REJECTING SPINOZA's CELEBRATION Although Weimar

CHAPTER FIVE

REJECTING SPINOZA’S CELEBRATION

Although Weimar Jews from almost all denominations united in their celebration of Spinoza, there were a few who remained on the side, or, in some cases, chose to fiercely oppose them. These may be divided into two groups: the orthodox Jews for whom the Era of Emancipa- tion had passed by without believing that it resulted in a fundamental change in the exiled state of Jews and a group of intellectual indi- viduals who were prominent for their ground-breaking philosophical and historical work, but who were very limited in number. They all paired their indignation of Jews celebrating Spinoza with expressions of amazement. Thus they testified to the prominence of Spinoza’s celebrations, as well as their limits.

Orthodox Opposition

The orthodox Jews had not thought that the developments of modern Jewish history, such as the emergence of the haskalah movement or the Jewish emancipation, necessitated an adjustment of Jewish Law or ritual. On the contrary they considered all reform of Jewish Law heretical, not to speak of the notion of a secular Jewish identity. Con- sequently, their view of Judaism did not allow them to accept Spinoza’s philosophy. They considered him simply a heretic, who deserved, most of all, to be forgotten. The Jewish Spinoza celebrations were too mas- sive, however, for them to ignore. In spite of their reluctance, in some of their newspapers Spinoza’s anniversaries were discussed, albeit to express revulsion of how these anniversaries had brought to light the extent of Jewish erring. Both in 1927 and in 1932 the main newspaper of German Jewish Orthodoxy, der Israelit, published an article against Jewish participation in the Spinoza celebrations, in 1927 even on its front page.1

1 “Baruch Spinoza, Zur 250. Wiederkehr seines Todestages”, Der Israelit 68, no. 8 (1927); “Spinoza-Jubiläen”, Der Israelit 73, no. 49 (1932). Both articles are practically 184 chapter five

The orthodox criticism of the way Spinoza was admired and celebrated reflected the issues of social alignments, ethical values, and the perception of history to which Spinoza offered an answer for to so many Jews, now, of course, as arguments against the celebration of Spinoza. To begin, the orthodox took issue with the idea that Spinoza could in any way be claimed for Judaism. The anonymous author of one of the articles in der Israelit castigated Jews who celebrated Spi- noza for behaving in a non-Jewish manner. He put on its head the so often repeated argument that Spinoza influence on other thinkers proved his greatness and entitled him to Jewish admiration writing: “Je höher man (. . .). die Einwirkungen der spinozistischen Philosophie auf die Geistesgeschichte der Menschheit einschätzt, desto gerechtfer- tigter erscheint objektiv die Härte der Amsterdammer Rabbinen.” (The higher one estimates the influence of Spinozist philosophy on the cul- tural history of humanity, the more justified appears, objectively, the toughness of the rabbis from Amsterdam) For this orthodox author, Spinoza’s influence in the non-Jewish world only proved his point that Spinoza was not to be considered a Jew. The reproach of assimilation is stated even more strongly in another Orthodox newspaper, Die Jüdische Presse. This paper regretted that all of the Jewish world, “[a]lle Schattierungen, ob liberal, ob konservativ, ob zionistisch oder nicht” (all denominations, whether Liberal, Con- servative or Zionist or nothing) celebrated Spinoza as a Jew. Indeed, according to Die Jüdische Presse, it was clear that Spinoza, whom it named an atheist Pantheist, could never be considered a Jew. The paper even dared to compare the Jews who celebrated Spinoza to the anti-Semite Mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger, who, had once said “Wer ein Jude ist, das bestimme ich!” (I decide who is a Jew!).2 Referring to those celebrating Spinoza for his influence on German culture,Die jüdische Presse commented sarcastically: “Erst wenn die nichtjüdische Außenwelt den Mann anerkennt, beginnt auch die jüdische Welt auf- merksam zu werden” (Only when the non-Jewish world recognizes the man, the Jewish world becomes attentive). In short, for these newspapers, the whole Jewish celebration of Spinoza was an embarrassing example of Jewish assimilation.

the same. Indeed, the article of 1932 is largely based on that of 1927, of which it copied large sections. 2 Espe., “Spinoza als “Jude”, Jüdische Presse, Organ für die Interessen des Ortho- doxen Judentums 18, no. 47 (1932).