Jacob Frank

Jacob Joseph Frank was a Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) and also of the biblical patriarch Jacob. The religious authorities of the Jewish community excommunicated Frank and his followers due to his heretical doctrines that included deification of himself as a part of a trinity and other controversial concepts such as neo-Carpocratian "purification through transgression". Frank’s teachings led his sect into scandalous practices, including ritualized orgies, incestuous acts - most notably between fathers and daughters - and the deliberate violation of Jewish moral laws, which he preached were necessary to hasten a messianic redemption through embracing the "abyss" of sin.