Jacob Frank and the Burning of the Talmud (This Week in Jewish History)

Jacob Frank. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Jacob Frank. Source: Wikimedia Commons

One of the more colorful false messiahs in Jewish history, Jacob Frank made a career of conversion–first to Islam, then to Christianity, all the while leading a neo-Sabbatean movement that emphasized antinomian “purification through transgression.” His appeal to the Church in 1757 resulted in a modern-day disputation over the Talmud, and ultimately the burning of tens of thousands of precious volumes.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/lUExCX_yXIY]

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