The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth

The Heresy of Jacob Frank is the first monograph-length study on the religious philosophy of Jacob Frank (1726-1791), who led the largest mass apostasy in Jewish history. It challenges scholarly presentations of Frank that depict him as a sex-crazed degenerate and presents him as an original and prescient figure at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, reason and magic, Kabbalah and Western Esotericism. Frank's worldview combines a skeptical rejection of religious law with a supernatural, esoteric myth of immortal beings, material magic, and worldly power. Sexual ritual was an enactment of the messianic reality, a corporealization of what would later become known as spirituality.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 01 December 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

The Heresy of Jacob Frank is a groundbreaking monograph that delves into the religious philosophy of Jacob Frank (1726-1791), a prominent figure in Jewish history who, in the aftermath of the false messiah Sabbetai Zevi, led the largest mass apostasy. This book challenges prevailing scholarly portrayals of Frank as a sex-crazed degenerate and presents him as an original and visionary thinker at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, reason and magic, Kabbalah and Western Esotericism. Frank's worldview is a complex amalgamation of skepticism towards religious law, coupled with a supernatural and esoteric belief in immortal beings, material magic, and worldly power. Through meticulous close readings of Frank's theological and narrative teachings, Michaelson demonstrates how the Frankist sect evolved from its Sabbatean roots and the infamous 1757-59 disputations before the Catholic Church into a Western Esoteric society based on alchemy, secrecy, and sexual liberation. Contrary to popular belief, sexual ritual within the sect was not a libertine bacchanal but rather an embodiment of messianic reality, a physical manifestation of what would later be known as spirituality. While Frank's leadership was characterized by manipulation and abuse, Michaelson argues that his ideology foreshadowed themes that would become prominent in the Haskalah, Early Hasidism, and even contemporary New Age Judaism. In a departure from traditional religious values, Frank's antinomian theology posited personal flourishing as a religious virtue, affirmed the material world, and transformed messianic eros into social, sexual, and political realities.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197651025