Frankism - YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

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Jews and equated their rights, privileges, and obligations with those of otherJews living in the Commonwealth.Circumstances changed, however, with the sudden death of BishopDembowski on 9 November 1757: the sectarians unexpectedly foundthemselves in a sort of limbo between Judaism and Christianity, lackingsupport and protection from either side. The burning of copies of the Talmudstopped; the campaign against the heretics was renewed with double force;and many of them fled across the Dniester to Turkey, where they joinedFrank. It seemed that the only viable option for the followers of Frank mighthave been to stay in the Ottoman Empire as one of many Sabbatiancommunities, overtly professing Islam while at the same time practicing aheterodox form of Judaism. But the climate in Poland changed again. BishopKajetan Sołtyk, who orchestrated the ritual murder trial of Żytomierz in1753, faced widespread allegations of forging evidence, bribery, and murder.He decided to use the Contra-Talmudists to improve his public image. If Jewsthemselves independently confirmed the accusation of ritual murder, Sołtykwould be able to silence his critics. In order to “prove” that the Żytomierzaccusations were true and that Jews indeed used Christian blood for ritualpurposes, Sołtyk in 1758 published the brochure Błędy talmudowe odsamychże Żydów uznane y przez nową sekt ę Siapwscieciuchów, czyliContratalmudystów wyiawione (The Errors of the Talmud Acknowledged bythe Jews Themselves and Revealed by the New Sect of Siapwscieciuchy [i.e.,“Sabbatians”] or the Contra-Talmudists). The pamphlet aimed to confirm thestatements concerning ritual murder using new evidence supplied by theContra-Talmudists. Parallel to the publication of the brochure, Sołtykmanaged to convince King Augustus III to bring the sect back to theCommonwealth. On 11 July 1758, the king issued a letter of safe conduct forthe Contra-Talmudists who had fled to Turkey. Members of the sect(including Frank) slowly began to return to Poland and establishedthemselves in the estates of Bishop Antoni Sebastian Dembowski, brother ofthe late protector of the Contra-Talmudists Mikołaj Dembowski and a closefriend of Sołtyk.On 20 February 1759, on Sołtyk’s instigation, the Contra-Talmudistsrequested permission for another disputation. They called for a unity of allfaiths, and promised to prove that Jews used Christian blood for ritualpurposes. They presented the following seven points for the debate:1. All prophecies about the coming of the Messiah have already beenfulfilled.2. The Messiah is the true God, whose name is Adonai. He took humanform and suffered for our redemption.3. Since the advent of the true Messiah, sacrifices and ceremonies havebeen abolished.4. Everyone should follow the teaching of the Messiah, for salvation liesonly within it.
5. The cross is the sign of the Holy Trinity and the seal of the Messiah.6. A person can achieve faith in the Messiah the King only throughbaptism.7. The Talmud teaches that Jews need Christian blood, and whoeverbelieves in the Talmud is bound to use it.The disputation took place in Lwów from 17 July to 19 September1759. Although Frank did not take part in the disputation, he came to Lwówand was recognized as the leader of the Contra-Talmudists. Pressure fromthe Vatican led to no decisive verdict being promulgated and the rabbis wereobliged only to formulate a written response to the Frankists’ accusations.During the disputation, Frank’s followers became to be treated not as aJewish sect professing tenets that were not recognized by mainstreamJudaism, but as a group of candidates for conversion to Christianity. The firstbaptisms took place even before the formal end of the disputation, and theywere attended by a large public, with many important noblemen acting asgodparents. On 17 September, Frank himself was baptized in LwówCathedral and adopted the name Jakub Josef. Approximately 3,000 peopleconverted in Lwów, Lublin, and Warsaw. Some of them were immediatelyennobled on the basis of a Lithuanian statute of 1588, which gave theprerogatives of the gentry to baptizing Jews and their offspring.The church devoted much effort to spreading news of the Lwówdisputation. The primate of Poland issued a pastoral letter urging Catholicsto support the converts with alms and ordered that an abridged version of theminutes of the disputation be sent to parish churches and read duringSunday sermons. Reports and manifestos from the disputations weretranslated into Latin, French, Spanish, Armenian, Portuguese, Italian, andGerman and disseminated in different countries. News of the conversionsreached England and the New World.After his baptism, Frank conducted himself ostentatiously. He movedto Warsaw where he was baptized a second time in a royal ceremony, withStarosta Bratkowski acting in the name of King August III as a godfather. Heattended theaters and visited the homes of important magnates. However,several fresh converts in Lwów reported to their confessor that Frank’sadoption of Christianity was not sincere. On 7 January 1760, he wasarrested. Shortly thereafter, the ecclesiastical authorities issued an officialproclamation concerning his case. The proclamation stated that aninvestigation had established the genuineness of belief of the Jews who hadconverted to Catholicism. However, due to the negative influence of theirleader, Jakub Frank, the converts had strayed into erroneous beliefs aboutthe Second Coming and the Last Judgment. As the followers gave excessivehonor to Frank, the authorities decided to separate him from his disciplesand to isolate him at a secluded location, where he was to remain while
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Frankism - YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

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