Harvot Tzurim (Swords of Flint), Jacob Joshua Falk, Frankfurt on Main: 29 August 1755

As part of the ongoing polemical struggle that pitted European Jewry against itself, in June of 1755, Jonathan Eybeschuetz published Luhot ha-Edut (see lot 133) in which he countered many of the allegations leveled at him by Jacob Joshua Falk and his other accusers. In the two years since Falk had publicly called for Eybeschuetz to be defrocked (see previous lot), Falk had suffered a great deal for his dogged attempts to force Eybeschuetz to present himself before a rabbinical court with Falk at its head. Forced from his rabbinic post, Falk left Frankfurt and wandered between Mannheim, Worms and Offenbach. Now, near the end of his life and no longer in public office, Falk responded with this scathing critique to Luhot ha-Edut, asserting that it was in and of itself further proof of Eybeschuetz' heresy. Falk went even further by assailing those rabbis who had supported Eybeschuetz, notwithstanding the latter's vindication by the Va'ad Arba'ah Aratzot (Council of Four Lands). Falk died in January of 1756, less than six months after this letter was written and printed, not having succeeded in forcing Eybeschuetz out of office. Nevertheless, the constant focus brought to bear by Falk and his allies on what they saw as a resurgence of the Sabbatian heresy as embodied in Jonathan Eybeshuetz, ensured the long term victory of mainstream Judaism over heterodoxy. As far as is known, the present broadsheet contains Falk's last public utterance regarding Eybeschuetz, and as such, serves as his enduring epitaph.

Though mentioned in the vast scholarly literature, no extant copies of the present broadsheet are recorded.