Jacob Frank

Jacob Frank, born in 1726, was a Polish-Jewish religious leader whose controversial teachings and claims of messianic identity led to significant upheaval within the Jewish community. He asserted that he was the reincarnation of both the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi and the biblical patriarch Jacob, which ultimately resulted in his excommunication by religious authorities.

Frank's doctrines were marked by heretical beliefs, including the deification of himself as part of a trinity and the radical notion of 'purification through transgression.' His followers, known as Frankists, engaged in scandalous practices that defied traditional Jewish moral laws, believing that such acts were necessary to hasten a messianic redemption.

Among the most notorious incidents associated with Frankism was the 1756 event in Lanskroun, where Frankists were reportedly caught in a ritualistic dance around a half-naked woman symbolizing the Shechinah. This movement, which blended elements of Christianity and Judaism, encouraged its adherents to embrace sin as a pathway to spiritual enlightenment.

As the socio-economic landscape shifted for Jews in Poland, Lithuania, and Ruthenia, Frank's teachings gained traction, leading to a mass conversion of his followers to Catholicism. The legacy of Jacob Frank and his sect, now referred to as Frankism, remains a complex chapter in the history of Jewish mysticism and messianic movements.