In recent weeks, a startling accusation has circulated online: that Judaism contains a hidden “doctrine of evil,” one that allegedly permits or even requires Jews to commit depraved acts to gain power or deny the existence of evil itself.
The claim originates with conservative commentator Candace Owens, who on December 9, 2025, told Russell Brand that Jews — including Israelis today — subscribe to a mystical ideology rooted in a centuries-old cult. According to Owens, this ideology explains everything from Sigmund Freud’s psychology to Israel’s war in Gaza.
The problem is that none of it is grounded in Jewish history, theology, or fact.
The Cult Owens Points to Was Rejected by Judaism
Owens’ theory hinges on the Sabbateans, a fringe sect that followed Sabbatai Zvi, a self-proclaimed Jewish messiah in the 1600s. Zvi’s movement collapsed after he converted to Islam — an act that led to his total rejection by rabbinic authorities and Jewish communities across the world.
Far from being absorbed into Judaism, Sabbateanism was excommunicated and ostracized.
In the 18th century, remnants of the cult resurfaced under Jacob Frank, whose followers later converted en masse to Catholicism. They abandoned Jewish law entirely and were absorbed into Polish and Bohemian Christian society. Their theology left no imprint on Judaism.
These movements were not controversial schools of Jewish thought. They were rejected outright.
Sabbateanism Is Not Jewish Mysticism
Despite this record, Owens described Sabbateanism as “Jewish mysticism,” a claim that collapses under basic scrutiny.
Jewish mysticism — Kabbalah — predates Sabbatai Zvi by centuries and forms the spiritual backbone of Hasidism. Hasidic leaders, including the Baal Shem Tov, actively fought Sabbatean ideas, particularly the notion of “redemption through sin.”
Rather than being a secret current within Judaism, Sabbateanism stood in direct opposition to Jewish law and belief.
Freud Was Not a Sabbatean — and Did Not Promote Incest
Owens also claimed that Sigmund Freud was a Sabbatean who endorsed incest as a tool to condition children into psychopathy.
There is no evidence for either claim.
Freud was a secular, atheist Jew who rejected religion entirely. While he was familiar with Jewish texts, he was not affiliated with Sabbateanism or any mystical sect.
More importantly, Freud never advocated incest. His early “seduction theory” explored whether childhood trauma, including incest, could explain neuroses — a hypothesis he later abandoned. His Oedipus theory was symbolic, not moral, and he explicitly condemned incest as socially destructive.
Freud himself wrote that incest must be abhorred by any society that wishes to survive.
Judaism Forbids the Very Acts Owens Attributes to Jews
At the center of Owens’ argument is the assertion that Judaism teaches a “doctrine of evil.”
It does not.
Jewish law explicitly commands that a Jew must give up his life rather than commit any of three cardinal sins: murder, incest, or idolatry. These prohibitions are foundational to Judaism and non-negotiable.
Judaism does not permit evil acts to gain power, advance socially, or prove philosophical claims. The behaviors Owens attributes to Jews are among the most strictly forbidden acts in Jewish law.
Gaza Is a War, Not a Metaphysical Ritual
Owens further claimed that Israel’s war in Gaza reflects this imagined doctrine.
In reality, Israel’s military campaign is a response to Hamas’ mass atrocity, in which terrorists raped and murdered 1,200 men, women, and children. It is a conventional war against Hamas, not a religious or mystical exercise.
Framing a modern armed conflict as a secret theological ritual replaces reality with conspiracy.
The Reality Behind the Rhetoric
Taken together, Owens’ claims invert the historical and moral record.
The Sabbateans were a fringe cult rejected by Judaism. Jewish mysticism is not Sabbateanism. Sigmund Freud was not a Sabbatean and condemned incest. Jewish law strictly forbids the acts Owens claims Jews embrace.
What is presented as hidden truth is, in fact, a recycled antisemitic fantasy — one that misrepresents Jewish belief, distorts history, and falsely maligns Israel in the process.
