la més recent d'Irvin D. Yalom. Spinoza In The Spinoza Problem, Irvin Yalom contrasts the courage and confidence of Spinoza with the insecurity and pettiness of Alfred Rosenberg. But our landlord, a distant cousin, advised against it. What did he mean? I entered the Spinoza Museum in Rijnsburg, about a forty-five-minute drive from Amsterdam, with keen anticipation, looking for—what? I scanned the simple room quickly and began to descend, when my eye caught sight of a thin, two-by-two-foot crease in a corner of the ceiling. He doubts everything. I stepped back into the library. That was where my personal expertise might help in telling Spinoza's story. ", "Amazing!" . Bestselling novelist and psychiatrist Irvin Yalom explores the mindsets of Jewish philosopher Spinoza and Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg. Do you blame me for asking that?" Tell me, Rosenberg, when that happens, how will you answer them? There is not much left. I am but a merchant—", "He claims that if you had not been forced into business because of the death of your older brother and your father, you would have been the next great rabbi of Amsterdam. No dark circles surround his eyes—they will come later. He must have had a strong emotional response to being excommunicated, at the age of twenty-four, by the Jewish community in Amsterdam—an irreversible edict that ordered every Jew, including his own family, to shun him forever. ", "No—miraculously these books survived and were returned here after the war with just a few missing copies. 31 December 1892] 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Wie in den beiden Vorgängern des Romans kann auch dieser als Einführung in das Leben und die Philosophie der titelgebenden Figur gesehen werden. The ERR had some mysterious interest in Spinoza. Upon the bench fidgets the sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg, who is uncertain why he has been summoned to the headmaster's office. For example, the castle of Epstein had noble connotations and belonged to a great family of the Holy Roman Empire, and its name was often selected by Jews living in its vicinity in the eighteenth century. Swinging between one and the other keeps the reader entertained awakens his curiosity in the story. Why does He permit such things? An unfamiliar voice speaking in stilted Portuguese startles him. As much intellectual exploration as novel, Yalom’s latest (The Schopenhauer Cure, 2005, etc.) Can we meet tomorrow? I have a question. He looks like everyone and no one. September 2020. Or you, us?". Other recent fiction on the subject includes Irvin Yalom’s 2012 The Spinoza Problem, which connected Spinoza’s life to the Nazi philosopher Alfred Rosenberg. "Irvin Yalom's The Spinoza Problem is an amazing novel that combines fact and fiction in a spell-binding manner. Access to over 300 of the best psychotherapy ", Young Alfred hears the echoing sound of approaching footsteps in the corridor, and spotting Herr Schäfer, his advisor and German teacher, he bolts to his feet to greet him. Headmaster Epstein motions to Alfred to sit in a chair at the end of the table. "Yes, correct. The fact that he was excommunicated by the Jews at the age of twenty-four and censored for the rest of his life by the Christians had always fascinated me, perhaps because of my own iconoclastic proclivities. ", "I have personally done my family's genealogical research back for several centuries. But the last family member had recently died, and the Spinoza Society had promptly purchased the property and was just now beginning reconstruction to incorporate it into the museum. ", Spinoza turns and speaks gently, as a teacher to a young student, "Tell me, Jacob, do you believe that God is all powerful? Even so, I continue to believe you are not without promise. ", "What other kind?" Perhaps an encounter with the spirit of Spinoza. The books just vanished for five years and turned up again in 1946 in a German salt mine. First, the prostitute in a gloriously yellow jacket. Spinoza’s portrait is fictional. Complete unto Himself. In 1909, sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster's office for making anti-Semitic remarks. And what was their Spinoza problem? That we must preserve our race and our culture.". "You mean that books had to be purchased again and the library reassembled a second time? The headmaster wastes no time getting to the point. It's not my affair. The structure of the story consists of alternating chapters describing the lives of Benedict Spinoza and Alfred Rosenberg. Alfred exhales, tries to shrink further into his chair, and hangs his head. Amsterdam moves slowly: the city mourns, still recovering from the plague that, only a few months earlier, killed one person in nine. A psychiatrist with a deep interest in philosophical issues, Yalom jointly tells the story of the seventeenth-century thinker Baruch Spinoza, his philosophy and subsequent excommunication from the Jewish community, and his apparent influence on the Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, whose einsatzgruppewas dispatched during the Second World War to investigate a mysterious “Spinoz… He talks of killing himself. Usant tot el seu bagatge professional, ha confegit una ficció empeltada d'assaig filosòfic, d'especulació històrica i d'estudi mèdic. fictional foray into philosophy connects Baruch Spinoza and an agent of the Holocaust.The Nazi is Alfred Rosenberg, historical figure, war criminal sent to Nuremberg’s gallows, and philosopher-manqué and self-styled intellectual catalyst of German fascism. "Do not weaken it by forgetting our noble traditions, by accepting inferior ideas, by mixing with inferior races." I meant these remarks only in a general way. ", Franco's eyes widen. Baruch Spinoza contre Alfred Rosenberg . I doubted that this small, sparse museum could bring me closer to Spinoza. Alfred Ernst Rosenberg (12 January [O.S. The other aspect of it lies in his discovery that the Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg had, during the German occupation of Holland, confiscated, but not destroyed, Spinoza’s library, and it survived the war almost intact. The Spinoza Problem: A Novel (Book Review) The connection and dialogue between these two men serve to convey Spinoza’s main ideas to the reader. What's more, we are devout Lutherans.". While I was examining the lens-grinding apparatus in the second room—also not his own equipment, the museum placard stated, but equipment similar to it—I heard one of my hosts in the library room mention the Nazis. I had come at a fortunate time—few visitors had ever seen the other half of the building, for it had been occupied for centuries by a working-class family. If they refused to pay, then they might receive ridiculous names, such as Schmutzfinger or Drecklecker. The ERR had some mysterious interest in Spinoza. Yet I was stumped for years because I could not find the story that a novel requires—until a visit to Holland five years ago changed everything. But then my host said, "You may not know this, but that's not really Spinoza's likeness. Jahrhunderts und seiner Wahl in den Reichstag im Oktober 1930. Das Opus Magnum des großen amerikanischen Psychoanalytikers und Bestsellerautors Irvin D. Yalom Der jüdische Philosoph Spinoza und der nationalsozialistische Politiker Alfred Rosenberg – nicht nur Jahrhunderte liegen zwischen ihnen, auch ihre Weltanschauungen könnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein. ", Franco, who had been staring at the ground as Jacob spoke, now lifts his eyes and utters his first words: "I ask for little, for only a few words with you. Perhaps it will loosen your tongue if I tell you that my lineage and that of my wife are pure German, and our ancestors came to the Baltics in the fourteenth century. He is punished by having to memorise passages from the autobiography of Goethe — and is stunned to discover that his idol was a great admirer of the … It was there I had an epiphany. ", "A salt mine? "And your name, Rosenberg? It is your duty to a traveler. Baruch Spinoza contre Alfred Rosenberg Jeudi 21 Juin 2012 Dans un ouvrage osé et palpitant, Irvin Yalom fait se rencontrer le prince des philosophes et l’un des inspirateurs du mouvement nazi. Little is known about the psyche of either Baruch Spinoza or Alfred Rosenberg, yet using his extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of his patients, Dr. Yalom has produced a … Only his eyes move, darting like frightened tadpoles. “Irvin Yalom’s The Spinoza Problem is an amazing novel that combines fact and fiction in a spell-binding manner. "Uh. The books were sold and scattered far and wide, but fortunately, the notary made a complete list of those books prior to the auction, and over two hundred years later a Jewish philanthropist reassembled most of the same titles, the same editions from the same years and cities of publication. Perhaps a story. . Irvin Yalom revine cu un roman despre minţile a doi oameni care au intrat în istorie la trei secole distanţă unul de celălalt: filosoful olandez de secol XVII, Baruch Spinoza, şi Alfred Rosenberg, unul dintre ideologii nazismului şi un apropiat al I don't understand. April 29, 2020 admin Medical. Franco looks deeply into Spinoza's eyes for several moments and then continues. His clothes are of good quality but soiled and wrinkled. Of course—that is why I am ordered here. Allow me, then, Jacob, to love God in my own fashion. All religious ritual. ", "That God is perfect? Alfred enters to see his headmaster and his German teacher seated at one end of a long, dark, heavy wood table. Inhaling the dusty air, Bento Spinoza identifies, with resignation, the fetid rat droppings accompanying the odor of dried figs, raisins, candied ginger, almonds, and chickpeas and the fumes of acrid Spanish wine. I pressed on. At first glance, it would seem absurd to link in any way, shape or form the life of the renowned 17th-century rationalist philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) with that of the major anti-Semitic ideologue of the Nazi Party, Alfred Rosenberg (1893-1946). Excellent—each could easily stroll off the canvas and begin a conversation. "Now your name, Rosenberg, is a very old name also. "Rosenberg, do I state your position correctly?". "But the Sabbath? uh, sir, I spoke too hastily. He is wise in such matters. In nine years he will hear a stirring speech at a meeting of the German Workers' Party by a new prospect, a veteran of World War I named Adolf Hitler, and Alfred will join the party shortly after Hitler. Jeudi 21 Juin 2012. In his official report, Rosenberg's officer, the Nazi who did the hands-on looting of the library, added a significant sentence: 'They contain valuable early works of great importance for the exploration of the Spinoza problem.' ", "Strange." They found pages of the Torah buried in the soil behind our home. And of course no one lives without an inner life of fantasies, dreams, passions, and a yearning for love. My father's brother, Jacob's father, was murdered soon after. In this museum? When sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster’s office for anti-Semitic remarks he made during a school speech, he is forced, as punishment, to memorize passages about Spinoza from the autobiography of the German poet Goethe. "Surely a man named 'blessed'—Bento in Portuguese and Baruch in Hebrew—will not refuse to speak to me? . Good. The ERR had some mysterious interest in Spinoza. "Rabbi Mortera is our spiritual leader. I wondered if this Nazi, Alfred Rosenberg, had also, in his own way, for his own reasons, been looking for Spinoza. The stone in a former graveyard, does not mark the exact place of his grave. And in thirty-six years his dark-circled eyes will appear bewildered and he will shake his head no when asked by the American hangman at Nuremberg, "Do you have any last words? In the course of the Enlightenment in Germany . In his official report, Rosenberg's officer, the Nazi who did the hands-on looting of the library, added a significant sentence: 'They contain valuable early works of great importance for the exploration of the Spinoza problem. ." The yellow gleams like polished sunlight. He holds his chin high. His features are perfect, his olive skin unblemished, his dark eyes large, and soulful. He is withdrawn as a hermit to polish glass. Alfred silently hangs his head again. Destined to become a million-copy best seller, it will provide much of the ideological foundation of the Nazi party and offer a justification for the destruction of European Jews. "Then," Spinoza continues, "I submit that God has no wishes about how, or even if, we glorify Him. ", "My younger brother, Gabriel, represents the Spinoza family at the synagogue. Alfred Rosenberg en Spinoza: de nazi en de vrijdenker Michiel Wielema In Irving D. Yaloms nieuwste roman Het raadsel Spinoza wordt verhaald hoe de ideoloog van het naziregime Alfred Rosenberg (1893-1946) zijn leven lang gefascineerd was door de problematische genialiteit van Spinoza. In eight years he will travel from Reval to Munich and become a prolific anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic journalist. This is the man I seek. 4, the bankrupt and slightly tipsy Rembrandt van Rijn applies a last brushstroke to his painting Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph, signs his name in the lower right corner, tosses his palette to the floor, and turns to descend his narrow winding staircase. Late in that century, measures were passed in Germany to transform Jews into German citizens, and they were compelled to choose and pay for German names. Is that not so?". ", "Sir, I say only what all Germans think. Jacob thinks, hesitates, and then nods warily. Its author, Dr. Irvin Yalom, a psychiatrist, examines the minds and behaviors of two people: Baruch Spinoza, a 17 th century Jewish philosopher, and Alfred Rosenberg, a 20 th century Nazi anti-Semitic ideologue. But for over a hundred years it has had a new life. He is punished by having to memorise passages from the autobiography of Goethe — and is stunned to discover that his idol was a great admirer of the seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Rosenberg was an anti-Semite of the first order and ultimately hanged as a war criminal for his part in creating the Final Solution. Back in Amsterdam at Breestraat No. Open?" ", "And where was the library kept during the war? He was in charge of looting for the Third Reich, and under Rosenberg's orders, the ERR plundered all of Europe—first, just the Jewish things and then, later in the war, anything of value. In the course of his career, he held a number of important German state … He had a large correspondence, but after his death his colleagues followed his instructions and removed almost all personal comments from his letters. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and held several important posts in the Nazi government. He walks outside and commences his daily duel with the rusted padlock on the shop door. It is permitted, since it is a mitzvah. By admin September 27, 2020. I had to flee Portugal just as your father and your family had to flee, to escape the Inquisition. He was the head of the NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs during the entire rule of Nazi Germany (1933–1945), and led Amt Rosenberg ("Rosenberg's bureau"), an official Nazi body for cultural policy and surveillance, between 1934 and 1945. We must talk to you. ", "So, Epstein is a Jewish name? "Sir . So I resolved to write a novel about his inner life. You graduate in only a few weeks. Even more popular were the names of noble castles. Vermeer nods to his miniature self. Where is the God that created this kind of world? "I will speak to you, Franco. Jacob interjects. I also believe that Spinoza, like Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, on whose lives and philosophy I have based two earlier novels, wrote much that is highly relevant to my field of psychiatry and psychotherapy—for example, that ideas, thoughts, and feelings are caused by previous experiences, that passions may be studied dispassionately, that understanding leads to transcendence—and I wished to celebrate his contributions through a novel of ideas. After all, he was a human being and therefore must have struggled with the same basic human conflicts that troubled me and the many patients I've worked with over the decades. The secretary of the Dutch Spinoza Association and a leading Spinoza philosopher agreed to spend a day with me visiting all the important Spinoza sites—his dwellings, his burial place, and, the main attraction, the Spinoza Museum in Rijnsburg. Perhaps he is defiant, but his fists, clenching and relaxing, signal apprehension. 'Rabbi Mortera,' he said, 'will only make Franco feel worse. But just before entering, he hesitates, turns back to Alfred, and in a not unkind voice whispers, "Rosenberg, you disappointed me, all of us, with your poor judgment in your speech last night. Herr Schäfer's instruction has not been entirely lost on you. As the final rays of light glance off the water of the Zwanenburgwal, Amsterdam closes down. For a generation, the Spinoza family operated a prosperous import-export wholesale business, but now the brothers Spinoza—Gabriel and Bento—are reduced to running a small retail shop. A few meters from the canal, at Breestraat No. Little is known about the psyche of either Baruch Spinoza or Alfred Rosenberg, yet using his extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of his patients, Dr. Yalom has produced a rare gem in existing literature. Little is known about the psyche of either Baruch Spinoza or Alfred Rosenberg, yet using his extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of his patients, Dr. Yalom has produced a … Separated in history by 300 years, the lives of philosopher Baruch Spinoza and Nazi propagandist Alfred Rosenberg intertwine in fascinating and unexpected ways. But entering the museum, I was immediately disappointed. I am taking Franco, for he must return to his faith. Let me give you some facts about names. Yet, his freedom to think his own thoughts brought him joy unspeakable. I know they have some modest value—being seventeenth-century and older—but why didn't they just march into the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum and pluck a single Rembrandt worth fifty times this whole collection? Psychotherapy.net is pleased to publish this exclusive excerpt, as well as offer, Confronting Death and Other Existential Issues in Psychotherapy, Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy in Action, Irvin Yalom: Foundations of My Life and Work, Asperger's Syndrome / Autism Spectrum Disorder. I wandered amid the construction debris through the modest kitchen and living room and then climbed the narrow, steep stairway to the small, unremarkable bedroom. Rosenberg is stunned to discover that Goethe, his idol, was a great admirer of the Jewish seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. '", "What talk is this? We need you. Headmaster Epstein pauses and then barks, "Rosenberg, do you know when and what the Enlightenment was? In The Spinoza Problem, Irvin Yalom spins fact and fiction into an unforgettable psycho-philosophical novel. Perhaps the only one. So we call it Spinoza's library, but it's really a replica. Even the presence of God. Spinoza’s portrait is fictional. It has become a common Jewish name in the Fatherland, and I assure you that if, or when, you make the trip to the Fatherland, you will see glances and smirks, and you will hear rumors about Jewish ancestors in your bloodline. "What? ", "I will follow your example, sir, and speak of my ancestry. It is noticeably smaller than the two tall-backed chairs at the other end. ", "My father was burned at the stake just a year ago. I can offer nothing. Would you be willing to help us on the Sabbath? ", "No, that's not the point. Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677) war ein Außenseiter in der jüdischen Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft. Do you refuse a fellow Jew? Spinoza turns to face two strangers, young weary men who seem to have traveled far. NEW LOW PRICING! Like a mime duo, my hosts hunched their shoulders and turned up their palms. When sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster's office for anti-Semitic remarks he made during a school speech, he is forced, as punishment, to memorize passages about Spinoza from the autobiography of the German poet Goethe. "'Exploration of the Nazis' Spinoza problem'?