Matthias Morgenstern (Tübingen, Germany)

Martin Luther and the Kabbalah

In the 16^th century, speculations on the meaning of the Jewish name of God became the starting point of interest in the Kabbalah, which was controversial in Christian theology. In 1513, during the Reuchlin debate, Martin Luther sided with the Humanists who wanted to protect Jewish books from burning. But in his book Vom Schem Hamephorasch (On the Shem Hamephorash), published in 1543, he refused the premise of Kabbalistic speculations. This book shows at the same time, surprisingly, that Luther himself was very well-informed about the Kabbalah and Kabbalistic hermeneutics. Furthermore, this book about Jews includes information about the Jewish traditions which can be pursued up to the 20^th century.

 

Gianfranco Miletto (Halle/Saale-Wittenberg, Germany)

The Hebraic Studies in Wittenberg (1502-1813). Andreas Sennert (1606-1689), Theodor Dassov (1648-1721) and Christoph Wichmannshausen (1663-1729)

The beginnings of the study of the Hebrew language in Wittenberg go back to the very first years of the university’s establishment and are associated with the initiatives of several scholars dealing with humanistic studies at the time. In developing the study of three ancient languages, in keeping with the ideal of a complete humanistic erudition (›homo trilinguis‹), Wittenberg perceived an opportunity to carve out a niche of excellence for itself vis-à-vis the older universities. By introducing instruction in Hebrew along with Greek and Latin, the newly founded Leucorea sought to distinguish itself as a model for all other universities in Germany.

This paper traces the important steps of the history of the study of Hebrew language in Wittenberg and the progressive widening of the teaching to rabbinic literature by sketching out the curricula of three outstanding professors: Andreas Sennert, Theodor Dassov and Christoph Wichmannshausen.

 

Haim Mahlev (Berlin, Germany)

A Jewish Luther? Spinoza in Berthold Auerbach’s Spinoza

My talk will examine the mechanism behind the seemingly positive correlation between Spinoza and Luther in Berthold Auerbach’s Spinoza. I would argue that in Auerbach’s view, Spinoza’s role as a reformer of Judaism is closely tied to that of Luther’s: both thinkers reform their respective religion in a way that grants empirical reason precedence over revelation. But now it is Judaism that must learn from its big sister. In order to do so, two ›twists‹ had to take place: firstly, the Jewish religion had to be freed from its negative image as irrational, and secondly, the narrative of knowledge transmission had to be inverted: instead of the Jewish religion serving as ancient wisdom, it is Lutheranism that re-establishes Christianity as a philosophical religion, with Judaism following suit.

 

Mordechai Zalkin (Beer-Scheva, Israel)

Sola [Enlightened] Scriptura. The Cultural Impact of the Reformation on the Enlightened Jewish Education Thought in 19^th Century Eastern Europe

Since the beginning of the 19^th century, a new Jewish education system was established in various cities in Eastern Europe. Behind this initiative was a group of young Jewish intellectuals that adopted the principles of the weltanschauung of the European enlightenment. Among other questions that they faced while shaping the principles of this new system was the question of authority. One of the major principles of contemporary traditional Jewish society was the demand for an absolute obedience to the rabbinic authorities. According to their understanding, however, the very essence of a human being is the right and the duty to shape his own world in accordance with their version of Emmanuel Kant’s call »Sapere aude«. While translating this abstract principle into a systematic educational program, they adopted the doctrine of ›Sola scriptura‹. In my presentation, I will discuss the long-term impact of this decision on the future character of modern Jewish education.

 

Libera Pisano (Hamburg, Germany)

The Roots of German Philosophy. Heinrich Heine’s Reading of Martin Luther

In this paper, I would like to analyse Heine’s interpretation of Martin Luther as a turning point in the history of German thought. My attempt is to delineate the way in which the figure of Luther has been used by Heine, through his controversial relationship with romanticism, as the key for a critical understanding of modernity. In his essay entitled Zur Geschichte der Religion und Philosophie in Deutschland, Heine sheds light on the political and philosophical consequences of the Protestantism, seen as an epochal revolution. In fact, on the one hand, according to Heine’s teleological conception of history, Luther’s attack to the hegemony of catholic spiritualism had a pivotal role in the creation of a positive national identity through a political emancipation; on the other hand, Luther’s translation of the Bible marks the divide in the history of German language by preparing the way for the birth of German literature and for the beginning of German philosophy as well.

 

Guido Bartolucci (Arcavacata di Rende, Italy)

Jewish Thought vs. Lutheran Aristotelism. Johannes Frischmuth (1619-1687), Jewish Philosophy and the Principle of Non-Contradiction

From the mid-seventeenth century, German Lutheran scholars, such as Herman Conring, Michael Wendler, Johannes Vorst and Johannes Frischmuth, published a number of treatises on Jewish tradition. These works were not composed because of an antiquarian interest in understanding the history and life of the Jews. On the contrary they challenged the idea (mainly Calvinist) that Jewish wisdom has played a key-role in building the European philosophical and political heritage. The paper aims to point out the way the Lutheran Hebraist, Johannes Frischmuth (professor of Hebrew at the University of Jena) developed his criticism of the Jewish thought. One of his main argument is that Jewish tradition did not respect the Aristotelian principle of non-contradiction, and thus he promoted the idea of the irreconcilability of Judaism with the Western tradition.