Spinoza der Hebrer

Text in German. The work of Baruch de Spinoza (16321677) experienced a changeable and complex reception. Ostracized as a heretic during his lifetime, the Dutch philosopher was finally rediscovered as a radical early enlightener and pioneer of modern secularism. Since the emancipation period, Spinoza, who after his banishment from the Amsterdam community broke away from Judaism without accepting the Christian faith, represented a figure of identification for Jewish scholars and intellectuals. In his essay on the appropriation of Spinoza in Zionist and Israeli memory, Jan Eike Dunkhase illuminates an aspect of its history that has hardly been taken into account. In doing so, he draws an arc from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, from the 17th century to the present day. Thinkers like Moses Hess and historians like Heinrich Graetz are taken into account as well as Zionists from Eastern Europe: Joseph Klausner, Nachum Sokolow and David Ben-Gurion. Special attention is paid to the Hebrew work translations - the basis for creative engagement with the early modern philosopher in modern Israeli culture. The genealogy of the memorial figure Spinoza the Hebrews opens up a perspective on the history of ideas on the tension between Jewish affiliation and the secular self-image in Israel.