The Diaries and Their Research

Abstract

This chapter discusses the description of Samuel Falk's diary that is in an article by the scholar Adolf Neubauer published in the Jewish Chronicle. It mentions Solomon Schechter, a tutor in rabbinics at the University of Cambridge who published an article, 'The Baalshem — Dr Falk'. It also cites Schechter's details of Falk's will and how he translated what Jacob Emden wrote concerning the ba'al shem, including how Schechter questioned Emden's charges regarding Falk's presumed crypto-Sabbatianism. The chapter talks about Rabbi Dr Herman Adler, chief rabbi of the British Empire, who delivered a lecture on 'The Baal Shem of London', which was published in Berlin and in London, in which he collected details and testimonies about Falk from various sources. It elaborates how Adler disregarded the kabbalistic material in the diary, which opened a window onto Falk's world.