Jacob Frank
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Jacob Frank (יעקב פרנק Ya'akov Frank, Jakob Frank) (1726-1791) was a Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of both the 17th century C.E. self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi and King David a 10th Century B.C.E. ruler of Israel. Frank and his followers were excommunicated from traditional Judaism on account of his extremely unorthodox doctrine that included acceptance of the New Testament, Enlightenment and some controversial concepts such as Purification through Transgression.
Frank arguably created a new religion, now referred to (for the lack of better term) as Frankism, that combined Judaism and Christianity, and was eventually absorbed by Catholicism.
The development of Frankism was one of the consequences of messianic movement of Sabbatai Zevi, the claimed messiah from Smyrna, the religious mysticism resulting therefrom, as a reaction to nascent Hassidism; and also the socioeconomic upheavals in the history of the Jews in Poland and western Ukraine.
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[edit] Historical background
The heyday of Frank's messianic movement (1760-1770) occurred in the period of the loss of relative stability resulting from Koliyivshchina, an uprising of Ukrainian pesantry that resulted in many Polish and Jewish casualties.
Messianism at the end of the seventeenth century assumed mystical colorings, possibly under the influence of the Rosicrucian movement in Germany, which dressed its doctrine of improvement of the World into a mystical garb. In Polish owned Ukraine, particularly in Podolia and Galicia, there were formed numerous secret societies of Shabbatheians known among the people as "Shabbethai Zeviists," or "Shebs"..
In expectation of the great Messianic revolution the members of these societies abandoned many Jewish principles of faith and discarded Jewish religious laws and custom which were often a source of disillusionment. The mystical cult of the Shebs is believed to have included both asceticism and sensuality: some did penance for their sins, subjected themselves to self-inflicted pain, and "mourned for Zion"; others disregarded the strict rules of modesty required by orthodox Judaism, and at times were accused of being given into licentiousness. The Polish rabbis attempted to ban the "Shabbethaian heresy" at the assembly in Lemberg (1722) and elsewhere, but could not fully succeed, as it was widely popular among the nascent Jewish middle class. Masonic influence has also been suggested as one of the elements in Frankism.
[edit] Early life of Frank
Jacob Frank is believed to have been born as Jacob Leibowits in Koroliwka, Podolia (Ukraine) about 1726. His father was expelled from the community for belonging to the secret society of Tzeviists (Shebs), and moved to Chernivtsi, in Austro-Hungarian Bucovina in 1730, where the influence of the Shabbateians was strongly felt. While still a schoolboy Frank began to reject Talmud, and afterward often referred to himself as "a plain" or "untutored man."
In the capacity of a traveling merchant in textile and precious stones he often visited Ottoman territories; there he earned the nickname "Frank," a name generally given in the East to Europeans; and there he lived in the centers of contemporary Shabbatheianism: Salonica and Smyrna.
In the beginning of the fifth decade of the eighteenth century he became intimate with the leaders of the Shabbateians. Two followers of Osman Baba were witnesses at his wedding in 1752. In 1755 he reappeared in Podolia, and, gathering a group of local adherents, began to preach the revelations which were communicated to him by the Tzeviists in Salonica. One of these gatherings in Landskron ended in a scandal, and the rabbis' attention was drawn to the new teachings. Frank was forced to leave Podolia, while his followers were hounded by the orthodox rabbis and denounced to the local authorities (1756). At the rabbinical court held in the village of Satanov the sectarians were accused to having broken fundamental Orthodox Jewish laws of morality, modesty, and more importantly of acceptance of sanctity of New Testament.
[edit] The anti-Talmudists
As a result of these disclosures the congress of rabbis in Brody proclaimed a universal Cherem ("excommunication" in Hebrew) against all "impenitent heretics", and made it obligatory upon every pious Jew to seek them out and expose them. Such excommunications are extremely rare in Judaism. They entailed a requirement of complete cessation of all social and economic ties with the excommunicated, making even sales of provisions impossible. The excommunicated were usually left with no option other than conversion to other religions.
The persecuted sectarians informed Dembrowsky, the Catholic Bishop of Kamenetz-Podolsk, that they rejected the Talmud and recognized only the sacred book of Kabbalah, the Zohar, which did not contradict the sanctity of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. They stated that they regarded the Messiah-Deliverer as one of the embodiments of the three divinities that comprised the Frankist version thereof.
The bishop took the "Anti-Talmudists," or "Zoharists," under his protection, and in 1757 arranged a religious disputation between them and Orthodox rabbis. The Anti-Talmudists presented their theses, to which the rabbis gave a very lukewarm and unwilling reply lest they offend the Church dignitaries who were present. The bishop decided that the Talmudists had been vanquished, and ordered them to pay a fine to their opponents, and to burn all copies of the Talmud in the bishopric of Podolia.
After the death of their patron, the bishop, (9 November) the sectarians were subjected to severe persecution by the Orthorox. The Frankists succeeded in obtaining an edict from Augustus III of Poland (1733-1763), guaranteeing them safety; but even this did not avail to free them from the unfortunate position of men who, having parted from their coreligionists, had not yet succeeded in identifying themselves with another faith.
[edit] Declaration of being a succesor to Shabbethai Zevi
At this critical moment Jacob Frank came to Iwania (Podolia); he proclaimed himself as a direct successor to Sabbatai Zevi and Osman Baba, and assured his adherents that he had received revelations from Heaven. These revelations called for the conversion of Frank and his followers to the Christian religion, which was to be a visible transition stage to the future "Messianic religion." In 1759 negotiations looking toward the conversion of the Frankists to Catholicism were being actively carried on with the higher representatives of the Polish Church; at the same time the Frankists tried to secure another discussion with the rabbis. The Polish primate Lubenski and the papal nuncio Nicholas Serra were suspicious of the aspirations of the Frankists, but at the insistence of the administrator of the bishopric of Lemberg, the canon Mikulski, the discussion was arranged. It was held in Lemberg, and was presided over by Mikulski. Protestant missionaries also tried to detour the Frankists to Protestantism, and a handful did in fact joined Moravian church.
[edit] Baptism of the Frankists
This time the rabbis energetically repulsed their opponents. After the discussion the Frankists were requested to demonstrate in practise their adherence to Christianity (1759); Jacob Frank, who had then arrived in Lemberg, encouraged his followers to take the decisive step. The baptism of the Frankists was celebrated with great solemnity in the churches of Lwów, members of the Polish szlachta acting as god-parents. The neophytes adopted the names of their godfathers and godmothers, and ultimately joined the ranks of the Polish nobility. In the course of one year more than 500 persons were converted to Christianity in Lwów, among them the intimates and the disciples of Frank. Frank himself was baptized in Lwów (17 September of 1759) and again in Warsaw, Augustus III acting as godfather (18 November). The baptismal name of Frank was "Joseph" (Józef).
The Frankists however were contunued to be viewed with suspicion, on account of their unusual doctrine. Frank was arrested in Warsaw (6 February of 1760) and delivered to the Church's tribunal on the charge of heresy. The Church tribunal convicted Frank as a teacher of heresy, and imprisoned him in the monastery in the fortress of Częstochowa.
[edit] Frank in prison
Frank's imprisonment lasted thirteen years, yet it only tended to increase his influence with the sect by surrounding him with the aura of martyrdom. Many of the Frankists established themselves near Czestochowa, and kept up constant communication with the "holy master," often gaining access to the fortress. Frank inspired his followers by mystical speeches and epistles, in which he stated that salvation could be gained only through the "religion of Edom," or "dat" (Hebrew), "law", by which took a form of a mixture of Christian and Shabbethaian beliefs. After the first partition of Poland Frank was released from captivity by the Russian general Bibikov, who had occupied Czestochowa (August of 1772). Until 1786 Frank lived in the Moravian town of Brno, and was surrounded by a numerous suite of sectarians and "pilgrims" who came from Poland. For many of the pilgrims there was great attraction in the person of Eve, the beautiful daughter of Frank, who at this time began to play an important role in the organization of the sect. In his "court" of Brno, he held an army of 600 people, partly from the Cossack Jews of general Potemkin. Future czar Paul I of Russia visited him.
Accompanied by his daughter, Frank repeatedly traveled to Vienna, and succeeded in gaining the favor of the court. The pious Maria Theresa regarded him as a disseminator of Christianity among the Jews, and it is even said that Joseph II was favorably inclined to the young Eve Frank. Ultimately the sectarian plans of Frank were found out here also; he was obliged to leave Austria, and moved with his daughter and his suite to Offenbach, a small German town. Here he assumed the title of "Baron of Offenbach," and lived as a wealthy nobleman, receiving money from his Polish and Moravian adherents, who made frequent pilgrimages to Offenbach. On the death of Frank (1791) Eve became the "holy mistress" and the leader of the sect. As time went on the number of pilgrims and the supply of money constantly diminished, while Eve continued to live in her accustomed luxury. She finally became involved in debt, and died neglected in 1816. Frankist agents acted in times of French Revolution, like Moses Dobruška who entered the Jacobines as Junius Frey and ascended to the top of Freemasonry. Many of the Frankist saw Napoleon Bonaparte as a potential Messiah.
The Frankists scattered in Poland and Bohemia were gradually transformed from feigned to real Catholics. Their descendants merged into the surrounding Christian population. The sect disappeared without leaving any traces in Judaism.
[edit] Bibliography
- Alexander Krausher: Jacob Frank: The End to the Sabbataian Heresy: Lanham: University Press of America: 2001: ISBN 0-7618-1863-4
- Harris Lenowitz (translator) Sayings of Yakov Frank: Berkeley: Tzaddikim: 1978: ISBN 0-917246-05-5
- Arthur Mandel: The Militant Messiah: The Story of Jacob Frank and the Frankists: Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press: 1979: ISBN 0-391-00973-7
