What is the Meaning of Frankist Sexual Antinomianism? | AJS Baltimore
at Association for Jewish Studies
Hilton Baltimore
Baltimore, MD
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At the Association for Jewish Studies Conference, Dr. Michaelson will be presenting a paper on sexual antinomianism in the Frankist movement.
Sexual antinomianism is the most notorious aspect of Frankism, in the eyes of both traditionalist critics and scholars. This sensationalistic and frequently moralistic assessment is of a piece with the general scholarly dismissal of the movement as well as with traditional heresiology, which often depicts heretics as sexually depraved. At the same time, sexuality and eros generally are central to Frankist thought, with at least five distinct meanings (Kabbalistic and Sabbatean concepts notably absent among them) that will be explored in this presentation.