Certain dimwitted fools (given this is a family show, that’s the best descriptor I can give) on the internet have been making claims about Judaism based on the preaching’s of a small group of zealots known as False Prophets. On today’s episode, we will discuss the two most famous of the group, Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank.
We’ll discuss:
The concept of prophets in Judaism
What distinguishes a true prophet from a false one
The biographies of Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank
The allure of False Prophets
The state Jewry at the time which made the rise of False Prophets possible
The dangers of False Prophets
The importance of studying Kabbalah only within the context of the more traditional Jewish texts
The throughline between False Prophets and modern day charlatans
And as you may have noticed in the subhead above, we’re now on YouTube, so if that’s your application of choice to listen to podcasts, you can check us out there. The channel has our entire back catalogue of epsiodes and will be updated each week with our new ones.
And remember to e-mail us with any questions at edjewcationpod@gmail.com
Fantastic episode guys. Can’t lie though; a little disappointed you avoided the much closer-to-home topic of messianic fervor within a portion of the global chabad community who believe the Rebbe was the Messiah and will return one day (including the 770 tunnel builders from late last year I believe). Would have been an interesting real-time example close to your hearts. Particularly since the Rebbe never encouraged nor discouraged such thinking during his life (maybe I’m wrong about that aspect which is why it would have been a fascinating topic to cover). Anyway, really enjoyed this one.
Thank you Malia. I’m glad we can be a refuge for you and I hope things turn around (I’m sure they will). Be well…