The Mixed Multitude

Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816

Paweł Maciejko, Pawel Maciejko

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English

University of Pennsylvania Press
23 July 2015

Religion & beliefs; Jewish studies

Series: Jewish Culture and Contexts

In 1756, Jacob Frank, an Ottoman Jew who had returned to the Poland of his birth, was discovered leading a group of fellow travelers in a suspect religious service. At the request of the local rabbis, Polish authorities arrested the participants. Jewish authorities contacted the bishop in whose diocese the service had taken place and argued that since the rites of Frank's followers involved the practice of magic and immoral conduct, both Jews and Christians should condemn them and burn them at the stake. The scheme backfired, as the Frankists took the opportunity to ally themselves with the Church, presenting themselves as Contra-Talmudists who believed in a triune God. As a Turkish subject, Frank was released and temporarily expelled to the Ottoman territories, but the others were found guilty of breaking numerous halakhic prohibitions and were subject to a Jewish ban of excommunication. While they professed their adherence to everything that was commanded by God in the Old Testament, they asserted as well that the Rabbis of old had introduced innumerable lies and misconstructions in their interpretations of that holy book.

Who were Jacob Frank and his followers? To most Christians, they seemed to be members of a Jewish sect; to Jewish reformers, they formed a group making a valiant if misguided attempt to bring an end to the power of the rabbis; and to more traditional Jews, they were heretics to be suppressed by the rabbinate. What is undeniable is that by the late eighteenth century, the Frankists numbered in the tens of thousands and had a significant political and ideological influence on non-Jewish communities throughout eastern and central Europe.

Based on extensive archival research in Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel, Germany, the United States, and the Vatican, The Mixed Multitude is the first comprehensive study of Frank and Frankism in more than a century and offers an important new perspective on Jewish-Christian relations in the Age of Enlightenment.

By: Paweł Maciejko, Pawel Maciejko
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 553g
ISBN: 9780812223439
ISBN 10: 0812223438
Series: Jewish Culture and Contexts
Pages: 376
Publication Date: 23 July 2015
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

Pawel Maciejko is Lecturer in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Reviews for The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816

Magnificent. . . . [Maciejko] has seemingly mined every available text on Frank and the Frankists; unlike earlier scholars, such as Gershom Scholem, he commands the Polish sources as well. He tells the story in riveting style. -Jewish Review of Books A major scholarly achievement . . . this is the single best study written to date of Frank and Frankism in all their complexity and will be required reading for any student or scholar of early modern Jewish history and Christian-Jewish relations, kabbalah, and Jewish messianism. -AJS Review Maciejko's scholarship is stunning in its comprehensiveness and the combination of careful analysis of detail with breadth of historical vision. This book fills a longstanding lacuna in European and Jewish historiography. It is innovative both in the sense that many new sources are consulted and in its conceptually innovative revision of the historical significance of Frank and his movement. -Gershon David Hundert, McGill University With this multifaceted study of Frank and Frankism, Pawel Maciejko has made a major contribution to our understanding of the intricacies and varieties of Judaism in eastern Europe in the eighteenth century. He brings tremendous erudition and insight to the religious history of early modern Poland. -Times Literary Supplement

Winner of Awarded the 2011 Baron Book Prize by the American Academy for Jewish Research.
Winner of Awarded the 2011 Salo W. Baron Prize by the American Academy for Jewish Research.
Winner of Awarded the 2012 Baron Book Prize by the American Academy for Jewish Research 2021
Winner of Awarded the 2012 Baron Book Prize by the American Academy for Jewish Research.
Winner of Awarded the 2014 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in Modern Jewish History by the Association for Jewish Studies 2021
Winner of Awarded the 2014 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in Modern Jewish History by the Association for Jewish Studies, Awarded the 2012 Baron Book Prize by the .
Winner of Awarded the 2014 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in Modern Jewish History by the Association for Jewish Studies.