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Frankism was aSabbatean religious movement originating inRabbinic Judaism of the 18th and 19th centuries.[1] Created inPodolia, 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, embracingantinomianism. The Frankists engaged in incest, orgies and sex rituals, such as the infamous 1756 incident inLanškroun where they were allegedly caught dancing around a half-naked woman symbolizing theShekhinah.[2][3]
At its height, Frankism claimed perhaps 50,000 followers, primarily Jews living in thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in other regions ofCentral andEastern Europe.[1][4][5] Later, Frankists were encouraged toconvert en masse toCatholicism.[6][7]
Frankists believed inSabbatai Zevi, one of the most famous of all self-proclaimedmessiahs in Jewish history. He believed in transgressing Jewish commandments to elevate the "divine sparks" constrained by them[dubious –discuss]. He performed actions that violated traditional Jewish prohibitions, such as eating foods forbidden bykashrut, the Jewish dietary laws, and celebrating prescribedfast days as feast days.[8] He eventually opted to convert toIslam rather than face execution for claiming to be themessiah in Judaism. After Zevi's death, several branches of Sabbateanism evolved that disagreed over which aspects of Judaism should be preserved and discarded.[9]
Jacob Frank claimed to be areincarnation of Sabbatai Zevi and followed and extended his practice of transgression.Father-daughter incest was commonly practised by his followers,[10] andorgies featured prominently in ritual.[4][5][11] Frank claimed that "all laws and teachings will fall",[12] and followingantinomianism, asserted that the most important obligation of humanity was the transgression of every boundary.[11]
Jacob Frank stood at the head of Frankism. He regarded his followers as soldiers, and all were members of acompany to build an army to secure Frank's rule over a Frankist country. There were four company locations: inIvanie,Częstochowa,Brno, andOffenbach am Main.[13] Members were required to wearplate armor, shields, and helmets and train hard.[14]
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",[15] of whom he demanded blind obedience.[16] Frank tried to maintain absolute control over at least this circle, taking advantage of their tendency to believe inshedim andmagic. 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.[17]
The most important Frankist text is theKsięga Słów Pańskich ("Book of the Words of the Lord"). This is written in Polish in elementary, 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 theTorah and theZohar as well as popular stories from the surrounding culture, which were quoted verbatim or paraphrased or adapted to his own doctrine.[18] 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". TheWords of the Lord belongs toJewish literature, but its contents reject Jewish tradition and teachings. Biblical figures such asJacob,Esau andEsther are the foundations of Frank's teaching.[18]
Frank's "Brothers" compiled the work between 1755 and 1791 as aZbiór (collection) of materials developed in numerous meetings. The original Polish titleKsięga (book) is therefore somewhat misleading and is only used once in the collection, in § 2192.[19] It was written down starting around 1773 and distributed exclusively in the handwritten form to his widely scattered followers.[20] The last known complete manuscript (Words of the Lord §§ 1–2192) was destroyed, along with numerous other Frankist sources, during thedestruction of Warsaw inWorld War II. Until recently, all researchers of Frankism have relied on the source material of the extensive biography by the historianAleksander Kraushar [pl;de], the most important study of Frankism from the pre-war period.[21]
In Frankism, Frank is the third messianicincarnation ofTiferet after Sabbatai Zevi andBaruchiah Russo [de] (1677–1720), and also the reborn forefatherJacob. 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 representsJacob's ladder. The seeker must first climb into the abyss to reach the deepest level of humiliation and then climb back up to "life". According to Frankist doctrine, thepatriarchs andMoses 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" (the Pope, the Tsar, and the Sultan), 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.[22] TheMosaic Law with itsTen 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 fortotal assimilation: one should adapt to the respective religion or language depending on the country.[23] 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![24]
Frank was not interested in theacculturation of the Jews; rather, he wanted them to integrate into society in order to ultimately overthrow it.[25] 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 contestedJewish emancipation considerably more difficult.[25]
The center of Frankism was a new concept of the Shekhinah. However, the term was forbidden in Frankism because Jacob Frank referred to her as "the Virgin". The Shekhinah is aKabbalistic term.Klaus Samuel Davidowicz, aJewish 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.[26] 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 asRachel, and all had failed.[27] Moses' liberation from Egypt could not have been complete either, since the foundation of salvation is the Virgin.[28] But now, according to Frank, the real Virgin had arrived, a female Messiah visible to all people: his daughterEve Frank.[29] In a teaching, Frank identifies himself with the traditionalMessiah ben Joseph,[30] who will have a significant impact but perish in the fight against the enemies of theend times. Just as he precedes theMessiah ben David, Frank prepares the way for the Virgin, his daughter.
Frankism characterizes the Virgin using elements of theEsther stories[31] and is strongly influenced by theveneration of Mary in the Catholic Church surrounding theBlack Madonna of Częstochowa. He claimed that the Black Madonna would lead his followers to the Frankist Virgin and therefore presentedbaptism as a necessary step. Following theBahir and theZohar, in which the Shekhinah is described as being like a princess in a tower, Frank refers to an actual tower of theJasna Góra Monastery where he was exiled.[32] He had miniature portraits of his daughter Eve made corresponding to Catholic images ofMary, mother of Jesus; these are now in theNational Library of Israel. However, 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 preceding the final redemption.[33] Frank regarded himself as the Virgin's guide, who, before her manifestation, is in a "mysterious place"[34] and was given only to him since the beginning of the world, so that he, as her father, would be her guardian.[35] The soul of the Shekhinah was still with Frank; his "Brothers" were unworthy to see her themselves. 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.[36] Frank repeatedly accused his followers of having fallen back into Judaism, thus preventing the liberation of the Virgin.[37] 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 theWords of the Lord, which are reminiscent of Middle Eastern models in the1001 Nights. They use traditional Kabbalistic terminology, with the motif of concealment and disguise as a gardener being important in Frankism;[38] the garden stands for a symbolic setting of the world of the ten sefirot. The strengthening of the third Sephirah,Chokmah, the male principle (also known as the upper Shechinah), also leads to the liberation of the lower Shekhinah.[39] 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[example needed]. The author(s) of theWords of the Lord who created such colorful parables and allegories required an excellent knowledge of Kabbalistic literature.[40]
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The last stage of themystical path in Frankism isDa'at "cosmic cognizance".[41] In theZohar as well as in Frankism, Da'at describes the mystical place where all tensefirot are united. It is an apparent sefira,[42] which cosmologically means the "concealed knowledge" that creates a harmonizing union between two sefirot: the male principle ofChokmah and the female principle ofBinah. It results from the fusion of these 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 inGenesis 4:1. It is thus possible to reach Da'at throughsexual intercourse. With the help of sexual rites, Jacob Frank wished to reachDa'as on earth, the last step of Jacob's ladder. This knowledge was a higher realization that would bring a deep insight into everything. It was enlightenment and a fresh realization in one. With it would be associated a new name and a new soul.
Frank emphasized that all the patriarchs, including Sabbatai Zevi, had been unable to enter Da'at because they had not been baptized. To be worthy of entering the Da'at, one must first reach the level ofEsau, the acceptance of Catholicism.[43][44]
Frankism allowed all of its followers to take part in the mystical search for Da'at but demanded blind obedience to its leader,[45] combined with the complete abandonment of all laws and teachings, which, in any case, they only appeared to follow.[46] True to the motto: "The more blind and radical my obedience to my Lord, the more likely the possibility of reaching Da'at, after accepting Catholicism, the Frankists strove to complete the personal path to Da'at, which in the end would only be possible for a few select "Brothers and Sisters".[47]
The triangle or "V" of the ladder refers to theTrinity, 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 toEdom, Shekhinah, and Da'at, meaning the Frankists should be baptized to reach the cosmic Esau, or, at the tip of the "V", the Virgin, who will raise them from the depths of their exile, leading them back up to Da'at.[48] The beginning of the entry into Da'at 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.[49]
Several authorities on Sabbateanism, such asHeinrich Graetz andAleksander Kraushar [de;pl], were skeptical of the existence of a distinctive Frankist doctrine. According toGershom 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.[9] 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 thesparks 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. Instead, Frank claimed that the "mixing" between holy and unholy was virtuous.[11]
Netanel Lederberg claims that Frank had aGnostic philosophy wherein there was atrue God whose existence was hidden by ademiurge. This "true God" could allegedly be revealed only through the destruction of the social and religious structures created by the demiurge, thus leading to a thorough antinomianism. For Frank, the distinction between good and evil is a product of a world governed by the "false God". Lederberg compares Frank's position to that ofFriedrich Nietzsche.[50]
After Jacob Frank’s death in 1791, leadership of the Frankist movement passed to his daughter,Eve Frank (Ewa Frank), who had been proclaimed the “Holy Virgin” and a kind of messianic counterpart to her father as early as 1770. Frank had begun preparing her for spiritual leadership while still alive, referring to her in quasi-divine terms. She became a central symbolic figure in the cult’s theology, which drew heavily on inversion, sexual ritual, and antinomian reinterpretation of Christian and Jewish symbols.
Eve maintained a court-like following in Offenbach, Germany, where the remaining Frankist elite had taken residence. They continued to act as a quasi-mystical sect, dressing in ornate ceremonial clothing, preserving a secretive hierarchical structure, and perpetuating doctrines inherited from Frank—particularly those related to the sacralization of transgression and the subversion of traditional religious laws. The group engaged in extensive networking with various European aristocratic and clerical circles, especially within the Habsburg court and Polish nobility, often leveraging secrecy and influence rather than overt proselytization.
By this time, the Frankist identity had largely detached from Judaism altogether. Most adherents had been baptized into Catholicism decades earlier, not out of theological conviction but as part of Jacob Frank’s strategy to infiltrate and manipulate dominant power structures from within—a tactic central to his doctrine of “redemption through sin.”
Eve Frank ruled over the community until her death in 1816. Afterward, the movement gradually disintegrated as a formal sect, but many of its ideological patterns persisted through intermarriage, elite networking, and secret societies. Scholars such asGershom Scholem and Pawel Maciejko have suggested that Frankist descendants may have assimilated intoMasonic andesoteric Christian networks.
Although Frankism is often considered a historical footnote within Jewish messianic movements, references to it have re-emerged in contemporary political and cultural discourse.
While some references to Frankism have been labeledantisemitic tropes in academic and media sources,[51] there is growing scholarly and journalistic debate over whether conflating critique of Frankist ideology with antisemitism is intellectually sound. This is particularly relevant given the historical record: Jacob Frank and many of his followers ultimately converted to Catholicism, aligning themselves with European royal courts and secret societies rather than mainstream Jewish life.[52]
Some people, such asCandace Owens, have described Frankism as “the preferred religion of the elites” and associated it withdevil worship and modern-day inversion rituals.[53]
Some researchers argue that careful distinction should be made between Judaism as a religion and Frankism as a heretical, antinomian sect that deliberately broke with traditional Jewish law and identity. As a result, the emerging conversation increasingly focuses on theological inversion as a political technology, rather than as an ethnic or religious accusation.