Samuel Falk as Seen by Jacob Emden

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the 1760s, wherein Samuel Falk was besmirched, cursed, and persecuted by Jacob Emden while frequently celebrated by various members of Christian society. It reviews extant testimonies that portray Falk as a controversial figure, such as being a fraud, a swindler, and a complete ignoramus, while others thought he was a teacher, guide, and spiritual leader for several prominent Freemasons. It also discusses Jacob Emden's campaign against Jonathan Eybeschuetz and his son Wolf and his crusade against Sabbatianism, which he regarded as a plague that had come to corrupt and destroy Judaism. The chapter highlights Emden's attack on Falk that links him with Moses David of Podhajce and with Jonathan Eybeschuetz. It analyses Emden's book that is full of his hatred of Falk, whom he derisively calls a ba'al shed, which meant possessed by a demon, instead of the term ba'al shem.