A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews

Avner Falk

Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1996 - Jews - 850 pages

A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews is an interdisciplinary rewriting and reinterpretation of four thousand years of Jewish history. It integrates insights from history, archaeology, biblical scholarship, anthropology, sociology and Jewish studies with those of psychoanalysis to achieve a deep understanding of Jewish history. The main thrust of this work is the application of psychoanalytic insight to Jewish history. This includes the evolution of the Hebrew religion as a projective response to the inner conflicts produced by the human family; the sociopsychological development of the Israelite kingdoms in Canaan; the fascinating duality of Jewish life in the "Diaspora"; and the emotional ties of the Jews to their idealized motherland from the Babylonian exile to modern political Zionism.

Contents

• Preface 922: 9
• Acknowledgments: 25
• Editorial Notes: 27
• Hebrew Origins: 31
• From Child Sacrifice to Circumcision: 52
• Canaan Greece and Egypt: 65
• Moses and Monotheism: 78
• Tribal Confederacy: 91
• Judges Prophets and Kings: 103
• The ShortLived Union: 115
• YahwehEl versus Baal: 128
• The Personal Roots of Religious Revolution: 141
• Tragic Queens: 154
• National Suicide: 166
• Psychotic Prophets?: 179
• Family versus Nation: 191
• Egyptians Greeks and Other Jews: 205
• The Myth of Maccabean Independence: 226
• Civil War in Judaea: 240
• Jews Greeks and Other Romans: 252
• The Tragedy of Herod the Great: 263
• Prelude to Christianity: 276
• Christianity as Rebirth Fantasy: 289
• Zealous Jewish SelfDestruction: 299
• Messianism and the Inability to Mourn: 311
• Jewish Mysticism and Martyrdom: 325
• Living in the Past: 341
• Franks and Jews: 357
• Arabs Muslims and Jews: 371
• Franks and Saracens: 384
• Servi Camerae Nostrae: 398
• Mysticism and Union with the Mother: 412
• Crusaders and Kabbalists: 429
• Transgressions and Fantasies: 444
• Adapting to Annihilation: 453
• Strategies of Psychological Survival: 466
• Disputations and Inquisitions: 485
• Inquisitors and Messiahs: 507
• Jewish Renaissance: 519
• Jews Witches and the Devil: 532
• Slavs Balts and Other Jews: 543
• Mystical Messiahs and Fanatical Followers: 560
• Pietists and Saints: 574
• Napoléon and the Jews: 589
• Revolution and Liberalization: 599
• The Battle for the Jewish Self: 615
• German Light Russian Darkness: 632
• The Golden Land: 654
• The Land of Zion: 667
• Zionists Arabs and AntiSemites: 682
• TwentiethCentury Hebrews: 688
• Holocaust: 703
• Israeli Paradoxes: 722
• Bibliography: 729
• Index of Names: 794
• Index of Subjects: 823

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews
• Author: Avner Falk
• Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1996
• ISBN: 0838636608, 9780838636602
• Length: 850 pages