Jewish Self-Hate
Theodor Lessing, "Jewish Self-Hate"
English | ISBN: 1789209927 | 2021 | 186 pages | PDF | 755 KB
English | ISBN: 1789209927 | 2021 | 186 pages | PDF | 755 KB
A seminal text in Jewish thought accessible to English readers for the first time.
The diagnosis of Jewish self-hatred has become almost commonplace in contemporary cultural and political debates, but the concept’s origins are not widely appreciated. In its modern form, it received its earliest and fullest expression in Theodor Lessing’s 1930 book Der jüdische Selbsthaß.
Written on the eve of Hitler’s ascent to power, Lessing’s hotly contested work has been variously read as a defense of the Weimar Republic, a platform for anti-Weimar sentiments, an attack on psychoanalysis, an inspirational personal guide, and a Zionist broadside.
“The truthful translation by Peter Appelbaum, including Lessing’s own footnotes, manages to make this book more readable than the German original. Two essays by Sander Gilman and Paul Reitter provide context and the wisdom of hindsight.”―Frank Mecklenburg, Leo Baeck Institute
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