The stone in a former graveyard, does not mark the exact place of his grave. la més recent d'Irvin D. Yalom. "Irvin Yalom's The Spinoza Problem is an amazing novel that combines fact and fiction in a spell-binding manner. "Rosenberg, do I state your position correctly?". 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. "Never have I heard such a request. A few workers plodding home stop for a snack with Dutch gin at the herring stands on the canal and then continue on their way. Jeudi 21 Juin 2012. Allow me, then, Jacob, to love God in my own fashion. That we must preserve our race and our culture.". Why does He permit such things? We too. Do you refuse a fellow Jew? There's a story here, I thought. 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. It is permitted, since it is a mitzvah. He bends closer to catch the tiny but piercing gaze of the leering young man with the foppish hat. 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? Spinoza has long intrigued me, and for years I've wanted to write about this valiant seventeenth-century thinker, so alone in the world—without a family, without a community—who authored books that truly changed the world. This is a book that will appeal more to the rational and analytical reader. Like a mime duo, my hosts hunched their shoulders and turned up their palms. 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. I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. 'Rabbi Mortera,' he said, 'will only make Franco feel worse. His crime? "We fed them and took good care of them.". "I am Jacob Mendoza," says the taller of the two. He takes a last look around: many shelves are as empty as his pockets. ", "We've been told that you're the one to render help. It was an election speech, and I spoke that way because that is what they wanted to hear." Jahrhunderts und seiner Wahl in den Reichstag im Oktober 1930. . "Sorry. And of course no one lives without an inner life of fantasies, dreams, passions, and a yearning for love. We must talk to you. He had a large correspondence, but after his death his colleagues followed his instructions and removed almost all personal comments from his letters. What was the Nazi Spinoza problem?". ", "Amazing!" Jacob interjects. He doesn't sleep. Bestselling novelist and psychiatrist Irvin Yalom explores the mindsets of Jewish philosopher Spinoza and Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg. Amsterdam moves slowly: the city mourns, still recovering from the plague that, only a few months earlier, killed one person in nine. I have a question. 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. 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. 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. Or 50 percent? Separated in history by years, the lives of philosopher Baruch Spinoza and Nazi propagandist Alfred Rosenberg intertwine in fascinating and unexpected ways. The structure of the story consists of alternating chapters describing the lives of Benedict Spinoza and Alfred Rosenberg. Spinoza’s portrait is fictional. He is withdrawn as a hermit to polish glass. ", "I have personally done my family's genealogical research back for several centuries. Spinoza’s portrait is fictional. Yet upstairs in the Spinoza house, hidden in the attic, two Jewish women were tenderly cared for throughout the war. Pirates intercepted his last shipment from Bahia, and there is no coffee, sugar, or cocoa. He holds his chin high. Die persönliche Faszination des Autors für Spinoza führt ihn selbst schließlich zu weit in die Geschichte hinein. Only his eyes move, darting like frightened tadpoles. "Now your name, Rosenberg, is a very old name also. The stone in a former graveyard, does not mark the exact place of his grave. And my wife, too, is Jewish, is she? This is the man I seek. He anticipated secularization, the liberal democratic political state, and the rise of natural science, and he paved the way for the Enlightenment. All this gives Irvin Yalom plenty room. ", Spinoza turns and speaks gently, as a teacher to a young student, "Tell me, Jacob, do you believe that God is all powerful? Would you be willing to help us on the Sabbath? 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. The old caretaker climbed up a few stairs to look and told me it was a trap door that led to a tiny attic space where two Jews, an elderly mother and her daughter, were hidden from the Nazis for the entire duration of the war. Complete unto Himself. Do you blame me for asking that?" Perhaps the only one. I entered the Spinoza Museum in Rijnsburg, about a forty-five-minute drive from Amsterdam, with keen anticipation, looking for—what? uh, sir, I spoke too hastily. The dyers gather up their magenta and crimson fabrics drying on the stone banks of the canal. ", "Strange." 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 the course of the Enlightenment in Germany . ", "And where was the library kept during the war? Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677) war ein Außenseiter in der jüdischen Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft. ." Prayer. They found pages of the Torah buried in the soil behind our home. 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… If there were drawings of Spinoza made during his lifetime, none have survived.". It is your duty to a traveler. And what was their Spinoza problem? Buy the selected items together This item: It is a historical fact that Rosenberg confiscated Spinoza’s library during one of his many raids though Europe. . He has long, matted hair, dark eyes, a strong chin and forceful nose. ", "Then one of your required pregraduation research projects shall be to learn the details of genealogical research and then carry out a search of your own ancestry. Das Interesse an dieser Frage entstand erstmals im Monat der Veröffentlichung seiner antisemitischen Schrift Der Mythus des 20. He is wise in such matters. 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. ", Psychotherapist   •   Writer   •   Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Psychotherapist • Writer • Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry. His reverie is interrupted by the opening of the massive ten-foot-high door and Headmaster Epstein's booming voice, "Herr Rosenberg, bitte, herein.". A firestorm outside! Of course—that is why I am ordered here. But how to write about a man who lived such a contemplative life marked by so few striking external events? But entering the museum, I was immediately disappointed. An unfamiliar voice speaking in stilted Portuguese startles him. . Alfred's torso is wiry, his eyes grey-blue, his Teutonic face well-proportioned; a lock of chestnut hair hangs in just the desired angle over his forehead. Even the presence of God. In The Spinoza Problem, Irvin Yalom spins fact and fiction into an unforgettable psycho-philosophical novel. Perhaps an encounter with the spirit of Spinoza. Even so, I continue to believe you are not without promise. I picked up one of the books—a sixteenth-century copy of the Iliad—and said, as I caressed it, "So this old storybook has its own story to tell.". Rosenberg is stunned to discover that Goethe, his idol, was a great admirer of the Jewish seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. ", "That God is perfect? Don't be a fool now.". Gruffly pushing aside the gawkers on the staircase, he steps outside the front door, inhales the salty air, and stumbles toward the corner tavern. Psychotherapy.net is pleased to publish this exclusive excerpt, as well as offer signed copies of this book. I stepped back into the library. 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.' Herr Epstein drums his fingers on the long table, then continues. 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. His fingers never touched these books. Yes? Alfred always feels small in the presence of Headmaster Epstein, over six feet tall, whose stately bearing, piercing eyes, and heavy, well-tailored beard embody his authority. Herr Schäfer merely frowns and shakes his head slowly as he passes and opens the headmaster's door. No Jew would ever again speak to him, have commerce with him, read his words, or come within fifteen feet of his physical presence. Some Jews paid lesser sums for traditional Jewish names like Levy or Cohen. My hosts permitted me free access, and I picked up one seventeenth-century book after another, smelling and holding them, thrilled to touch objects that had once been touched by Spinoza's hands. ", Franco's eyes widen. Headmaster Epstein motions to Alfred to sit in a chair at the end of the table. All religious ritual. The money had nothing to do with it. Why Spinoza, now? Jacob thinks, hesitates, and then nods warily. ", "So, Epstein is a Jewish name? As much intellectual exploration as novel, Yalom’s latest (The Schopenhauer Cure, 2005, etc.) He turns toward Jacob as though to say, "You see, you see? 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 … . 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. Alfred enters to see his headmaster and his German teacher seated at one end of a long, dark, heavy wood table. Perhaps he should have stopped there. “Irvin Yalom’s The Spinoza Problem is an amazing novel that combines fact and fiction in a spell-binding manner. Can we walk with you? 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. And downstairs, the tiny Spinoza Museum was looted, sealed, and expropriated by an officer of the Rosenberg task force, who believed that its library could help the Nazis solve their "Spinoza problem." Maybe a story about sheer elusiveness, I wondered. Back in Amsterdam at Breestraat No. It had been spared because, Rosenberg, too, apparently had a Spinoza problem to which he tried to find a solution. The only remotely personal items were the 151 volumes of Spinoza's own library, and I turned immediately to them. It is noticeably smaller than the two tall-backed chairs at the other end. These are some of the ideas examined in The Spinoza Problem. 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. 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. ", "No—miraculously these books survived and were returned here after the war with just a few missing copies. ", "I must go. Alfred Ernst Rosenberg (12 January [O.S. 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. I am only a merchant who operates a small business. He wants to gaze out the window, midway down the table, but looks up apprehensively at the headmaster. 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. My cousin," Jacob clasps Franco's shoulder, "is in crisis. "You mean that books had to be purchased again and the library reassembled a second time? He talks of killing himself. Four out of five Dutch Jews murdered by the Nazis! By imagining the unexpected intersection of Jewish philosopher Spinoza’s life with that of powerful Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, bestselling novelist Irvin Yalom explores the mindsets of two men separated by 300 years. "Rabbi Mortera is our spiritual leader. Is your name a Jewish name also? He appears too delicate and beautiful to be a shopkeeper. In the course of his career, he held a number of important German state … They carted it all away, then sealed and expropriated the museum. Have we failed you? He was extraordinarily private, and he kept his own person invisible in his writing. and it was the age . Vermeer nods to his miniature self. The Nazis were here? Video Memberships for personal viewing. "And your name, Rosenberg? Usant tot el seu bagatge professional, ha confegit una ficció empeltada d'assaig filosòfic, d'especulació històrica i d'estudi mèdic. 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. "Surely a man named 'blessed'—Bento in Portuguese and Baruch in Hebrew—will not refuse to speak to me? What's more, we are devout Lutherans.". Good. 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. 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? And the group of men surrounding her. "Irvin Yalom's The Spinoza Problem is an amazing novel that combines fact and fiction in a spell-binding manner. April 29, 2020 admin Medical. Rosenberg was an anti-Semite of the first order and ultimately hanged as a war criminal for his part in creating the Final Solution. In 1909, sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster's office for making anti-Semitic remarks. He holds himself stiffly. When Einstein spoke of God, he spoke of Spinoza's God—a God entirely equivalent to nature, a God that includes all substance, and a God "that doesn't play dice with the universe"—by which he means that everything that happens, without exception, follows the orderly laws of nature. You must go to him. As a psychiatrist, I felt convinced that he could not have written this section unless he had experienced a conscious struggle with his own passions. Alfred Rosenberg (January 12, 1893–October 16, 1946) was one of the most influential Nazi intellectuals. The solution came to him when he discovered that the entire private library of Spinoza was stolen by the Nazis in under orders of Alfred Rosenberg, in many ways the ideological leader of national socialism. 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 a near-man with a whole life ahead of him. A novel by the masterful storyteller and psychotherapist Irvin Yalom interweaves the philosophical life of Benedict Spinoza with the story of the obsessive Nazi philosopher” Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Rosenberg (1893 - 1946) war ein Außenseiter in der Nazi-Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft. 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. In eight years he will travel from Reval to Munich and become a prolific anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic journalist. Good. ", "Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg. Spinoza wurde aus der jüdischen Gemeinde … 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. ", I felt stunned. It will be open. So we call it Spinoza's library, but it's really a replica. I can offer nothing. ", "We arrived yesterday, and this morning we set out to do exactly that. Consider this world where a son smells the odor of his father's burning flesh. 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 age of reason and science?". In Delft, seventy kilometers south, another artist begins his ascent. It was there I had an epiphany. '. ", "Franco has lost his faith. Wie in den beiden Vorgängern des Romans kann auch dieser als Einführung in das Leben und die Philosophie der titelgebenden Figur gesehen werden. I meant these remarks only in a general way. ", "But the holy Torah," Jacob insists, ignoring Franco's tugging at his sleeve, "states God's wish that we not work on the Sabbath, that we must spend that holy day offering prayers to Him and performing mitzvahs. Perhaps he had gone too far. . ", "The shop? Oh, so that's it. 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. We need you. Alfred looks dumbfounded. The house, destined three centuries later to become his museum and memorial, is on this day witness to his shame. No dark circles surround his eyes—they will come later. The books just vanished for five years and turned up again in 1946 in a German salt mine. "Irvin Yalom's The Spinoza Problem is an amazing novel that combines fact and fiction in a spell-binding manner. Upon the bench fidgets the sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg, who is uncertain why he has been summoned to the headmaster's office. He doubts everything. 31 December 1892] 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Can we meet tomorrow? Spinoza turns to face two strangers, young weary men who seem to have traveled far. I am taking Franco, for he must return to his faith. But he got carried away. He has decided to discover, through logic alone, essential truths that are not buttressed by political fears, social prejudices or theological conventions. Spinoza shakes his head. All this gives Irvin Yalom plenty room. ", Place: A bench in the main corridor outside Headmaster Epstein's office in the Petri-Realschule. One is tall, with a massive, burly head that hangs forward as though it were too heavy to be held erect. And, I gather, certainly not be elevated to headmaster?". Swinging between one and the other keeps the reader entertained awakens his curiosity in the story. 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. ", "I'm not so sure. The other, dressed in tattered peasant's clothes, stands behind his companion. Have you? "Yes, of course you can't answer. But now here I am before you, not in general but in particular. The ERR had some mysterious interest in Spinoza. Separated in history by 300 years, the lives of philosopher Baruch Spinoza and Nazi propagandist Alfred Rosenberg intertwine in fascinating and unexpected ways. "I did not say that. 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. "But the Sabbath? training videos starting at $29/month. Alfred silently hangs his head again. "Oh, I see. Lange wurde gerätselt, ob der glühende Antisemit Rosenberg möglicherweise selbst jüdische Vorfahren hatte. ", "No, here. Even more popular were the names of noble castles. You spoke in a general way? He scans from right to left. Tomorrow midday? Darüber hinaus verliert die liebevolle Hommage auf Spinoza durch die Überbetonung des Alfred Rosenberg an Wirkung. 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. Perhaps your name? 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. The yellow gleams like polished sunlight. 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.' . ", "Then surely you would agree that, by definition, a perfect and complete being has no needs, no insufficiencies, no wants, no wishes. Spinoza points at the dusty window through which the half-empty shelves are visible. ", "I will follow your example, sir, and speak of my ancestry. "I will speak to you, Franco. If they refused to pay, then they might receive ridiculous names, such as Schmutzfinger or Drecklecker. Only an incomparably gifted author could write such a fascinating and thought-provoking novel. 57, only two blocks from the auction preparations at Rembrandt's home, a twenty-three-year-old merchant (born only a few days earlier than Vermeer, whom he would admire but never meet) prepares to close his import-export shop. ", "You mean that despite your education in science and philosophy in our school you never think about how you know what you know. September 2020. As the final rays of light glance off the water of the Zwanenburgwal, Amsterdam closes down. 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. ", "No one knows. It's not my affair. 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. It's merely an image from some artist's imagination, derived from a few lines of written description. The twenty-five-year-old Johannes Vermeer takes a final look at his new painting, The Procuress. By imagining the unexpected intersection of Jewish philosopher Spinoza’s life with that of powerful Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, bestselling novelist Irvin Yalom explores the mindsets of … 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. In this museum? ", "No, that's not the point. Out of the corner of his eye, Alfred sees Herr Schäfer slump in his chair, take off his glasses, and rub his eyes. The ERR had some mysterious interest in Spinoza. No response. "So, Rosenberg, I'm of Jewish ancestry, am I? The taskforce of Reich leader Rosenberg—that's Alfred Rosenberg, the major Nazi anti-Semitic ideologue. Isn't that one of the major lessons of the Enlightenment? Franco looks deeply into Spinoza's eyes for several moments and then continues. The headmaster wastes no time getting to the point. 'Franco needs a helper, not a judge,' he said. "Then," Spinoza continues, "I submit that God has no wishes about how, or even if, we glorify Him. He told us that Rabbi Mortera is severe with doubters, that he believes all Jews in Portugal who converted to Christianity face eternal damnation, even if they were forced to choose between conversion and death. ", "Sir, I say only what all Germans think. Alfred shakes his head. ", 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. The Spinoza Problem by Irvin D. Yalom. ", "So then these books are twice removed from Spinoza?" I have a meeting I must attend. Alfred hits the side of his head with his palm. Good. My hosts took me to look at the rest of the house. I wondered if this Nazi, Alfred Rosenberg, had also, in his own way, for his own reasons, been looking for Spinoza.