have roused
the resentment of his co-religionist Emden, who denounced him as a
follower of the false Messiah and an exploiter of Christian credulity.

Falk [he wrote in a letter to Poland] had made his position by his
pretence to be an adept in practical Cabala, by which means he
professed to be able to discover hidden treasures; by his
pretensions he had entrapped a wealthy captain whose fortune he had
cheated him out of, so that he was reduced to depending on the
Rabbi's charity, and yet, despite this, wealthy Christians spend
their money on him, whilst Falk spends his bounty on the men of his
Brotherhood so that they may spread his fame.

In general Falk appears to have displayed extreme caution in his
relations with Christian seekers after occult knowledge, for the _Jewish
Encyclopaedia_ goes on to say: "Archenholz mentions a royal prince who
applied to Falk in his quest for the philosopher's stone, but was denied
admittance." Nevertheless Hayyum Azulai mentions (Ma'gal Tob, p. 13_b_):

That when in Paris in 1778 he was told by the Marchesa de Crona
that the Ba'al Shem of London had taught her the Cabala. Falk seems
also to have been on intimate terms with that strange adventurer
Baron Theodor de Neuhoff.... Falk's principal friends were the
London bankers Aaron Goldsmid and his son.[483] Pawnbroking and
successful speculation enabled him to acquire a considerable
fortune. He left large sums of money to charity, and the overseers
of the United Synagogue in London still distribute annually certain
payments left by him for the poor.

Nothing of all this would lead one to suppose that Falk could be
regarded in the light of a black magician; it is therefore surprising to
find Dr. Adler observing that a horrible account of a Jewish Cabalist in
_The Gentleman's Magazine_ for September 1762 "obviously refers to Dr.
Falk, though his name is not mentioned."[484] This man is described as
"a christened Jew and the biggest rogue and villain in all the world,"
who "had been imprisoned everywhere and banished out of all countries in
Germany, and also sometimes publicly whipped, so that his back lost all
the old skin, and became new again, and yet left never off from his
villainies, but grew always worse." The writer goes on to relate that
the Cabalist offered to teach him certain mysteries, but explained that
before entering on any "experimen