Franz Rosenzweig’s Attitude towards the Law and the Mitzvah The Binding of Isaac as a Psychotheological Case Study

Abstract

Franz Rosenzweig’s references to Sigmund Freud in his diaries and letters are not extensive. However, they are exceptional in the intellectual landscape of Jewish religious philosophy at the beginning of the twentieth century. Based on these references, this article presents a Psy-chotheological reading of the Binding of Isaac. This interpretation treats the rabbinic account of Abraham’s childhood in Genesis Rabbah 38:13 as an unconscious layer of the biblical narrative. The demand to take his son and offer him as a burnt offering (Genesis 22:2) is understood as stemming from Abraham’s superego, which includes the internalized father’s law (Terach, his father, and Nimrod, the father symbol in the culture into which Abraham was born). The actual revelation, however, is the liberation from the phantasmatic demands and sanctions of the superego, which suspends the individual’s moral relationship to the world. This is exemplified by Abraham’s resolution not to proceed with the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen-esis 22:12). The preceding interpretation provides a framework for examining the relationship between commandment (mitzvah) and law in The Star of Redemption. According to Rosenzweig, the revelation of the divine commandment of love softens the rigidity of the law while maintaining its relevance and importance in providing orientation for the individual’s daily life.