“I tell you everything and tell you nothing”

Abstract Chapter 1 introduces two Jacob Franks: one historical, one largely fictional. The first, born Yankiev Liebowicz in 1726, first dabbled in trade, then made his way to Salonica, the center of Sabbatean activity, where he quickly became a charismatic leader. Returning north, he became one of many heretical, charismatic preachers in 1750s Podolia, and eventually, the most notorious Jewish apostate of his day. Yet even after conversion, Frank’s sectarian activity continued, causing him to be imprisoned from 1759 to 1772. Following release, Frank lived as a faux-noble charlatan, active in Western esotericist networks, until he died in 1791. The second Jacob Frank is a character in hundreds of fantastic tales: both boor and prophet, trickster and “holy fool,” frustrated failure and world-historic figure. His autohagiography is more myth than history, questioning the boundaries of “high” and “low” religious discourse and satirizing religion itself.