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107-416: (Redirected from Frankist ) Frankists may refer to: Frankists (Judaism) , a Sabbatean sect of the 18th and 19th centuries, followers of Jacob Frank Frankists (Croatia) , a Croatian political grouping of the 20th century, followers of Josip Frank Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

214-461: A hypothesis continues to have adherents in Israel and North America. The majority of scholars today continue to recognize Deuteronomy as a source, with its origin in the law-code produced at the court of Josiah as described by De Wette, subsequently given a frame during the exile (the speeches and descriptions at the front and back of the code) to identify it as the words of Moses. However, since

321-467: A quill (or other permitted writing utensil) dipped in ink. Written entirely in Hebrew , a sefer Torah contains 304,805 letters, all of which must be duplicated precisely by a trained sofer ("scribe"), an effort that may take as long as approximately one and a half years. Most modern Sifrei Torah are written with forty-two lines of text per column ( Yemenite Jews use fifty), and very strict rules about

428-459: A Torah scroll ( Hebrew : ספר תורה Sefer Torah ). If in bound book form , it is called Chumash , and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries ( perushim ). In rabbinic literature , the word Torah denotes both the five books ( תורה שבכתב "Torah that is written") and the Oral Torah ( תורה שבעל פה , "Torah that is spoken"). It has also been used, however, to designate

535-405: A certain place. 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. Moses' liberation from Egypt could not have been complete either, since the foundation of salvation is the virgin. But now, according to Frank, the true Virgin had arrived,

642-461: A female Messiah visible to all people: his daughter Eve Frank . In a teaching, Frank clearly identifies himself with the traditional Messiah ben Joseph , 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

749-665: A great number of tannaim , the oral tradition was written down around 200 CE by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi , who took up the compilation of a nominally written version of the Oral Law, the Mishnah ( משנה ). Other oral traditions from the same time period not entered into the Mishnah were recorded as Baraitot (external teaching), and the Tosefta . Other traditions were written down as Midrashim . After continued persecution more of

856-687: A new generation can grow up and carry out the task. The book ends with the new generation of Israelites in the " plains of Moab " ready for the crossing of the Jordan River . Numbers is the culmination of the story of Israel's exodus from oppression in Egypt and their journey to take possession of the land God promised their fathers . As such it draws to a conclusion the themes introduced in Genesis and played out in Exodus and Leviticus: God has promised

963-481: 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 . 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, combined with

1070-533: A program of nationalist reform in the time of Josiah (late 7th century BCE), with the final form of the modern book emerging in the milieu of the return from the Babylonian captivity during the late 6th century BCE. Many scholars see the book as reflecting the economic needs and social status of the Levite caste, who are believed to have provided its authors; those likely authors are collectively referred to as

1177-633: A redactor: J, the Jahwist source, E, the Elohist source, P, the Priestly source , and D, the Deuteronomist source. The earliest of these sources, J, would have been composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BCE, with the latest source, P, being composed around the 5th century BCE. The consensus around the documentary hypothesis collapsed in the last decades of the 20th century. The groundwork

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1284-460: A world which is good and fit for mankind, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, using the flood, saving only the righteous Noah and his immediate family to reestablish the relationship between man and God. The Ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God's chosen people. At God's command Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from his home into

1391-537: Is Targum . The Encyclopaedia Judaica has: At an early period, it was customary to translate the Hebrew text into the vernacular at the time of the reading (e.g., in Palestine and Babylon the translation was into Aramaic). The targum ("translation") was done by a special synagogue official, called the meturgeman ... Eventually, the practice of translating into the vernacular was discontinued. However, there

1498-1001: Is also considered a sacred book outside Judaism; in Samaritanism , the Samaritan Pentateuch is a text of the Torah written in the Samaritan script and used as sacred scripture by the Samaritans ; the Torah is also common among all the different versions of the Christian Old Testament ; in Islam , the Tawrat ( Arabic : توراة‎ ) is the Arabic name for the Torah within its context as an Islamic holy book believed by Muslims to have been given by God to

1605-614: Is arguably the most important book in the Bible, as it presents the defining features of Israel's identity: memories of a past marked by hardship and escape, a binding covenant with God, who chooses Israel, and the establishment of the life of the community and the guidelines for sustaining it. The Book of Leviticus begins with instructions to the Israelites on how to use the Tabernacle , which they had just built (Leviticus 1–10). This

1712-538: Is called a Sefer Torah ("Book [of] Torah"). They are written using a painstakingly careful method by highly qualified scribes . It is believed that every word, or marking, has divine meaning and that not one part may be inadvertently changed lest it lead to error. The fidelity of the Hebrew text of the Tanakh, and the Torah in particular, is considered paramount, down to the last letter: translations or transcriptions are frowned upon for formal service use, and transcribing

1819-514: Is done with painstaking care. An error of a single letter, ornamentation, or symbol of the 304,805 stylized letters that make up the Hebrew Torah text renders a Torah scroll unfit for use, hence a special skill is required and a scroll takes considerable time to write and check. According to Jewish law, a sefer Torah (plural: Sifrei Torah ) is a copy of the formal Hebrew text handwritten on gevil or klaf (forms of parchment ) by using

1926-572: Is followed by rules of clean and unclean (Leviticus 11–15), which includes the laws of slaughter and animals permissible to eat (see also: Kashrut ), the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), and various moral and ritual laws sometimes called the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17–26). Leviticus 26 provides a detailed list of rewards for following God's commandments and a detailed list of punishments for not following them. Leviticus 17 establishes sacrifices at

2033-458: Is found neither in the Torah itself, nor in the works of the pre-Exilic literary prophets . It appears in Joshua and Kings , but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus (according to academic Bible criticism). In contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were "The Book of Moses" and "The Book of

2140-416: Is punctuated by a series of covenants with God , successively narrowing in scope from all mankind (the covenant with Noah ) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob). The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Torah, immediately following Genesis. The book tells how the ancient Israelites leave slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh ,

2247-431: 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

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2354-452: Is regardless of whether that yod appears in the phrase "I am the LORD thy God" ( אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ , Exodus 20:2) or whether it appears in "And God spoke unto Moses saying" ( וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה; וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, אֲנִי יְהוָה. Exodus 6:2). In a similar vein, Rabbi Akiva ( c.  50  – c.  135 CE ), is said to have learned a new law from every et ( את ) in

2461-475: 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

2568-479: Is the Arabic name for the Torah, which Muslims believe is an Islamic holy book given by God to the prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel . The Torah starts with God creating the world , then describes the beginnings of the people of Israel , their descent into Egypt, and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai . It ends with the death of Moses , just before the people of Israel cross to

2675-516: Is the fifth book of the Torah. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab , shortly before they enter the Promised Land. The first sermon recounts the forty years of wilderness wanderings which had led to that moment, and ends with an exhortation to observe the law (or teachings), later referred to as the Law of Moses ;

2782-694: 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,

2889-418: Is used to describe the mystical place where all ten Sephiroth are united. It is an apparent Sephira, 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

2996-576: Is widely seen as a product of the Persian period (539–332 BCE, probably 450–350 BCE). This consensus echoes a traditional Jewish view which gives Ezra , the leader of the Jewish community on its return from Babylon, a pivotal role in its promulgation. Many theories have been advanced to explain the composition of the Torah, but two have been especially influential. The first of these, Persian Imperial authorisation, advanced by Peter Frei in 1985, holds that

3103-507: The parashot for the Torah on the Aleppo Codex . Conservative and Reform synagogues may read parashot on a triennial rather than annual schedule, On Saturday afternoons, Mondays, and Thursdays, the beginning of the following Saturday's portion is read. On Jewish holidays , the beginnings of each month, and fast days , special sections connected to the day are read. Jews observe an annual holiday, Simchat Torah , to celebrate

3210-645: The Częstochowa monastery, 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

3317-691: The Deuteronomist . One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema Yisrael , which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity : "Hear, O Israel: the L ORD our God, the L ORD is one." Verses 6:4–5 were also quoted by Jesus in Mark 12:28–34 as part of the Great Commandment . The Talmud states that the Torah was written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, describing his death and burial, being written by Joshua . According to

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3424-647: The Hebrew Bible , namely the books of Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy . In Christianity , the Torah is also known as the Pentateuch ( / ˈ p ɛ n t ə tj uː k / ) or the Five Books of Moses . In Rabbinical Jewish tradition it is also known as the Written Torah ( תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב , Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv ). If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of

3531-684: The Jerusalem Talmud . Since the greater number of rabbis lived in Babylon, the Babylonian Talmud has precedence should the two be in conflict. Orthodox and Conservative branches of Judaism accept these texts as the basis for all subsequent halakha and codes of Jewish law, which are held to be normative. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism deny that these texts, or the Torah itself for that matter, may be used for determining normative law (laws accepted as binding) but accept them as

3638-433: The Mishnah one of the essential tenets of Judaism is that God transmitted the text of the Torah to Moses over the span of the 40 years the Israelites were in the desert and Moses was like a scribe who was dictated to and wrote down all of the events, the stories and the commandments. According to Jewish tradition , the Torah was recompiled by Ezra during Second Temple period . The Talmud says that Ezra changed

3745-606: The Oral Torah which comprises the Mishnah , the Talmud , the Midrash and more. The inaccurate rendering of "Torah" as "Law" may be an obstacle to understanding the ideal that is summed up in the term talmud torah ( תלמוד תורה , "study of Torah"). The term "Torah" is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible . The earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been "The Torah of Moses". This title, however,

3852-467: The Persian period , with possibly some later additions during the Hellenistic period. The words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe ( sofer ) in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read every Monday morning and Thursday morning at a shul (synagogue) but only if there are ten males above the age of thirteen. Reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases of Jewish communal life. The Torah

3959-513: The Promised Land of Canaan . Interspersed in the narrative are the specific teachings (religious obligations and civil laws) given explicitly (i.e. Ten Commandments ) or implicitly embedded in the narrative (as in Exodus 12 and 13 laws of the celebration of Passover ). In Hebrew, the five books of the Torah are identified by the incipits in each book; and the common English names for

4066-815: The Queen Esther stories, 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

4173-438: The Tabernacle , and all the teachings were written down by Moses , which resulted in the Torah that exists today. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world , and was used as the blueprint for Creation. Though hotly debated, the general trend in biblical scholarship is to recognize the final form of the Torah as a literary and ideological unity, based on earlier sources, largely complete by

4280-487: The Tabernacle , the means by which he will come from heaven and dwell with them and lead them in a holy war to possess the land, and then give them peace. Traditionally ascribed to Moses himself, modern scholarship sees the book as initially a product of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), from earlier written and oral traditions, with final revisions in the Persian post-exilic period (5th century BCE). Carol Meyers , in her commentary on Exodus suggests that it

4387-566: 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. 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

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4494-504: 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. The last stage of the mystical path in Frankism is the stage of Da'as , cosmic cognizance. In the Zohar as well as in Frankism, Da'as (also Da'at or Da'ath )

4601-665: The prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel . The word "Torah" in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה , which in the hif'il conjugation means 'to guide' or 'to teach'. The meaning of the word is therefore "teaching", "doctrine", or "instruction"; the commonly accepted "law" gives a wrong impression. The Alexandrian Jews who translated the Septuagint used the Greek word nomos , meaning norm, standard, doctrine, and later "law". Greek and Latin Bibles then began

4708-487: The synagogue in the Ark known as the "Holy Ark" ( אֲרוֹן הקֹדשׁ aron hakodesh in Hebrew.) Aron in Hebrew means "cupboard" or "closet", and kodesh is derived from "kadosh", or "holy". The Book of Ezra refers to translations and commentaries of the Hebrew text into Aramaic , the more commonly understood language of the time. These translations would seem to date to the 6th century BCE. The Aramaic term for translation

4815-528: 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. Jacob Frank repeatedly accused his followers of having fallen back into Judaism, thus preventing

4922-424: The 1990s, the biblical description of Josiah's reforms (including his court's production of a law-code) have become heavily debated among academics. Most scholars also agree that some form of Priestly source existed, although its extent, especially its end-point, is uncertain. The remainder is called collectively non-Priestly, a grouping which includes both pre-Priestly and post-Priestly material. The final Torah

5029-406: The 19th and 20th centuries CE, new movements such as Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism have made adaptations to the practice of Torah reading, but the basic pattern of Torah reading has usually remained the same: As a part of the morning prayer services on certain days of the week, fast days, and holidays, as well as part of the afternoon prayer services of Shabbat, Yom Kippur, a section of

5136-580: The Exodus story was composed to serve the needs of a post-exilic Jewish community organised around the Temple, which acted in effect as a bank for those who belonged to it. A minority of scholars would place the final formation of the Pentateuch somewhat later, in the Hellenistic (332–164 BCE) or even Hasmonean (140–37 BCE) periods. Russell Gmirkin, for instance, argues for a Hellenistic dating on

5243-427: The God who has chosen Israel as his people. Yahweh inflicts horrific harm on their captors via the legendary Plagues of Egypt . With the prophet Moses as their leader, they journey through the wilderness to Mount Sinai , where Yahweh promises them the land of Canaan (the " Promised Land ") in return for their faithfulness. Israel enters into a covenant with Yahweh who gives them their laws and instructions to build

5350-478: The God-given land of Canaan , where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob . Jacob's name is changed to Israel, and through the agency of his son Joseph , the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus . The narrative

5457-420: The Israelites that they shall become a great (i.e. numerous) nation, that they will have a special relationship with Yahweh their god, and that they shall take possession of the land of Canaan. Numbers also demonstrates the importance of holiness, faithfulness and trust: despite God's presence and his priests , Israel lacks faith and the possession of the land is left to a new generation. The Book of Deuteronomy

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5564-469: 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. In Frankism, Frank

5671-659: The Oral Law was committed to writing. A great many more lessons, lectures and traditions only alluded to in the few hundred pages of Mishnah, became the thousands of pages now called the Gemara . Gemara is written in Aramaic (specifically Jewish Babylonian Aramaic ), having been compiled in Babylon. The Mishnah and Gemara together are called the Talmud. The rabbis in the Land of Israel also collected their traditions and compiled them into

5778-511: The Oral and the written Torah were transmitted in parallel with each other. Where the Torah leaves words and concepts undefined, and mentions procedures without explanation or instructions, the reader is required to seek out the missing details from supplemental sources known as the Oral Law or Oral Torah. Some of the Torah's most prominent commandments needing further explanation are: According to classical rabbinic texts this parallel set of material

5885-551: The Pentateuch is read from a Torah scroll. On Shabbat (Saturday) mornings, a weekly section (" parashah ") is read, selected so that the entire Pentateuch is read consecutively each year. The division of parashot found in the modern-day Torah scrolls of all Jewish communities (Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and Yemenite) is based upon the systematic list provided by Maimonides in Mishneh Torah , Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and Torah Scrolls , chapter 8. Maimonides based his division of

5992-548: The Persian authorities required the Jews of Jerusalem to present a single body of law as the price of local autonomy. Frei's theory was, according to Eskenazi, "systematically dismantled" at an interdisciplinary symposium held in 2000, but the relationship between the Persian authorities and Jerusalem remains a crucial question. The second theory, associated with Joel P. Weinberg and called the "Citizen-Temple Community", proposes that

6099-434: The Tabernacle as an everlasting ordinance, but this ordinance is altered in later books with the Temple being the only place in which sacrifices are allowed. The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Torah. The book has a long and complex history, but its final form is probably due to a Priestly redaction (i.e., editing) of a Yahwistic source made some time in the early Persian period (5th century BCE). The name of

6206-430: The Torah (Talmud, tractate Pesachim 22b); the particle et is meaningless by itself, and serves only to mark the direct object . In other words, the Orthodox belief is that even apparently contextual text such as "And God spoke unto Moses saying ..." is no less holy and sacred than the actual statement. Manuscript Torah scrolls are still scribed and used for ritual purposes (i.e., religious services ); this

6313-401: The Torah and its laws first emerged in 444 BCE when, according to the biblical account provided in the Book of Nehemiah (chapter 8), a priestly scribe named Ezra read a copy of the Mosaic Torah before the populace of Judea assembled in a central Jerusalem square. Wellhausen believed that this narrative should be accepted as historical because it sounds plausible, noting: "The credibility of

6420-405: The Torah has multiple authors and that its composition took place over centuries. The precise process by which the Torah was composed, the number of authors involved, and the date of each author are hotly contested. Throughout most of the 20th century, there was a scholarly consensus surrounding the documentary hypothesis , which posits four independent sources, which were later compiled together by

6527-418: The Torah was introduced by Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity ( c.  537 BCE ), as described in the Book of Nehemiah . In the modern era, adherents of Orthodox Judaism practice Torah-reading according to a set procedure they believe has remained unchanged in the two thousand years since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE). In

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6634-400: The Torah") is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll . The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll (or scrolls) from the ark , chanting the appropriate excerpt with traditional cantillation , and returning the scroll(s) to the ark. It is distinct from academic Torah study . Regular public reading of

6741-464: The Torah", which seems to be a contraction of a fuller name, "The Book of the Torah of God". Christian scholars usually refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the 'Pentateuch' ( / ˈ p ɛ n . t ə ˌ t juː k / , PEN -tə-tewk ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : πεντάτευχος , pentáteukhos , 'five scrolls'), a term first used in the Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria . The " Tawrat " (also Tawrah or Taurat; Arabic : توراة‎ )

6848-458: The Torah, should be the source for Jewish behavior and ethics. Kabbalists hold that not only do the words of Torah give a divine message, but they also indicate a far greater message that extends beyond them. Thus they hold that even as small a mark as a kotso shel yod ( קוצו של יוד ), the serif of the Hebrew letter yod (י), the smallest letter, or decorative markings, or repeated words, were put there by God to teach scores of lessons. This

6955-412: The authentic and only Jewish version for understanding the Torah and its development throughout history. Humanistic Judaism holds that the Torah is a historical, political, and sociological text, but does not believe that every word of the Torah is true, or even morally correct. Humanistic Judaism is willing to question the Torah and to disagree with it, believing that the entire Jewish experience, not just

7062-414: The basis that the Elephantine papyri , the records of a Jewish colony in Egypt dating from the last quarter of the 5th century BCE, make no reference to a written Torah, the Exodus , or to any other biblical event, though it does mention the festival of Passover . In his seminal Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels , Julius Wellhausen argued that Judaism as a religion based on widespread observance of

7169-424: The book comes from the two censuses taken of the Israelites. Numbers begins at Mount Sinai , where the Israelites have received their laws and covenant from God and God has taken up residence among them in the sanctuary . The task before them is to take possession of the Promised Land. The people are counted and preparations are made for resuming their march. The Israelites begin the journey, but they "murmur" at

7276-424: The books are derived from the Greek Septuagint and reflect the essential theme of each book: The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Torah. It is divisible into two parts, the Primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the Ancestral history (chapters 12–50). The primeval history sets out the author's (or authors') concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates

7383-423: The complete abandonment of all laws and teachings, which, in any case, they only appeared to follow. 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". The triangle or "V" of

7490-431: The completion and new start of the year's cycle of readings. Torah scrolls are often dressed with a sash, a special Torah cover, various ornaments, and a keter (crown), although such customs vary among synagogues. Congregants traditionally stand in respect when the Torah is brought out of the ark to be read, while it is being carried, and lifted, and likewise while it is returned to the ark, although they may sit during

7597-399: The custom of calling the Pentateuch (five books of Moses) The Law. Other translational contexts in the English language include custom , theory , guidance , or system . The term "Torah" is used in the general sense to include both Rabbinic Judaism 's written and oral law , serving to encompass the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including

7704-411: The depths of their exile, leading them back up to Da'as. 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. Several authorities on Sabbateanism, such as Heinrich Graetz and Aleksander Kraushar  [ de ; pl ] , were skeptical of

7811-484: The ears of all Frankists, but only for his personally selected, small circle of so-called "Brothers and Sisters", of whom he demanded blind obedience. 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

7918-425: The entire Hebrew Bible . The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash . Rabbinic tradition's understanding is that all of the teachings found in the Torah (both written and oral) were given by God through the prophet Moses , some at Mount Sinai and others at

8025-426: 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. In contrast, Jay Michaelson argues that Frankism was "an original theology that

8132-541: The following forty years, though many non-Orthodox Jewish scholars affirm the modern scholarly consensus that the Written Torah has multiple authors and was written over centuries. All classical rabbinic views hold that the Torah was entirely Mosaic and of divine origin. Present-day Reform and Liberal Jewish movements all reject Mosaic authorship, as do most shades of Conservative Judaism . Torah reading ( Hebrew : קריאת התורה , K'riat HaTorah , "Reading [of]

8239-468: 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

8346-503: The foundations of Frank's teaching. 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. It was written down starting around 1773 and distributed exclusively in handwritten form to his widely scattered followers. The last known complete manuscript ( Words of

8453-453: The hardships along the way, and about the authority of Moses and Aaron . For these acts, God destroys approximately 15,000 of them through various means. They arrive at the borders of Canaan and send spies into the land. Upon hearing the spies' fearful report concerning the conditions in Canaan, the Israelites refuse to take possession of it. God condemns them to death in the wilderness until

8560-517: 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

8667-462: The liberation of the "Virgin". 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

8774-551: 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. 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, and orgies featured prominently in ritual. Frank claimed that "all laws and teachings will fall", and following antinomianism , asserted that

8881-658: The middle of the 2nd century BCE. Adler explored the likelihhood that Judaism, as the widespread practice of Torah law by Jewish society at large, first emerged in Judea during the reign of the Hasmonean dynasty , centuries after the putative time of Ezra. By contrast, John J. Collins has argued that the observance of the Torah started in Persian Yehud when the Judeans who returned from exile understood its normativity as

8988-511: 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, and celebrating prescribed fast days as feast days. He eventually opted to convert to Islam rather than face execution for claiming to be

9095-592: The most important obligation of mankind was the transgression of every boundary. 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 . Members were required to wear plate armor, shields and helmets and train hard. His teachings were not intended for

9202-550: The motif of concealment and disguise as a gardener being important in Frankism; 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. 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

9309-431: The narrative appears on the face of it." Following Wellhausen, most scholars throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries have accepted that widespread Torah observance began sometime around the middle of the 5th century BCE. More recently, Yonatan Adler has argued that in fact there is no surviving evidence to support the notion that the Torah was widely known, regarded as authoritative, and put into practice prior to

9416-425: The nations, all his work is in vain! 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. 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. The center of Frankism

9523-469: The observance of selected, ancestral laws of high symbolic value, while during the Maccabean revolt Jews started a much more detailed observance of its precepts. Rabbinic writings state that the Oral Torah was given to Moses at Mount Sinai , which, according to the tradition of Orthodox Judaism , occurred in 1312 BCE. The Orthodox rabbinic tradition holds that the Written Torah was recorded during

9630-524: The passing of the mantle of leadership from Moses to Joshua and, finally, the death of Moses on Mount Nebo . Presented as the words of Moses delivered before the conquest of Canaan, a broad consensus of modern scholars see its origin in traditions from Israel (the northern kingdom) brought south to the Kingdom of Judah in the wake of the Assyrian conquest of Aram (8th century BCE) and then adapted to

9737-544: The position and appearance of the Hebrew letters are observed. See for example the Mishnah Berurah on the subject. Any of several Hebrew scripts may be used, most of which are fairly ornate and exacting. The completion of the Sefer Torah is a cause for great celebration, and it is a mitzvah for every Jew to either write or have written for him a Sefer Torah. Torah scrolls are stored in the holiest part of

9844-468: The present day in some parts of the US and other Western nations. Right-wing conspiracy theorist Candace Owens has associated it with devil worship and referred to it as "the preferred religion of the elites." Torah The Torah ( / ˈ t ɔːr ə / or / ˈ t oʊ r ə / ; Biblical Hebrew : תּוֹרָה Tōrā , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of

9951-409: The reading itself. The Torah contains narratives, statements of law, and statements of ethics. Collectively these laws, usually called biblical law or commandments, are sometimes referred to as the Law of Moses ( Torat Moshɛ תּוֹרַת־מֹשֶׁה ), Mosaic Law , or Sinaitic Law . Rabbinic tradition holds that Moses learned the whole Torah while he lived on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights and both

10058-502: The script used to write the Torah from the older Hebrew script to Assyrian script, so called according to the Talmud, because they brought it with them from Assyria. Maharsha says that Ezra made no changes to the actual text of the Torah based on the Torah's prohibition of making any additions or deletions to the Torah in Deuteronomy 12:32 . By contrast, the modern scholarly consensus rejects Mosaic authorship, and affirms that

10165-451: The second Priestly. By contrast, John Van Seters advocates a supplementary hypothesis , which posits that the Torah was derived from a series of direct additions to an existing corpus of work. A "neo-documentarian" hypothesis, which responds to the criticism of the original hypothesis and updates the methodology used to determine which text comes from which sources, has been advocated by biblical historian Joel S. Baden, among others. Such

10272-509: The second reminds the Israelites of the need to follow Yahweh and the laws (or teachings) he has given them, on which their possession of the land depends; and the third offers the comfort that even should Israel prove unfaithful and so lose the land, with repentance all can be restored. The final four chapters (31–34) contain the Song of Moses , the Blessing of Moses , and narratives recounting

10379-432: The solution. Rather, Frank claimed that the "mixing" between holy and unholy was virtuous. 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,

10486-564: The title Frankists . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frankists&oldid=1168705132 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Frankists (Judaism) Frankists believed in Sabbatai Zevi , one of

10593-434: The true Torah is yet to be revealed. 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. Frank also advises masked assimilation in

10700-468: The true Virgin, who will be revealed preceding the final redemption. Frank regarded himself as the Virgin's guide, who - before her manifestation - is in a mysterious place and was given only to him since the beginning of the world, so that he, as her father, would be her guardian. 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

10807-402: 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

10914-416: 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 . 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

11021-687: The world. 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

11128-472: 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

11235-399: 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

11342-417: Was laid with the investigation of the origins of the written sources in oral compositions, implying that the creators of J and E were collectors and editors and not authors and historians. Rolf Rendtorff , building on this insight, argued that the basis of the Pentateuch lay in short, independent narratives, gradually formed into larger units and brought together in two editorial phases, the first Deuteronomic,

11449-435: Was originally transmitted to Moses at Sinai, and then from Moses to Israel. At that time it was forbidden to write and publish the oral law, as any writing would be incomplete and subject to misinterpretation and abuse. However, after exile, dispersion, and persecution, this tradition was lifted when it became apparent that in writing was the only way to ensure that the Oral Law could be preserved. After many years of effort by

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