Frankism
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.
[2][3][7] Frank claimed that "all laws and teachings will fall",[8] and following antinomianism, asserted that the most important obligation of mankind was the transgression of every boundary.
[10] 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",[11] of whom he demanded blind obedience.
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.
[14] 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.
[16] 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.
[17] 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.
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.
[21] 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.
[25] In a teaching, Frank clearly identifies himself with the traditional Messiah ben Joseph,[26] who will have a great messianic impact but perish in the fight against the end-time enemies.
Frankism characterizes the "Virgin" using elements of the Esther stories[27] and is strongly influenced by the Marian cult surrounding the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
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.
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.
The liberation of the Shechinah—i.e., 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.
[35] 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].
[43] 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.
[45] 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".
[5] 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.
[46] 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.
