Spring 2000 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies
Nietzsche and Objectivism

Unit Four: April 17 - May 14

Michelle Fram-Cohen
on Friedrich Nietzsche and Jewish Writer (not only Ayn Rand)

To: TOC Cyberseminar <cybersem@objectivistcenter.org>

Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2000 7:17 AM

Subject: Cyberseminar: Nietzsche's influence on Jewish Writers

[From: MICHELLE COHEN ]

Nietzsche's influence on Jewish Writers


I think the ongoing debate on the Cyberseminar about whether Nietzsche was
anti-Semitic, whether his writings fueled the rise of National Socialism and
whether Rand was influenced by him can benefit from a comment I would like
to make about Nietzshce's influence on Jewish writers.

I think that the fact that Rand herself was Jewish makes it difficult for
some Objectivists to admit that the answer to the three questions posed
above is "Yes." It may be easy to face the three affirmatives when one keeps
in mind that Rand was not the only Jewish writer who was influenced by
Nietzsche in the early years of the 20th Century - when nobody could foresee
what Nietzshce's writings would lead to during World War II.

At the turn of the 19th Century, there was a renaissance of Jewish
Literature in Russia, mostly in the Ukraine. This renaissance was a part of
the rise of Jewish Nationalism and the establishment of the Zionist
movement. The Jewish writers strove to break away from their Orthodox
background and to live a secular, earthly life. As pointed out by Chris
Sciabarra, it was the time of "The Silver Age" and the Jewish writers were
no different from the rest of the Russians in their admiration for
Nietzsche.

Some of these writers went to study in Germany, where they became completely
absorbed in Nietzsche's ideas. One of them was Micah Joseph Berdyczewski,
who received a PhD in philosophy from Bern University in 1896. In his short
stories, Berdyczewski described the passions and urges of the Orthodox Jews.
His purpose, in his words, was "to show that we were Jewish, but also flesh
and blood."

The Jewish writers, in Germany and back in Russia, had no problem applying
Nietzsche's ideas to their vision of a Jewish revival. In their poetry,
short stories and plays, they castigated the excessive spirituality of
Judaism and extolled the bravery of the Biblical Jewish heroes, whom they
called upon their readers to emulate. Some of them even idolized Paganism
and Hellenism, to which they were introduced through Nietzsche's writings.
Foremost among these was the poet Saul Tchernichowski. My translation of his
Hellenic poem "The Statue" can be found at:
http://www.monadnock.net/translations/tchern_statue.html
In his poetry, Tchernichowski followed Nietzsche all the way in his disdain
for reason, technology, urbanization and commerce. Here are two quotes from
his poem "On the Blood:" (Translated by L. Bernard)

"Glibly we praise our 'Reason' - the false light
that lulls our spirit to forget its plight."

"With boundaries, rules and laws do we acquire
civilized theories, crass and erudite."

The Jewish writers borrowed from Nietzsche the idea of the Masters, but not
of the Slaves. They did not write about the subordination of a lower caste
by a higher caste. Their benevolent version of Nietzsche's ideas can be
applied to Rand as well. She attempted to take from his writings the parts
which inspired her while rejecting the rest. When she was writing "The
Fountainhead," World War II already broke out. Perhaps this was why she
hesitated so much about using Nietzsche's quotations in her book and finally
decided against it.

********************************
Michelle Fram-Cohen

Resources:
----------
"The Flowering of Modern Hebrew Literature," by Menachem Ribalow, Twayne
Publishers, New York, 1959.

"Saul Tchernichowski, Poet of Revolt," by Eisig Silberschlaag, Cornell
University Press, Ithaca, 1968.


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Spring 2000 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies

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