the deepest humiliation is reflected in society's hatred and exclusion of them, which result from Frankism's consistent implementation of the idea that all worldly laws and teachings are only laws of the "Three Evil World Rulers" (the Pope, the Tsar, and the Sultan) and therefore need not be observed. In the best case, such laws and teachings need only be kept in pretense; worldly religions and teachings can be worn like an empty shell and discarded at whim because the "true Torah" is yet to be revealed.Davidowicz (1998) 296 The Mosaic Law with its Ten Commandments should be despised, as it is part of the "old Torah". The contempt for all worldly teachings culminates in a statement by Frank to the "Brothers and Sisters" that amounts to a command for total assimilation: one should adapt to the respective religion or language depending on the country.Worte des Herrn Kraushar § 1110, volume 2, pp. 304–05 Frank also advises masked assimilation in the following passage:
Frank was not interested in the acculturation of the Jews; rather, he wanted them to integrate into society to overthrow it.Davidowicz (1998) 310 If the Jews' enemies in the 18th century had been familiar with Frank's secret sectarian canon, it would have made the already hotly contested Jewish emancipation considerably more difficult.
The Virgin
The center of Frankism was a new concept of the Shekhinah, but the term was forbidden in Frankism because Frank called her "the Virgin". "Shekhinah" is a Kabbalistic term. Klaus Samuel Davidowicz, a Jewish studies scholar at the University of Vienna who has written extensively on Frank and Frankism, assumes it was initially an old name for God that referred to the indwelling or presence of God in a specific place.Davidowicz (1998) 331 According to Frank's teachings, all the important forefathers—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses—strove toward the Virgin, who manifested herself in different persons, such as Rachel, and all failed.Worte des Herrn, MS Krakau 6969, Zbiór.., § 123 Moses' liberation from Egypt could not have been complete either, since the foundation of salvation is the Virgin.Worte des Herrn. Ms Krakau 6969, Zbiór..., § 725 But now, according to Frank, the real Virgin had arrived, a female Messiah visible to all people: his daughter Eve Frank.Worte des Herrn, MS Krakau 6969, Zbiór…, § 609 In a teaching, Frank identifies himself with the traditional Messiah ben Joseph,Sukka 52a who will have a significant impact but perish in the fight against the enemies of the end times. Just as he precedes the Messiah ben David, Frank prepares the way for the Virgin, his daughter.
Frankism characterizes the Virgin using elements of the Esther storiesWorte des Herrn Kraushar § 2147, Volume 2, p. 383 and is strongly influenced by the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church surrounding the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. He said the Black Madonna would lead his followers to the Frankist Virgin and therefore presented baptism as a necessary step. Following the Bahir and the Zohar, in which the Shekhinah is described as like a princess in a tower, Frank refers to an actual tower of the Jasna Góra Monastery where he was exiled.Worte des Herrn Kraushar § 996, Volume 1, p. 424 He had miniature portraits of his daughter Eve made corresponding to Catholic images of Mary, mother of Jesus; these are now in the National Library of Israel. But Eve, as Shekhinah, was an element that had not yet appeared during Frank's lifetime. The Virgin was hidden from Frank, and his task was to free her. The Black Madonna points to the true Virgin, who will be revealed before the final redemption.Worte des Herrn, MS Krakau 6969, Zbiór…, § 778 Frank regarded himself as the Virgin's guide, who, before her manifestation, is in a "mysterious place"Worte des Herrn Kraushar § 370, Volume 1, p. 403 and was given only to him since the beginning of the world, so that he, as her father, would be her guardian.Worte des Herrn Kraushar § 629, Volume 1, p. 412 The soul of the Shekhinah was still with Frank; his "Brothers" were unworthy to see her. They were supposed to support Frank in finding the Virgin. Depending on the company's behaviour, the Virgin would behave positively or negatively towards them, a well-known idea from the Kabbalistic descriptions of the Shekhinah. During her father’s lifetime, Eve Frank held a special position within the "company": as soon as she was old enough, she stood at her father's side as a confidant and adjutant.Worte des Herrn Kraushar § 1155, Volume 2, p. 310 Frank repeatedly accused his followers of having fallen back into Judaism, thus preventing the liberation of the Virgin.Worte des Herrn Kraushar § 1286, Volume 2, p. 328 The only way to the Virgin is to adapt to the Polish environment.
The liberation of the Shekhinah—the transfer of the Shekhinah's soul from Jacob to Eve Frank—is also described in some longer fairy-tale-like narratives in the Words of the Lord, which are reminiscent of Middle Eastern models in the 1001 Nights. They use traditional Kabbalistic terminology, with concealment and disguise as a gardener an important motif;Davidowicz (1998) 339 the garden stands for a symbolic setting of the world of the ten sefirot. The strengthening of the second Sephirah, Chokmah, the male principle (also known as the upper Shechinah), also leads to the liberation of the lower Shekhinah.Zohar I 25a In Frank's perception of the Virgin, it is clear how deeply his ideas are rooted in Kabbalah and other Jewish writings, despite Christian influences. The author(s) of the Words of the Lord who created such colorful parables and allegories required an excellent knowledge of Kabbalistic literature.Davidowicz (1998) 340
Da'at, the mystical goal