The Baal Shem Tov and the Heretic: A Sabbatean Tale

By Barak Bassman

In 1757, in Poland, followers of the false Jewish Messiah Jacob Frank have publicly denounced the Talmud and convinced the authorities to let them burn thousands of copies of the holiest Jewish texts. One such disciple of the new movement undertakes a journey to confront his former teacher, the famed mystic and kabbalist Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the holy Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism in Eastern Europe. In the course of a long day, this follower of the false Messiah, Jacob Frank, lays out his life story and the revelations and supernatural wonders that have led him to a new and twisted form of Judaism that rejects and destroys the most sacred texts of the Jewish tradition. The Baal Shem Tov, in turn, must decide how to confront such a radical new evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barak Bassman
• Release date: Dec 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781956867527

Barak Bassman

Barak A. Bassman received a B.A. in Classics from Grinnell College and a law degree from the New York University School of Law. He practices law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with his wife and two children. He is the author of Elegy of the Minotaur and Repentance: A Tale of Demons in Old Jewish Poland.

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