In the last post, we started taking a closer look at the ‘Rebbe Tree’.

We discovered a few surprising things, including that the ‘Badd Rebbes apparently descend from a line of kohanim, and if that’s correct, then none of them could ever have been a candidate for Moshiach.

And if this is indeed true – it begs some enormous questions about the movement, and how much ‘good faith’ was being shown towards the wider Jewish community, from its inception.

However, in this post, we’re going to learn that the whole history of chassidut generally is riddled with some very difficult questions.

The waters have been muddied by so many groups, but especially the ‘Badd, ‘rewriting history’ all over the place, to suit their own personal agendas, and also, to obscure some parts of real history that they simply didn’t want people knowing about, going forward.

Why?

Bottom line: the Jewish community of 250 years ago was full of ‘closet Sabbateans’ – and not-so-closet Sabbateans.

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Most of the baalei shem were Sabbateans, were using books of ‘practical magick’ to do their miracles, and were summoning demons and all the rest of it.

And in case you want to pretend that this was only a problem for chassidut, it wasn’t.

Sabbateanism was amply present in ‘non-chassidic’ pilpul circles too, of which Yonatan Eibshitz serves as a classic example. We can extrapolate that the ‘big rabbis’ who supported and covered up for ‘Rabbi Jonathan’ probably also had Sabbatean leanings. The book of testimonials Eibshitz put together is a great starting place, for identifying closet Sabbateans in the non-chassidic Torah world.

And it’s full of ‘big names’.

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We will come back to that side of things another time.

In this post I want to do two things:

1. Show you what sort of ‘books of magick’ were being used by the baalei shem, including many of the first leaders of the chassidic movement after the Baal Shem Tov.
2. Bring you the amazing story of the father of the Baal Shem Tov.

Let us begin.

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We’ll begin with the ‘book of magick’, which you can see for yourself HERE, when it was sold at auction back in 2023.

I made the mistake of printing this out, and the picture it’s illustrated with, the ‘amulet’, the spell, whatever it is – literally mad me feel ill when I was looking at it.

Also, while it was described as being connected to the Baal Shem Tov, on closer inspection, it really just meant that people also copied into it some of the Baal Shem Tov’s amulets and ‘practical kabbalah’ after he’d passed away, as well as all the other stuff it contains.

Here’s some pertinent snippets from the description:

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The main part of the manuscript – leaves 1-240 – was written by a skilled scribe, who compiled thousands of prescriptions and texts from various sources, and arranged them alphabetically in chapters…. Additions were later inserted by various writers in different places in the manuscript and in the blank leaves that remained. Later leaves were also bound with the manuscript. It is evident that the manuscript served several generations of folk healers and Baalei Shem, and was passed on from one to the other for practical use.

The manuscript comprises thousands of entries covering a wide range of topics, including: texts of amulets, hashbaot and incantations for various matters – protection of the home, against thieves, fire and demons; protection for journeys, from enemies, wild beasts, bandits and sorcerers; hashbaot for kefitzat haderech (miraculous travel between two distant places in a brief time); amulets and segulot for pregnancy, easy birth, protection for the mother and baby; remedies and segulot for a wide range of illnesses and ailments; instructions for uncovering hidden matters and future events, to become invisible, and more; annulling sorcery, evil spirits and evil eye; amulets and hashbaot against dybbuk; hashbaot of angels and demons; goralot (lots); segulot for plentiful livelihood and wealth; and many more topics.

The manuscript also includes rare, detailed instructions on how to create a Golem (p. 237a). This section concludes with a warning that it should only be done in case of great necessity. In many places, the writer notes “tried-and-true”.

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I can’t help it – even reading this gives me such a yucky taste in the mouth, as with hindsight it’s so easy to see how these baalei shem devolved into satanic practices and beliefs.

Rebbe Nachman made it very clear in his story of The Cripple, that ‘books of magick’ like this should not be used even by people who could use them in holiness. (See the excerpt at the bottom of this post) Most of the people engaging with these ‘books of magick’ were simply not at the spiritual level required to do that… And they opened the door for their souls to get ‘taken over’ by satanic influences and ideas, which led us directly to pedophilia, the Frankists, and many other horrible things.

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Here’s another snippet, about where a lot of this stuff was coming from:

On a few occasions, the writer mentions his sources. He quotes several times the kabbalist R. Naftali Katz author of Semichat Chachamim (who passed away in 1719; for instance: “In the name of the prominent Torah scholar, the late R. Naftali Katz – p. 173b).

The latest book he quotes (p. 41a) is the book Amtachat Binyamin by R. Binyamin Benush son of R. Yehuda Leib HaKohen (printed in Wilhelmsdorf 1716).

On pp. 22a and 88b, he mentions R. Eliyahu Baal Shem, rabbi of Chelm.

On p. 158b, he cites the expert physician R. Daniel Doktor.

On p. 34b there is a mention of the “expert and renowned physician, R. Yitzchak Chazak of Reisha”. R. Yitzchak Chazak, mentioned here with the blessing for the living, is R. Avraham Yitzchak Chazak Fortis, representative of the Vaad Arba Aratzot (Council of Four Lands) and leader of the community of Reisha (Rzeszów) in the first half of the 18th century. His signature appears on decisions of the Vaad Arba Aratzot, dated 1718-1730. He first lived in Lviv and Jarosław, and later settled in Reisha as the physician of Prince Lubomirski of Reisha and Count Potocki of Lizhensk…

However, the most important source quoted in the present manuscript is undoubtedly the Baal Shem Tov. Kabbalistic Secrets Transmitted by R. Adam Baal Shem to the Baal Shem Tov.

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OK, let’s pick up what we can about all these kabbalah magick-doers.

The Smichat Chachamim, R Naftali Katz, was a known Sabbatean who burnt down Frankfurt’s Jewish ghetto when he was practising his ‘practical kabbalah’ spells; and also, nearly managed to kill Rebbe Nachman, when Rabbenu passed by his grave on the way to the Holy Land.

(Apparently, the Smichat Chachamim was a relative of Rabbenu. It’s not clear how.)

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Binyamin Benush – is the son of Yehuda Loeb Hakohen of Krotoschin.

He’s the author of the Amtachat Binyamin, mentioned above, but also of the Sefer Shem Tov Qatan, printed in 1706, and sometimes wrongly attributed to the Baal Shem TOV.

You can read a snippet of one of the prayers / spells in Sefer Shem Tov Qatan HERE. These baalei shem were literally obsessed with demons and satanic forces.

HERE is where you can still buy his book of segulot. If you want to.

Here’s what the Jewish Encyclopedia says about him:

Snippet:

Cabalist of the beginning of the eighteenth century; son of Judah Löb Cohen of Krotoschin, Prussia. He wrote the “Shem-Ṭob Ḳaṭan”—extracts from alleged works of Isaac Luria and Moses Naḥmanides, and containing various prayers and formulas illustrating the practical application of the Cabala. Among others there is a prayer by Moses Naḥmanides for making oneself invisible to robbers while on a journey—the writer adds that he tried it himself and found it efficacious—and another prayer for extinguishing a conflagration.

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I’m sure it’s just a CO-IN-CI-DENCE, but one of the ‘alter egos’ for Jacob Frank on geni, Jacob Benjamin Loeb Frankel, also has a father ‘Yehuda Loeb of Krotoschin’.The descendants of this ‘alter ego’ include the Adler Chief Rabbis of the United Kingdom.

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Eliyahu Baal Shem – the ancestor of the Chacham Tzvi.

We already mentioned him, from the Rav’s comments, HERE. And, he figures prominently in many other writings as the leader of a ‘secret group of mystics’ who go around spreading an unidentified spiritual doctrine, 100 years in advance of the Baal Shem Tov’s chassidut, which very possibly could be Sabbatean. (The Chacham Tzvi’s own uncle was an enthusiastic Sabbatean. This is a pattern that recurs in this story, where the ‘anti-Sabbatean’ and the ‘pro-Sabbatean’ are from the exact same family.)

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R. Daniel Doktor– I can find absolutely nothing about him.

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Avraham Yitzchak Chazak Fortis of Reisha

This guy is where a chunk of useful new information swung loose, that connects us straight to:

1. Polish royalty
2. Sabbateans

As stated above, he is:

the physician of Prince Lubomirski of Reisha and Count Potocki of Lizhensk…

Jacob Frank had very close access to the Polish royalty, with the Polish King even acting as his ‘godfather’ when he converted to catholicism. This was not some pleb off the Jewish street, it was a person who came from a background of people who knew how to interact with royalty – and also had the opportunity to do so.

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On the Hebrew Wiki, we learn a bit more about him (machine translated from the Hebrew):

He was admitted to medicine at the University of Padua and in Mantua. His name became known in Polish aristocratic circles who invited him to Lvov. He was allowed to settle in Yaroslavl, and under his influence a license was obtained to purchase an independent cemetery for the community. He charged particularly high prices for his visits, claiming that no one had ever died under his hand.

In 5366 he moved to Reysha, where he bought a magnificent palace that he confiscated from it by the nobleman Lubomirsky in 5369. He lived there until 5375, in order to be close to his two main clients, who served as their personal physician; One of the Lubomirsky family from Reisha, and the other from thePotocky family in Lizhansk[c].

He was a devout observant Jew, and zealous of his faith, and even refused to heal patients suspected of being a Sabbatean. Nevertheless, it is said that he excelled in his knowledge of the New Testament and the writings of the Church Fathers.

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At this stage in the game, whenever I see an effort being made to tell us no no no, he’s not a Sabbatean!!! – I usually come to the opposite conclusion.

Remember, even Jonathan Eibshutz ‘denounced’ the Sabbateans publically. It became one of their things that they did, to deflect suspicion.

And kind of strange, eh, that this ‘devout observant Jew’ is so up on the New Testament and ‘writing of the Church Fathers’. This obsession with xtian works is also something that characterises the Sabbateans even before Jacob Frank’s explicit doctrine of converting to xtianity, in order to ‘raise the sparks out of Edom’.

But I’m getting distracted. Let’s get back to Avraham Fortis. Let’s see if we can ‘locate’ this guy in the real world.

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Over on Wiki, we have this as the starting point for his family:

His family

• His brother Levi Lieberman was also a doctor in Lvov, and in 1710 a complaint was filed against him by the Christian doctors in Lvov for wearing a doctor’s robe and not Jewish attire[11].

Children

• His son Shmuel studied medicine at the European University of Viadrina in Frankfurt am Main, and in 1993 atthe University of Wroclaw, which had been established about three decades earlier, but was not allowed to live in Breslau because he was not a merchant, but a doctor from Italy who lived in Yaroslavl.

• His son Moshe – physician and courtier of James Lewis Sobieski, son of Jan Sobieski.

• His son Zalman – the son-in-law of Rabbi Yehoshua Haschel in Av Beit Din of Tarnopol.

• His son Rabbi Meir Hazak – Rav in Kumarna. In 1918 he was a delegate on behalf of Galil Parmishla to the Committee of Four Lands held in Yaroslavl in 1978 and1970; Afterwards, he was accepted to the rabbinate of Mošitsk.

• His daughter Chaya married Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Halperin, rabbi of the cities of Jaroslaw and Lublin.

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So, one of his sons Moshe, is the doctor of the Prince of Poland James Lewis Sobieski, son of King of Poland Jan Sobieski III.

I can find nothing about him.

I also can’t find anything about ‘Rabbi Meir Hazak’ the Rav of Komarno.

I have more luck with Zalman – who is misnamed Zalman Poritz on geni, because they clearly are trying to keep this family ‘isolated’ from their expanded connections.

He marries the daughter of SHIA HESHEL BABAD, grandson of YITZHAK BABAD, and great-grandson of that same ‘Reb Heshel of Krakow’, the Rav keeps talking about.

 

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I also manage to track down his daughter Chaya, who marries R YAAKOV CHAIM HALPERIN.

Whaddya know?! R Yaakov and his father R Avraham Heilprin are the ones who ‘definitively’ put an end to the Eibshitz / Emden controversy over the amulets, by publically declaring Eibshitz is totally innocent.

Snippet from the Jaroslawl Memorbuch, HERE:

The famous controversy between rabbi Jonathan Eibeschitz and rabbi Jacob Emden[ regarding amulets was a divisive matter among the Jewish population and was on the agenda for a long time. The matter was finally closed during the council meeting in Jaroslaw on the second day of Heshvan 5414 [1753]. The meeting was chaired by Avraham Halperin from Lublin (the father of the Jaroslaw rabbi Yaakov Chaim Halperin).

The judgement determined that “No voice of blame will be heard against the famous genius in his generation rabbi Jonathan” and all the opposing libel writings were burnt in front of the public.

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Yaakov Chaim Halperin was one of Eibshitz’ leading pupils in his Prague yeshiva.

Methinks, it was not exactly an honest investigation.

There are always so many dodgy Halperins popping up all over this story, I decided to try and figure out which branch this Eibshitz-whitewashing dodgy Halperin actually belonged to.

His family connections said this:

• His first wife Ḥaya Fortis died on 15th Iyar 5512 (April 29, 1752) in Lublin JewishGen
• His son Rabbi Yitzhak Halperin became Rabbi of Tarnow JewishGen
• His daughter Zippora married Rabbi Yosef Hochgelernter, author of Mishnat Ḥaḥamim JewishGen
• His second daughter married Rabbi Avraham Ha-Cohen of Zamość, author of Beit Avraham JewishGen

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HOCHGELERNTER is an easy name to search on, so I tried that, and got to HERE.

The Halperin who conclusively white-washed the known Sabbatean Jonathan Eibshitz (and who also publically burned Yaakov Emden’s books…) was called:

R ABRAHAM ‘HAIMS’ HALPERIN OF LUBLIN (1680-1763)

I will do some more double-checking on the side, and let you know who else that family connects to.

Meanwhile, a great-grandson of HAYA FORTIS and YAAKOV CHAIM HALPERIN is none other than the ‘chassidic master’ MENACHEM MENDEL RUBIN:

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OK, now we’ve started to ‘feel out’ who is connected to this book of kabbalah black magick, a bit more, and how those people are segueing us straight into the Sabbatean heartland, let’s end by returning back to what it says about this magick book, and who was using it.

First, it brings more details about the ‘R. Adam Baal Shem’ whose teachings were meant to have been handed on to the BESHT by his son, as follows:

Prof. Shmeruk later discovered an earlier source than Shivchei HaBaal Shem Tov mentioning R. Adam Baal Shem – a booklet in Yiddish featuring stories about R. Adam Baal Shem. According to Shmeruk, this booklet was printed in Prague in the 17th century. The booklet indicates that R. Adam Baal Shem lived in Prague, and describes his meeting with Emperor Maximillian II. This emperor reigned in 1564-1576, during the Maharal’s tenure as rabbi of Prague.

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It’s curious, how all roads seem to return to Prague in this story.

In other words, it seems ‘Adam Baal Shem’ is a contemporary of the Maharal of Prague, and also gets to meet Emperor Maximillian II. There can’t have been that many Jews in that situation, but one of them we’ve already discussed at length here on the blog, namely: DAVID GANS.

The first guy to have star of David engraved on his tomb, who was very ‘into’ heliocentrism.

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The description of the magick book continues:

[T]his manuscript documents an interesting chain of transmission of practical kabbalah: “From the writings of R. Yisrael Baal Shem [=the Baal Shem Tov], transmitted to him by R. Adam Baal Shem, who received from Gur Aryeh [=the Maharal of Prague].

The book Shivchei HaBaal Shem Tov relates that the Baal Shem Tov hid his writings in a stone in the mountain, and quotes the reprover of Polonne who stated in his old age that although he was capable of retrieving the writings, as he was aware of their location, he did not wish to go against the wishes of the Baal Shem Tov. He also attested that these writing had been in the hands of Avraham Avinu and Yehoshua Bin Nun (Shivchei HaBaal Shem Tov, Rubinstein edition, p. 59).

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This matches up exactly with Rabbenu’s story of The Cripple – see below.

The Baal Shem Tov himself understood that even his own ‘amulets’ shouldn’t and couldn’t be used in holiness by the people coming after him, and would just fall into the wrong hands, and be misused by ‘wonder workers’ with their own personal agendas.

The fact that this book is still extent makes me wonder, how much of this ‘black magick’ is still being used in our communities – and by who.

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After his death, there were apparently many of the BESHT’s disciples who ignored his instructions to ‘hide the book’ – and who continued to use kabbalah magick:

The Manuscript Amongst the Groups of Disciples of the Baal Shem Tov Detailed instructions for protection of the home, including amulets and other procedures, are scribed on leaf – one of the later leaves bound at the beginning of the manuscript. Stated at the top of the page: “Protection for the home by the late R. Yisrael Baal Shem Tov”.

This inscription attests that the manuscript was in the possession of the first groups of the Baal Shem Tov’s Chassidim. An interesting fact revealed here for the first time is that the famous amulet attributed to R. Yeshayale of Kerestir, which was customarily given by the Yismach Moshe and other Chassidic leaders, in fact originated from the Baal Shem Tov himself. Additionally, in contrast with the other known sources, the present manuscript includes further detail on the usage of this amulet, with instructions on how to write it, where to place it in the home, and more.

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Here’s another ‘disciple’ who was still using kabbalah magick:

Another inscription attesting that this manuscript was used by the groups of the Baal Shem Tov’s disciple, appears on the (unnumbered) leaf bound before leaf 201 (in later script): “Amulet from the rabbi of Radvil…” – this is presumably referring to R. Yitzchak of Radvil (Radyvyliv) son of R. Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov, a prominent Chassidic leader close to the times of the Baal Shem Tov.

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Tov.

We’ll stop there for now, and I’ll bring you the story of the Baal Shem Tov’s father next.

I can’t help wondering, how many of these ‘wunderworking’ chassidic rebbes were actually just using black magick to ‘gift’ their followers money…health…children…protection…

I also can’t help wondering, whether that was one of the reasons Rabbenu made such a big deal about playing down ‘open miracles’, and instead just kept stressing the path of emuna, sincere teshuva and hitbodedut to his followers.

And then – no wonder he was such a threat to the ‘Rebbes’…

Because Rabbenu didn’t need kabbalistic incantations or amulets to work miracles. As the ‘One in a Generation’ who knew all 24 heavenly courts, he stressed the power of pidyonot and prayer and attachment to real tzaddikim.

We are learning together more and more, that attaching to a real tzaddik is actually way, way harder than you might think.

So many people have been caught in this snare. And the problem is still with us today.

TBC

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Excerpt from The Cripple:

[The Sage in the wilderness has just had a showdown with the king of the demons – and won. The story continues:]

The king now said to him [the Sage]:

“Because you are such a unique man, I will give you a book with all the families of the demons. There are spiritual masters who only know of one family, and even that they do not know completely. I will give you a book with all the families, for the king has the list with all the names. Even the new-born are on record with the king.”

He sent his companion [demon] who came with him to go and bring the book…He brought the book to him. The wise man opened it and saw written there thousands upon thousands of demon families. Then the [demon] king promised him that they would never harm his family. He commanded to be brought the portraits of every member of his family. Even when a new child would be born, they should immediately bring the child’s portrait, in order that no one from the wise man’s family would ever be harmed.

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Later on, when the wise man reached his time to pass on from the world, he called together his children and commanded them, saying: “I leave you with this book. You see that I have the power to use the book in holiness, and nevertheless I do not use it.

I simply put my trust in the Lord, may He be blessed. Neither should you use it. Even if there be among you one who is able to use it in holiness, even so, do not use it, and rather trust in the Lord.”

He passed away, and the book was handed down. It came to his grandson, who had the power to use it in holiness, but head faith in the Lord, may He be blessed, and he did not use it, as the wise man had commanded.

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The gossipers [amongst the demons] tried to tempt the grandson:

“Seeing that you have mature daughters and you can neither support them nor marry them off, make use of the book.” He did not know that that [the demon gossipers] were trying to tempt him, and he thought that his own heart was advising him thus.

He then travelled to the grave of his ancestor, and asked him:

“You commanded in your will that we not use the book, and instead have faith in the Lord, but now my heart is drawing me to use it.” The deceased wise man answered him, “Even though you have the power to use the book in holiness, better that you have faith in the Lord and not use it, and the Lord will help you.”

And so he did.

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Ad kan, from The Cripple.

Remember what the Baal Shem Tov said:

The book Shivchei HaBaal Shem Tov relates that the Baal Shem Tov hid his writings in a stone in the mountain, and quotes the reprover of Polonne who stated in his old age that although he was capable of retrieving the writings, as he was aware of their location, he did not wish to go against the wishes of the Baal Shem Tov.

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Such a pity, that there were other ‘tzaddikim’ that thought they knew better.