Freud's Moses: Judaism Terminable and Interminable

by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi

This remarkable book provides fascinating new insights into Freud's intentions in writing Moses and Monotheism-his only work specifically devoted to a Jewish theme. Yerushalmi presents the work as Freud's psychoanalytic history of the Jews, Judaism, and the Jewish psyche-his attempt, under the shadow of Nazism, to discover what has made the Jews what they are. In the process, Yerushalmi's eloquent and sensitive exploration of Freud's controversial final work provides a reappraisal of Freud's feelings toward his own Judaism.

Genres: Judaism, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Jewish

191 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 1991

About the author

Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (May 20, 1932 – December 8, 2009) was the Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society at Columbia University, a position he held from 1980 to 2008 (from wikipedia)

Reviews

[alex angelosanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

a short but deep look into Freud's later works, particularly Totem and Taboo, Civilization and Its Discontents, and their relation to his final work-Moses and Monotheism. Freud's theory that cultures are like a body and pass down repressed trauma is intriguing. While a lot of it at large feels fanciful, there does seem to be some truth it is gesturing towards.

Obviously the historical evidence Frued relies on and extrapolates on in Moses and Monotheism is nearly nonexistent. It goes as such: Monotheism was first realized by the Ancient Egyptians, but then suppressed by their own priests. One of the monotheistic priests, Moses, fled Egypt and took the Hebrews with him, and instead taught them the theology of Monotheism. At some point in the desert, the Hebrews killed Moses and returned to polytheism, while the prophets would return, like the return of the repressed, to call the Jewish people back to Monotheism.

It is one of the books that is easy to point to to explain why Freud should be discredited. The abandon that he takes with even the scholarship of the time feels egregious, and yet under that, beneath the soil of fact, Freud is adamant there is something to be learned. The old cliche from Aristotle that "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" is worth unpacking. Maybe not just a call for liberal tolerance, there is something to be gained from following where our ideas lead us. Freud added nothing to the understanding of biblical history, but he is getting at why are we magnetized to this story. What pulls us towards it, what pulled him towards the story of Moses, and in turn what does that mean for Frued, as a Jew, and as a founder of Psychoanalysis.

Yerushalmi does a great job placing Freud's final work in dialogue with the rest of his work and life. Moses and Monotheism is a looking back, a survey of the founding text of Judaism used as a sideways look at the life of Freud, the school of Psychoanalysis, being a Jew in Europe, and being a human alive in the 20th century. Like Moses, Freud is the collector of a long inheritance and lawgiver, and this book suggests that maybe even broken tablets contain some wisdom

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always a challenge for me to rate the books on my "Lord help me I'm just not that bright" shelf. This is an academic book. It sometimes felt dry or turgid. I really had to concentrate on every page; when I found myself skimming, I had to force myself to go back so as not to lose my connection with the book. And this happened a lot.

But I still had to give it five stars. It was so impressive. It may sound paradoxical to say that this was a challenging read and that the writing was great, but both were true. So intelligent, so interesting. And though it's hard to give over a sense of the overarching thesis (and I probably won't do great job), I still feel like I got a lot out of it.

Apparently Freud's final book (which we never discussed in graduate school) was a departure from his usual writings, a historical book called Moses and Monotheism which offered a revisionist and psychoanalytic perspective on Moses and the Jews. According to Freud, the Jews didn't invent monotheism -- the Egyptians did. Moses wasn't Jewish; he was actually an Egyptian prince who ended up leading the downtrodden Hebrew tribe out of Egypt and teaching them the monotheistic religion. The Jews subsequently murdered Moses in the desert and returned to their polytheistic lifestyle, only to re-embrace monotheism later on. This was a kind of oedipal situation where the Jews murdered Moses as their father figure but later ended up identifying with his teachings (monotheism).

Yerushalmi uses Freud's book as a springboard for exploring Freud's Jewish background and attitudes, particularly his Jewishness growing up and his public and private personae vis a vis his Jewish identity. Yerushalmi brings evidence to suggest that Freud's upbringing was more religious than he admitted, and that Freud's conflicted feelings about his Jewish identity may have been misunderstood by other historians. I don't know whether this would interest everyone, but it was fascinating to me as a Jewish psychologist. I was particularly touched when I read about Freud's father's giving him a Bible for his 35th birthday with a Hebrew inscription begging him to return to Torah study.

Like I said, between the academic writing and the topic, this book probably won't interest everyone. The woman who recommended it to me described it as being "like candy." I have to admit that as I read it I was thinking, well, maybe jawbreakers. Definitely not M & Ms. But if this review doesn't scare you off and it sounds like something that would interest you, by all means give it a try. I should mention that although it is dense, it's not long -- about 100 pages. Not nearly as intimidating as the Moses Mendelssohn book.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stimulating lectures about Freud's book on Moses and monotheism. A probe into Freud's thinking about his own Jewishness. The author addresses Freud:
"Nevertheless, the very fact that you chose to take your stand upon the reality of an archaic unconscious inheritance forged out of the historical experience of our ancestors and transmitted 'independently of direct communication and education by example' is for me of superlative interest. I am convinced that you really believed it; it can be traced from at least the Fliess period to the end of your life. But I am almost equally persuaded that it also served a powerful inner personal need. For if a 'national character' can indeed be transmitted 'independently of direct communication and education by example,' then that means that 'Jewishness' can be transmitted independently of 'Judaism' that t(;he former is interminable even if the latter be terminated. And thus the puzzle that so plagued you about your own Jewish identity would seem to be resolved...." p.90
Jacob Freud present his 35 year old son Sigmund with the family bible, rebound with a Hebrew inscription written entirely in melitzah. (melitzah is a mosaic of fragments and phrases from the Hebrew bible as well as from rabbinic literature or lthe liturgy fitted together to form a new statement of what the author wishes to express at the moment." p. 71

[Garth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Yom Kippur read; last part felt repetitive and unnecessary. Interesting insights to Freud's Jewish identity though.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I have come to expect from Yosef Yerushalmi, this book is learned and fascinating but it is his final chapter that shows what motivated him to write this and makes this an exceptionally fine book.

[Joe Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating as history, remarkable as archivology, vital for Derridean philosophy.