Books of Jacob | II. Book of Sand, Chapter 5
"can those without the sixth sense be merely bewildered by mystical souls"
And just as a man born blind knows not what light might be, or a deaf man music, or a man without a sense of smell the plenitude of flowers, so, too, can those without the sixth sense be merely bewildered by mystical souls, take them for madmen, for fanatics, for people who make up such things for reasons unknown. ”
(Nahman, Scraps) Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob, II. Sand, Chapter 5, p. 859
In Chapter 5, Jacob’s story leaves the fog and enters the sand. Or does the sand run through our fingers as we hold the book? What do you think the symbol of sand represents?
Most of this chapter is narrated through the eyes of Nahman Samuel ben Levi of Busk (referred to mostly as Nahman). He writes his account of Jacob’s life and his own spiritual journey. He recalls the longing for relief from persecution among the Jews of Poland-Lithuania that supported belief in the messianic visions of Sabbatai Tzvi.
At the age of 16, Nahman became the student of a great religious teacher, the Baal Shem Tov (abbreviated as Besht) who teaches in Międzybóż (Medzhybizh). Nahman devotes himself to this strand of Jewish mysticism, and forms a bond with his teacher Mordechai, Reb Mordke. After his father’s death, Nahman returns to Busk, where he became the local Rabbi. He fathers a son with Leah, and has mystical visions of the artificial world of appearances and the deeper world. These visions convince him that “suffering is the true substance of the world” (p. 854).
Later Nahman reunites with Mordechai who has strayed from the orthodox teachings of the Besht. He has come to believe in the Messianism of Sabbatai Tzvi, and that “The Messiah will be internally good, but he will be clothed in evil” (p. 851). Both Mordechai and Nahman are psychologically and religiously prepared to become believers in Jacob Frank.
“The Messiah will come quietly when the world is submerged in the greatest darkness and the greatest misery, in evil and in suffering. He will be treated like a criminal. So the prophets have foretold.”
The Books of Jacob, p. 850
The Book of Sand introduces Jewish mysticism and messianic traditions, including major teachers, such as Ba’al Shem Tov, and heretics, such as Sabbatai Tzvi and Jacob Frank.
Kabbalah is a tradition of esoteric Jewish Mysticism. Believers perceive a hidden, spiritual world that lies beyond the physical world. This hermetic world can be accessed through meditation and study. The term Kabbalah is derived from the Hebrew root “k-b-l” which means “to receive.” The term implies that Kabbalah is a way of receiving information from a hidden spiritual realm.
In her “Note on Sources” Tokarczuk refers to the “foundational reading that then organized all other study of subjects connected to Judaism was of course Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism” (p. 6). You may want to read Scholem for deep understanding of Jewish mysticism and messianic traditions. If you have an hour, you can listen to Gershom Scholem himself deliver a lecture, “What is Jewish Mysticism?”
For paid subscribers below I have some more notes to enrich your Slow Read.
chat question - about Jewish Mysticism.
character, Nahman - another minor historical figure who Tokarczuk reinvents as a major fictional character
context - the founder of Hasidic Judaism, Israel Ba’al Shem Tov (BeSh’T) who also appears as a character in The Books of Jacob
If you have not already done so, please upgrade your subscription, and read on to get more from your Slow Read of The Books of Jacob.