Frankism is a Sabbatean religious movement of the 18th and 19th centuries,^[1] created in Podolia, named after its founder, Jacob Frank. Frank completely rejected Jewish norms, preaching to his followers that they were obligated to transgress moral boundaries. At its height Frankism claimed perhaps 50,000 followers, primarily Jews living in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe.^[1][2][3]

Frankists believed in Sabbatai Zevi, one of the most famous of all self-proclaimed messiahs in Jewish history. He believed in transgressing Jewish commandments in order to elevate the "divine sparks" constrained by them, and he himself actually performed actions that violated traditional Jewish prohibitions, such as eating foods forbidden by kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws, practicing ritual incest,^[4] and celebrating prescribed fast days as feast days.^[5] He eventually opted to convert to Islam rather than face execution for claiming to be the messiah. Especially after Zevi's death, a number of branches of Sabbateanism evolved that disagreed among themselves over which aspects of traditional Judaism should be preserved and which should be discarded.^[6]

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,^[7] and orgies featured prominently in ritual.^[2][3][8] Frank claimed that "all laws and teachings will fall",^[9] and following antinomianism, asserted that the most important obligation of mankind was the transgression of every boundary.^[8]

The Sabbatean leader Jacob Frank stood at the lead of Frankism. He regarded his followers as soldiers, and all were members of a company for the purpose of building a Frankist army, which was to secure Frank's rule over a Frankist country. There were four company locations, in Ivanie, Częstochowa, Brno and Offenbach am Main.^[10] Members were required to wear plate armor, shields and helmets and train hard.^[11]

His teachings were not intended for the ears of all Frankists, but only for his personally selected, small circle of so-called "Brothers and Sisters",^[12] of whom he demanded blind obedience.^[13] Frank tried to maintain absolute control over at least this circle, taking advantage of their tendency to believe in demons and magic. Within the circle of "Brothers and Sisters", 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.^[14]

The most important Frankist text is the Księga Słów Pańskich (Book of the Words of the Lord). This is written in Polish in extremely simple, almost folk language 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 mainly quotations from the Torah and the Zohar as well as popular stories from the surrounding culture, which were quoted verbatim or paraphrased, or adapted to his own doctrine.^[15] 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 its teachings. Biblical figures such as Jacob, Esau and Esther are the foundations of Frank's teaching.^[15]

Frank's "Brothers" compiled the work between 1755 and 1791 in the form of a Zbiór (collection) of materials developed in numerous meetings over the years. The original Polish title Księga (book) is therefore somewhat misleading, and is only used once in the collection itself, in § 2192.^[16] It was written down starting around 1773 and distributed exclusively in handwritten form to his widely scattered followers.^[17] 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 therefore relied on the source material of the extensive biography by the historian Aleksander Kraushar [pl; de], which is the most important study of Frankism from the pre-war period.^[18]

In Frankism, Frank is the third messianic incarnation of the Sephira Tiferet after Sabbatai Zevi and Baruchiah Russo [de], and also the reborn forefather Jacob. But he is nonetheless 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 seeks to lead his followers to "life" through Frankism, is symbolized by the letter "V", which also represents Jacob's ladder. The seeker must first climb down 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 had 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 laws and teachings of the world are only laws of the "Three Evil World Rulers", and therefore do not need to be observed. In the best case such laws and teachings need only be kept in pretense; religions and teachings of the world can be worn like an empty shell and then discarded at whim, because the true Torah is yet to be revealed.^[19] The Mosaic Law with its Ten Commandments should be despised, as it is part of the old Torah. The contempt for all teaching of the world culminates in a statement by Frank to his close circle of "Brothers and Sisters" that amounts to a command for total assimilation: one should adapt to the respective religion or language depending on the country.^[20] Frank also advises masked assimilation in the following passage:

Solomon was wise, wiser than all the peoples. He mixed with the nations, took the daughters of kings as his wives, but he did not get anything out of it. He could mix with the nations because he was a king. But here the whole world knows that I am descendant from Jews, that I am newly baptized and poor. But I have hope that I will mix with their society this winter, and they themselves will call me. I can tell you: whoever does not mix with the nations, all his work is in vain!^[21]

Frank was not interested in the acculturation of the Jews; rather he wanted them to purposefully integrate into society in order to ultimately overthrow it.^[22] If the enemies of the Jews 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.^[22]

The center of Frankism was a new concept of the Shechinah. However, the term Shechinah was forbidden in Frankism, because Jacob Frank referred to her as "the Virgin". Shechinah 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 originally an old name for God that referred to the indwelling or presence of God in a certain place.^[23] According to Frank's teachings, all of the important forefathers – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses – strove towards the "Virgin", who, manifested herself in different persons (such as Rachel), and all had failed.^[24] Moses' liberation from Egypt could not have been complete either, since the foundation of salvation is the virgin.^[25] But now, according to Frank, the true Virgin had arrived, a female Messiah visible to all people: his daughter Eve Frank.^[26] In a teaching, Frank clearly identifies himself with the traditional Messiah ben Joseph,^[27] who will have a great messianic impact but perish in the fight against the end-time enemies. 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 Queen Esther stories,^[28] and is strongly influenced by the Marian cult surrounding the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. He claimed that the Black Madonna would lead his followers to the Frankist "Virgin" (Shechinah), and therefore presented baptism as a necessary step. Following the Bahir and the Zohar, where the Shechinah is described as being like a princess in a tower, Frank refers to an actual tower of the Częstochowa monastery,^[29] where he was exiled. He had small portraits of his daughter Eve made corresponding to Catholic images of the Virgin Mary; these are now in the National Library of Israel. Eve as the embodiment of the Shechinah, however, was an element that did not appear yet 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 preceding the final redemption.^[30] Frank regarded himself as the Virgin's guide, who - before her manifestation - is in a mysterious place^[31] and was given only to him since the beginning of the world, so that he, as her father, would be her guardian.^[32] As of then, the soul of the Shechinah was still with Frank; his "Brothers" were never worthy enough to see her themselves. They were supposed to support Frank in his efforts to find the "Virgin". Depending on the behaviour of the "company", the "Virgin" would behave positively or negatively towards them, a well-known idea from the Kabbalistic descriptions of the Shechinah. 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.^[33] Jacob Frank repeatedly accused his followers of having fallen back into Judaism, thus preventing the liberation of the "Virgin".^[34] The only way to the "Virgin" is to adapt to the Polish environment.

The liberation of the Shechinah - the transfer of the Shechinah'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 the motif of concealment and disguise as a gardener being important in Frankism;^[35] the garden stands for a symbolic setting of the world of the ten Sephiroth. The strengthening of the third Sephira Chokmah (the male principle, also known as the upper Shechinah) also leads to the liberation of the lower Shechinah.^[36] 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 or authors of the Words of the Lord were manifestly learned, despite the simple language used. Creating such colorful parables and allegories required an excellent knowledge of Kabbalistic literature, far beyond simply picking up some sayings.^[37]

The last stage of the mystical path in Frankism is the stage of Da'as, cosmic cognizance.^[38] In the Zohar as well as in Frankism, Da'as (also Da'at or Da'ath) is used to describe the mystical place where all ten Sephiroth are united. It is an apparent Sephira,^[39] which cosmologically means the "concealed knowledge" that creates a harmonizing union between the two Sephiroth Chokmah (male principle) and Binah (female principle) and results from the fusion of cosmic forces. On a physical level, "knowledge" means the sexual union of man and woman, which manifests itself in the union of Adam and Eve (Genesis 4:1). It is thus possible to reach Da'as through sexual intercourse. With the help of sexual rites, Jacob Frank wished to reach Da'as on earth, the last step of his Jacob's ladder. This knowledge was a higher realization that would bring a deep insight into all things. It was enlightenment and fresh realization in one. With it would be associated a new name and a new soul.

Frank emphasized that all the patriarchs and also Sabbatai Zevi had been unable to enter the level of Da'as because they were not baptized. In order to be worthy of entering the Da'as, one must first reach the level of Esau, the acceptance of Catholicism.^[40][41]

Frankism allowed all of its followers to take part in the mystical search for Da'as, but demanded blind obedience to its leader Jacob Frank,^[42] combined with the complete abandonment of all laws and teachings, which, in any case, they only appeared to follow.^[43] True to the motto: "The more blind and radical my obedience to my Lord, the more likely the possibility of reaching Da'as", after accepting Catholicism, the Frankists strove to complete the personal path to Da'as, which in the end would only be possible for a few select "Brothers and Sisters".^[44]

The triangle or "V" of the ladder refers to the Trinity, but at the same time to the earthly path of the Frankists: by getting rid of all laws and teachings they degraded themselves and incurred the contempt of society. The "V" is applied to Edom, Shekhinah and Da'as; meaning: The Frankists should be baptized, in order to reach the cosmic Esau, or, at the tip of the "V", the "Virgin" (Shekhinah), who will raise them up from the depths of their exile, leading them back up to Da'as.^[45] The beginning of the entry into Da'as will be seen on earth when the Frankists are integrated into non-Jewish society and accepted by the international community. Then the mystical-cosmological path will continue.^[46]

Several authorities on Sabbateanism, such as Heinrich Graetz and Aleksander Kraushar [de; pl], were skeptical of the existence of a distinctive Frankist doctrine. According to Gershom Scholem, a 20th-century authority on Sabbateanism and Kabbalah, Kraushar described Frank's sayings as "grotesque, comical and incomprehensible". In his classic essay "Redemption Through Sin", Scholem placed Frankism as a later and more radical outgrowth of Sabbateanism.^[6] In contrast, Jay Michaelson argues that Frankism was "an original theology that was innovative, if sinister" that was, in many respects, a departure from the earlier formulations of Sabbateanism. In traditional Sabbatean doctrine, Zevi (and often his followers) claimed to be able to liberate the sparks of holiness hidden within what seemed to be evil. According to Michaelson, Frank's theology asserted that the attempt to liberate the sparks of holiness was the problem, not the solution. Rather, Frank claimed that the "mixing" between holy and unholy was virtuous.^[8] Netanel Lederberg claims that Frank had a Gnostic philosophy wherein there was a "true God" whose existence was hidden by a "false God". This "true God" could allegedly be revealed only through a total destruction of the social and religious structures created by the "false God", thus leading to a thorough antinomianism. For Frank, the very distinction between good and evil is a product of a world governed by the "false God". Lederberg compares Frank's position to that of Friedrich Nietzsche.^[47]

After Jacob Frank's death in 1791, his daughter Eve, who had been declared in 1770 to be the incarnation of the Shekhinah, continued to lead the movement with her brothers.

Antisemitic conspiracy theories regarding Frankism have persisted to the present day in some parts of the US and other Western nations.^[48] Right-wing conspiracy theorist Candace Owens^[49] has associated it with devil worship and referred to it as "the preferred religion of the elites."^[50]

• Khlysts

• Frank, Yakov (1978). Sayings of Yakov Frank. Harris Lenowitz (trans.). Oakland, California: Tzaddikim. ISBN 0-917246-05-5.
• Maciejko, Pawel (2011). The Mixed Multitude:Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4315-4.
• Maciejko, Pawel (2003). The Frankist Movement in Poland, the Czech Lands, and Germany (1755–1816). Oxford University Press.
• Maciejko, Pawel (2005). "Frankism" (PDF). The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Yale University Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
• Maciejko, Pawel (2005). "'Baruch Yavan and the Frankist movement: intercession in an age of upheaval", Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instituts 4 (2005) pp. 333–54.
• Maciejko, Pawel (2006). "'Christian elements in early Frankist doctrine", Gal-Ed 20 (2006) pp. 13–41.
• Mandel, Arthur (1979). The Militant Messiah: The Story of Jacob Frank and the Frankists. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press. ISBN 0-391-00973-7.
• Mieses, Mateusz (1938). Polacy–Chrześcijanie pochodzenia żydowskiego [Poles-Christians of Jewish origin] (in Polish). Warsaw: Wydawn.
• Scholem, Gershom. "'Shabtai Zvi' and 'Jacob Frank and the Frankists'". Encyclopaedia Judaica (CD-ROM ed.). Archived from the original on 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
• Emeliantseva, Ekaterina, "Zwischen jüdischer Tradition und frankistischer Mystik. Zur Geschichte der Prager Frankistenfamilie Wehle: 1760–1800", Jewish History Quarterly/Kwartalnik Historii Żydów 4 (2001), pp. 549–65.
• Emeliantseva Koller, Ekaterina, "Der fremde Nachbar: Warschauer Frankisten in der Pamphletliteratur des Vierjährigen Sejms: 1788–1792", in: A. Binnenkade, E. Emeliantseva, S. Pacholkiv (eds.), Vertraut und fremd zugleich. Jüdisch-christliche Nachbarschaften in Warschau – Lengnau – Lemberg (= Jüdische Moderne 8), Cologne/Weimar: Böhlau 2009, pp. 21–94.
• Emeliantseva Koller, Ekaterina, "Situative Religiosität – situative Identität: Neue Zugänge zur Geschichte des Frankismus in Prag (1750–1860)", in: P. Ernst, G. Lamprecht (eds.), Konzeptionen des Jüdischen – Kollektive Entwürfe im Wandel (= Schriften des Centrums für Jüdische Studien 11), Innsbruck 2009, pp. 38–62.

• iarchive:TheCollectionOfTheWordsOfTheLordJacobFrank: The Collection of the Words of the Lord, by Jacob Frank, translated and edited by Harris Lenowitz