The Books of Jacob

Count Antoni Kossakowski sails to Develiki, appreciating the warm weather of Mount Athos in contrast to the cold of his native Russia. Reflecting on sin and religion, he stays in an inn run by “a woman everyone calls Irena or simply Mother” (709). Everyone else at the inn appears to be a man; Irena’s servants, the Count notices, are castrated men and he begins to doubt whether Irena is female. Each day, he is given prayers to say by the local monks. Though he devotes himself to the prayers, he becomes disillusioned with religion in general. He takes the first ship available and travels to Smyrna. There, he earns “decent money” (706) and spends lavishly, feeling as though he has become someone new. He becomes intrigued by the local Jewish scholars, such as Nahman.

Eventually, he falls in love with a Christian woman, and they run away together. Their romance is short-lived, and he loses both the woman and his savings. When he returns to Smyrna, someone has been hired for his old job and the scholars like Nahman have departed. He goes to Greece and feels “frighteningly lonely” (703), convinced that his life has reached its natural conclusion.

Antoni Kossakowski, now calling himself Moliwda, meets Jacob in Craiova in 1753. He is drawn to the town by an urge to see “this holy fool the Jews keep talking about” (702). While studying this captivating but unsettling man, he recognizes Nahman and Mordechai sitting beside Jacob. He speaks warmly with his old acquaintances. After Jacob is done speaking, he leads his “raucous group of young men” (700) into the town.

Moliwda grew up in Poland, but he has been away from his homeland for so long that he struggles to remember his native tongue. He was born to a wealthy family and taken in by his uncle, who sent him to a chancellery to be educated. However, he was kicked out and sent to live with his mother’s family to be taught how to run the small estate. He had a love affair with a peasant Jewish woman named Malka. She became pregnant; they eloped but their marriage was doomed because they “represented two types of people” (696). They tried to set up a home together but were soon forced to move to Lithuania.

Moliwda visits Jacob regularly and talks with Mordechai and Nahman. They discuss religion and philosophy. Nahman asks Moliwda if he is a spy “in the service of the sultan” (691), which Moliwda does not deny. While traveling, Jacob tells a story about an “extraordinary ring” (690). Moliwda takes his companions to the small village where he was born. In the communal village, everything is shared, and “everyone [is] equal” (685). The small society fascinates Nahman who, while traveling back to Poland, wonders whether he might be able to bring certain egalitarian ideas to his homeland. 

Abraham complains to Tovah that Jacob is “ill-suited to shop life” (683). He explains that Jacob has left the shop, stealing several items as a severance payment, and has taken a group of followers to visit the grave of Nathan of Gaza.

Nahman returns from Poland and, as he travels with Nussen, begins to hear rumors about “some new holy man“ (682) who is performing incredible feats and miracles, though some suspect that he is a conman. They learn that this holy man is actually Jacob and they record every rumor about him. When they catch up to Jacob‘s caravan of followers, they discover that it is populated by marginalized people such as runaways, vagabonds, and people “who will never have a place to hang their hats“ (680). Nahman worries that Jacob has suffered in his absence; while laying with his wife, he had thought only about Jacob, instead of their children who were “born frail and quickly died“ (679).

Jacob leads his followers to Salonika to meet with Konio, the son of Baruchiah, who inherited the mantle of Messiah from Sabbatai Tzvi. After challenging the rival, Jacob loudly declares that Baruchiah is “the Antichrist” (677). Nahman is increasingly embarrassed by Jacob’s confrontational attitude. Mordechai recommends that they give up on trading and live solely on alms while dedicating their lives to religious study, as Jacob is opening his own school.

Jacob suffers from a seizure and Mordechai interprets his jumbled words as the phrase “Our Lord descends” (674). Jacob’s seizure is interpreted as a prophetic vision. As Jacob’s school becomes more popular, “followers of Konio” (672) attack his congregation and the local people ostracize Jacob and his entourage. The school is forced to close and Jacob’s followers are left begging for food. The deprivation hardens them, according to Nahman. Jacob’s increased paranoia is justified when Konio’s followers attempt to buy him off and then to assassinate him, killing a Greek student instead.

Just as Jacob and his followers are ready to flee Salonika, Jacob falls ill. A healing woman explains that he is “molting like a snake” (669) and, after bathing miraculously in the sea, Jacob recovers. The group returns to Smyrna. During a terrible sea crossing, Nahman is afraid, and Jacob relieves the others’ fear by goading Nahman into making a series of outlandish promises in exchange for survival. Nahman swears to God that he will “never leave [Jacob]” (665).

In Smyrna, Jacob sets up his home with Hana and his newborn daughter. Nahman talks often with Isohar about Jacob’s apparent divinity. Jacob has a prophetic dream, which the group interprets to say that he should go to Poland. The men set off and plan for Hana and the newborn to join them at a later date.