The death of God in the thought of Richard L Rubenstein
Date
2015-06-24
Authors
Hellig, Jocelyn Louise
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
No contemporary Jewish theology can be meaningful i f i t ignores the
two d e c isiv e w atershed events fo r tw entieth century Ju d a ier, namely,
the H olocaust and the re-estab lish m en t o f the S ta te of I s r a e l. Richard
L. R ubeustein'a theology is rooted in th ese two k a iro i. In addition to
th is , h is theology is highly su b jectiv e and the o rig in s of traumas in
h is own l i f e are seen to be re fle c te d in those of the l i f e o f h is people
For th is reason, d e ta ils of h is l i f e and work are presented in the
in tro d u c tio n to t h is th e s is .
With th e Holocaust as h is focus and point of d ep artu re, Rubenstein has
declared the death o f the God-who—a c ts -in -h is to ry . He was unable to
rec o n cile the Nazi attem pt a t Judenvevnichtung with the existence of the
tr a d itio n a l God of theism who chose I s r a e l and who a cts purposefully in
h is to ry .
His m ajor statem ent of the nineteen s ix tie s was se t out in A fte r
A ueohvits. D espite the death of the tra d itio n a l God of theism,*he
in s is te d on observance of tra d itio n a l Jewish r i t u a l , p a rtic u la rly
p r ie s tly r i t u a l , fo r the attainm ent of au th en tic Jewish selfhood.
Two c e n tra l m otivations fo r both the re je c tio n of the tra d itio n a l God
of theism and fo r the re te n tio n of r i t u a l , were h is in siste n c e on the
capacity of the ir r a tio n a l to move men, and the b e lie f in the c e n tra lity
of g u i lt fe e lin g s in men.
L ife was seen as bracketed between two o b liv io n s. His theology was
devoid o f e sch ato lo g ical hope. A God-concept remained in th e form of
Holy Nothingness o r the cannibal Earth Mother. Je was deeply influenced
by Freud and the E x is te n t ia li s ts .
Great s tr e s s was placed on the ir r a tio n a l aspect of the Holocaust, and
C h ris tia n ity ’ s mythic stru c tu re which designated the Jew as d e ic id e ,
was seen as one of the potent causative fa c to rs fo r anti-Sem itism .
R ubenstein's c u rre n t thought has moved beyond the confines of the
Jewish im plications of the Holocaust to probe i t s wider im plicstiona
for the world. He now views the Holocaust in terms of 'c a lc u la tin g
r a tio n a lity ' as the culm ination of a ra d ic a l se c u la ris a tio n of
consciousness which he secs as having o rig in a te * in the B ible. His
concern is w ith a fu n c tio n a lly 'godless* world in which a Holocaust
could take p lac e. The Holocaust and other la rg e -sc a le massacres
are perceived in terms of b u re a u c ra tic a lly organised population
riddance in the face of th e in tra c ta b le problem of global population
redundancy.
The aim of th is th e s is i s to examin e and r e f le c t the progression of
Rubenetein* s thought from the nineteen s ix tie s to the present and to
evaluate h is theology as a v iab le way of l i f e fo r modern se c u la risin g
Jews.
Section One c o n s titu te s an attem pt to present Rubenetein's th eo lo g ical
and i n te lle c tu a l development. Chapters I I , IV, V and VI deal with
various asp ects o f h is thought such as h is views on s e c u la ris a tio n , on
man and r e lig io n , on God, eechatology and h is to ry , and on power. Chapter
I deals w ith the ro o ts o f s e c u la ris a tio n and the a th e is tic tren d in
modern th e o lo g ic a l thinking as a backdrop to R ubenstain's theology. An
excursus in to the psychoanalytic th eo ries of Freud was undertaken in
Chapter I I I because of the immense influence of Freud on Rubenetein's
e arly thought.
Section Two c o n s titu te s a c ritiq u e of R ubenetein's views in re la tio n
to o th er th e o lo g ic a l responses to the H olocaust. I t also examines the
v ia b ility of h is th e o lo g ica l proposals for a meaningful Jewish lif e
a fte r the H olocaust.
The conclusion of th is th e s is is th a t although the normative Jewish
theology of h is to ry shows the most au th en tic path fo r Jews to follow ,
R ubenstein's views of the nineteen s ix tie s c o n s titu te a meaningful
option fo r Jews who, a f t e r the Holocaust, are unable to re ta in b e lie f
in the th e i s t ic God of h is to ry . This was made p o ssib le by R ubenstein's
emphasis on the need fo r ongoing Jewish p ra c tic e . His cu rren t theology
is too p e ssim istic to o ffe r any r e a l is ti c options fo r continuing Jewish
l i f e . I t s main c o n trib u tio n is th a t i t gives us in sig h t in to the
possible causes of our w o rld 's m alaise in an attem pt to contain man's
d e stru ctiv e n ess.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
in fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Johannesburg 1982
Keywords
Judaism, Doctrines, Holocaust, Death, God