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Cohen, Carl : FRANZ ROSENZWEIG (IN CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM VOL. VIII, NO. 1 NOVEMBER 1951)

New York: Rabbinical Assembly Of America, 1951

Serial, 8vo. , 31 pages. Essay on pages 1-13 on Rosenzweig, including sections on his education, his philosophy, religious crisis, Judaism and Metaphysics, and role as an educator. Rosenzweig, the renowned German Jewish philosopher, “was born in Kassel, Germany, the only son of well-to-do parents. His father Georg financially supported many charity institutions, including the Jewish community, but the family's adherence to Judaism was minimal. In his youth, Franz came under the influence of his great-uncle, Adam Rosenzweig, a bachelor, an artist and a learned Jew, who lived in the Rosenzweig home and spent many hours with Franz. Through him the young boy learned of the Jewish world in an otherwise assimilated milieu. Unlike the rest of his family, Rosenzweig fasted on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and also took private Hebrew lessons…In 1909, Rosenzweig tended towards assimilation, and justified the conversion of his cousin Hans Ehrenberg to Christianity. He did not see the advantage that Judaism could have over Christianity, the dominant culture, which would also help him obtain a teaching position, almost impossible for a Jew to get. Another cousin and friend, Rudolf Ehrenberg was already born a Christian. Eugen Rosenstock , a Jewish convert to Christianity, became Rosenzweig's closest friend. Rosenstock, who would become an important nonconformist Protestant theologian, repeatedly urged him to abandon what he considered Rosenzweig's merely nominal Judaism and to convert. After months of deep conversations, and especially the catastrophic conversation with Rosenstock during the night of July 7, 1913, Rosenzweig decided to convert. But he then made the condition, to convert not "as a pagan, " but "as a Jew. " All this led to a crisis and almost to suicide. He left his converted friends for a few years and refrained from having any contact with them. In the same year, on Yom Kippur of 1913, he attended in Berlin the synagogue of Rabbi Petuchowski and felt a profound identification with the praying Jewish community. After a few days he wrote his friends, "I shall remain a Jew. " He then reshaped his life, rethought his identity, and devoted his further life to a sincere return to Judaism, moving from the periphery of Jewish life to its center. ” (Meir, Horwitz, EJ, 2007) . Also includes an article on prayer, and on Professor Louis Ginzberg. Cover slightly tanned. Very good condition. (RAB-36-6)

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