A Biography Of Samuel Falk

Abstract

This chapter centers on Dr Samuel Falk, the Ba'al Shem of London, who was born in Podhajce at the beginning of the eighteenth century and named Samuel Jacob di Falk Tradiola Laniado. It explains that 'Falk' is the name of a family of distinguished lineage that included Rabbi Joshua ben Alexander Falk and Rabbi Jacob Joshua ben Zevi Hirsch. It also recounts how Falk made the acquaintance of Moses David of Podhajce, of whom he jointly studied with and engaged in practical kabbalah. The chapter talks about Falk's family move from Podhajce to Fürth in Germany, which had become a major centre of Jewish life after the authorities permitted Jews to reside in the city in 1528. It cites crypto-Sabbatians and hidden Frankists that were known to live in Fürth that influenced Falk's personality and the course of his life.