Susannah Heschel

This paper is part of a larger study: The De-Judaization of the Image of Jesus of Nazareth (the Virgin Mary) at the Time of the Holocaust: Ensoulment and the Human Ovum by Thomas Bluger (Xlibris, 2021). It covers chapters 10 and 11 concerning Hitler's beliefs about Jesus, which are not properly presented in circles of Holocaust studies today. These images of Jesus of Nazareth are in turn is linked to the Nuremberg laws of 1935, as well as the fact that at one time over 150,000 Mischlinge (those with partial Jewish ancestry 1/4 & 1/2) were active in the German military. Chapter 10 is about Hitler's fear of possessing Jewish ancestry (1/4). In this chapter I pick up on what has been written so far, while adding a number of recent and subsequent discoveries to the mix. Chapter 11 is about Hitler's De-Judaization of the image Jesus of Nazareth while revealing present-day scholarships myopic understanding on this topic due to its failure of "seeing outside the box," which would be inclusive of the catholic narrative as it pertained to the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception. Added to this conversation is that Hitler had the fear of having a Jewish grandfather. In this perceptual universe Hitler would see himself as a second-degree Mischling while Jesus would be seen as a Mischling of the first degree (privileged). In following this trajectory, I challenge Richard Steigmann-Gall and Susannah Heschel-although their research is brilliant-as inadvertently, and without intention-distorting our present-day understanding as Jesus as Aryan. Although I do not contest their research, I do challenge it, in that it lacks completion.

Öz: 19. yüzyılda Alman-Yahudi oryantalistlerin İslam araştırmalarına dahil olmalarıyla, yaklaşık bin yıldır devam eden olumsuz oryantalist İslam söyleminde gözle görülür bir kırılma yaşanmıştır. Abraham Geiger, Gustav Weil, Gottlieb Leitner ve Ignaz Goldizher gibi önde gelen Alman-Yahudi oryantalistler İslam’ı tek tanrıcı, ahlaka dayalı ve düzenli bir hukuk sistemine sahip bir din, Hz. Muhammed’i de sahtekâr, yalancı ya da hasta değil, aksine samimi, dindar ve büyük bir önder olarak görmüşlerdir. Bunu yapmalarının arkasındaki en büyük neden, Batı’da İslam’a uygulanan olumsuz söylemin aynısının Yahudiliğe de uygulanmasından rahatsız olmalarıdır. İslam ve Yahudilik arasındaki inanç ve ibadet benzerliklerinden yola çıkarak İslam’ın Yahudilik kökenli olduğunu iddia etmişler ve Yahudilerin altın çağlarını Hristiyanlık değil de İslam hakimiyeti altında yaşadıklarına da vurgu yaparak Yahudiliği Hristiyanlık karşısında yeniden konumlandırmaya çalışmışlardır. Onlara göre aslında Yahudilik’ten türeyerek kurduğu muhteşem medeniyet sayesinde İslam, Yahudiliğin Avrupa’ya büyük bir armağanı olmuştur. Diğer bir ifadeyle Yahudiliği oryantalist söylemden kurtarmak için kolları sıvayan Alman-Yahudi oryantalistler bunu yaparken İslam’ı bir araç olarak kullanmışlardır. Alman-Yahudi oryantalistlerin İslam’la olan benzerliklere vurgusu yalnızca yazılarında yer almamış, ibadet mekanları olan sinagoglarına da yansımıştır. Ayrıca İslam, çoğu reformist Yahudilerden olan bu araştırmacılar tarafından, ‘Yahudiliğin olması gereken ideal hali’ olarak görülmüştür.

Abstract: With the involvement of German-Jewish orientalists in Islamic studies in the 19th century, there was a noticeable break in the negative orientalist Islamic discourse that has been going on for nearly a thousand years. Leading German-Jewish orientalists such as Abraham Geiger, Gustav Weil, Gottlieb Leitner and Ignaz Goldziher saw Islam as a monotheistic, moral religion and that has an orderly legal system. They also saw Muhammad not as a dishonest, liar or sick, but rather a sincere, devout and great leader. The biggest reason behind doing this is that they were uncomfortable with same negative discourse applied to Islam in the West. Based on the similarities between belief and worship between Islam and Judaism, they claimed that Islam was of Judaic origin and tried to reposition Judaism against Christianity by emphasizing that Jews lived their golden ages under Islam rather than Christianity. According to them, Islam has become a great gift of Judaism to Europe, thanks to the magnificent civilization it derives from Judaism. In other words, the German-Jewish orientalists who rolled up their sleeves to save Judaism from orientalist discourse, used Islam as a tool in doing so. The emphasis of German-Jewish orientalists on similarities with Islam was not only included in their writings but also reflected in the synagogues their place of worship. In addition, Islam was seen by these researches, mostly from reformist Jews, as “the ideal state of Judaism”.