Modern Judaism

In the winter of 1888, the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov conceived the idea of writing an orchestral composition on the subject of certain episodes fromScheherazade. Thus came to be perhaps the best known of Rimsky-Korsakov’s many works, the musical rendition of the exotic tales spun by the sultana, Scheherazade. Her stories succeed in arousing the curiosity of the sultan, who eventually abandons his sanguinary design of executing her.

Weaver Santaniello’s volume,Nietzsche, God, and the Jews: His Critique of Judeo-Christianity in Relation to the Nazi Myth similarly weaves a tapestry from the intertwining threads of what is surely one of the most complex and exotic tales of modern times: the story of Friedrich Nietzsche and his impact upon twentieth-century intellectual history. In so doing, Santaniello arouses our curiosity, engages our interest, and challenges old assumptions. Her primary aim is to explore Nietzsche’s critiques of Christianity, Judaism, and anti-Semitism. The account of Nietzsche’s saga is spun in meticulous fashion from two different patterns. The first part of the book is concerned with psychological aspects and biographical elements, while Part 2 focuses upon the ethical and political aspects of Nietzsche’s mature writings;Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Toward the Genealogy of Morals, and theAntichrist. This dual approach helps the reader form the full picture. We become aware of Nietzsche’s developing views toward the Jews; we see his understanding within the context of the “death of Judaism” as understood in nineteenth-century Protestant theology; ¹ and we are enlightened about the thus far neglected subject of Jewish-Christian relations in nineteenth-century Germany, with specific reference to Nietzsche. Weaver Santaniello’s treatment of these fundamental aspects of Nietzsche’s thought is essential for understanding the political, historical, and intellectual currents in Germany in the half-century prior to Hitler’s successful takeover of the country in 1933.

Santaniello explains in the introduction that her methodology “can formally be labeled existential-apolitical” (p. 2). She notes, however, that because she argues Nietzsche’s life and thought were profoundly affected by his encounter with the intense and widespread anti-Semitism of his time, the political context is determinative of and vital to her entire work. Santaniello’s approach therefore “integrates both the apolitical [End Page 103] and political traditions within contemporary Nietzsche studies in the English-speaking world” (p. 6). ThusNietzsche, God, and the Jews may be seen not only as a contribution to the broad arena of intellectual history, especially as it bears upon anti-Semitism and the rise of Nazism, but also more narrowly as furthering the field of Nietzsche studies.

In a 1983 article entitled “The Nazi Appropriation of Nietzsche,” Rudolf Kuenzli ² expresses astonishment as to how long the denazification of Nietzsche has taken. He suggests, correctly, I believe, that to strip away the caricature of Nietzsche as a “mad Nazi” is to be compelled to confront Nietzsche’s critiques both of democracy and of Christianity. It is to face his antifascism and to investigate the significant statements Nietzsche makes about the nature of German culture and its contempt for European Jewry. It is to denude our culture of its defense mechanisms and stand at the edge of the abyss. Perhaps this is why so many years have elapsed before a book like this could be written.

Nietzsche views Christianity as both antinatural and antihistorical. In the tradition of Ludwig Feuerbach, ³ Nietzsche claims that humans project both our highest creative attributes and our most sinister qualities onto a divine being, thereby diminishing ourselves and failing to recognize the possibility toward evil that is part of human nature. “What?” Nietzsche exclaims, “A love encapsulated in if-clauses attributed to an almighty god? A love that has not even mastered the feelings of honor and vindictiveness”? ⁴

According to Nietzsche, Christianity falsifies history by interpreting all history prior to Jesus as a foreshadowing of Christ...