Shmuel Feiner on The Books of Jacob, LBI Book Club

This November, Shmuel Feiner, Professor of Modern Jewish History at Bar Ilan University, joined the LBI Book Club to discuss Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob.
In the mid-eighteenth century, as new ideas - and a new unrest - begin to sweep the Continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following. In the decade to come, Frank will traverse the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires with throngs of disciples in his thrall as he reinvents himself again and again, converts to Islam and then Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic and revered as the Messiah, and wreaks havoc on the conventional order, Jewish and Christian alike, with scandalous rumors of his sect’s secret rituals and the spread of his increasingly iconoclastic beliefs. The story of Frank - a real historical figure around whom mystery and controversy swirl to this day - is the perfect canvas for the genius and unparalleled reach of Olga Tokarczuk. Narrated through the perspectives of his contemporaries - those who revere him, those who revile him, the friend who betrays him, the lone woman who sees him for what he is - The Books of Jacob captures a world on the cusp of precipitous change, searching for certainty and longing for transcendence. (description taken from Penguin Random House)

[@orsisrutherford4705]

I am reading the book and I am flabbergasted. One of the most important books of the XI century.

[@jimpalmer2981]

Fascinating. I just finished "The Books of Jacob," and Prof. Feiner's perspective is invaluable. I wonder if he would have any insights on the political behavior of the descendants of Frankist families some generations after the sect died out. It seems that there are some interesting patterns of behavior and thought, at least among the descendants of Prague Frankists, which persisted long after the death of Ewa Frank.

[@user-rc2vf1kf8d]

Symbiosis!!!!! Jacob Frank was a character, his descendants were quite characters as well. The descendants mixed with the nobility and moved on to be the mixed people that do not fit in anywhere. Then ended up on Soviet Union, most were wiped out , moved to Central Asian and ended with severe mental health conditions.

[@user-rc2vf1kf8d]

When descendants of Frankists continued to change their religions like clothes. The rural Soviet reality hit them hard with their ideas of greatness. Oh yeah, they also changed their last name to mix in.