Franz Rosenzweig is known as a
Baar Teshuva, one who has repented and turned to God. Soon after his death in 1929, a legendary story about his conversion developed, which gave him a sort of halo among many. A young, bourgeois, academic Jew, acculturated to German culture, had almost forgotten his Jewish identity and was, through the urging of friends, on the verge of converting to Christianity. He found his way back to Judaism after visiting a synagogue on the Day of Atonement. After this experience he became a deeply observant Jew and led other assimilated Jews back to their Jewish roots. Thus goes the story.
Although this account is well-known and cherished, the facts are still uncertain. Scholars have doubted if the received story describes what really had happened, but a thorough examination had never been carried out, because there seemed to be too little material to work with. However, the American scholar Benjamin Pollock has recently demonstrated, using unpublished material, that the events concerning the conversion are better understood through a careful reading of Rosenzweig's texts and claims that the traditional version must be revised.
Building on Pollock's work, this essay examines the texts deeply, revealing what changed and what stayed the same in Rosenzweig's thought before and after the conversion event, thus analyzing how it affected the development of his philosophy. The essay takes issue with Pollock's identification of Rosenzweig's earlier theological position with Marcionism, and shows that it was the problem of sin committed by human individuals and redeemed by God that drove Rosenzweig's concern and is the key to understanding the conversion event.
抄録全体を表示