Shapira, J.

, 1988
Jchack Shapira
Fromm and Judaism

Fromm and Judaism, first published in: P. L. Eletti (Ed.), Incontro con Erich Fromm.
Atti del Simposio Internazionale su Erich Fromm: Dalla necrofilia alla biofilia: linee
per una psicoanalisi umanistica Firenze 1986, Firenze (Edizioni Medicea) 1988, pp.
223-235.

Introduction
Our topic Fromm and Judaism will be examined from three aspects - (A) Fromm
the Jew born to a religious family who supplied him with a Jewish education
which undoubtedly influenced his later views; (B) Fromms reference to Jewish
religious classical sources such as the Bible, the Talmud, and other Rabbinical
texts; (C) Fromms You Shall be As G-d - A Radical Interpretation of the Old
Testament and Its Tradition.

The Judaism of Fromm

Anyone examining the work of Eric Fromm is bound to be impressed by the impact Judaism had upon him. We know that he was born to and reared by a practicing Jewish family as evidenced by his free reference to the classic religious
works in his writings and by his authoring such works as You Shall Be As G-d A Radical Interpretation of the Old Testament and Its Tradition in which he presents his own radical interpretation of the Bible. To understand how radical his interpretations really are and in which areas they are radical, we must, of course,
compare them with the traditional interpretations in careful detail. I will not be able
to discuss all aspects of this subject but will confine myself to speaking about his
personality and touching upon a number of points within this area.

Fromm, and Judaism

Fromm continued his Jewish education by dint of his own efforts as well as what
he gleaned from friends. He certainly makes no attempt to hide his religion. Many
are the references in his works to this effect and in his Beyond the Chain of Illusion (Page 7) he writes clearly, I was raised in a religious Jewish home, and the
Bible had a great impression upon me, more so than all other environmental factors to which I was subject. Not all books had the same effect. The Book of
Esther did not interest me too much. Neither was I greatly impressed by the Song
of Songs but the story of the revolt of Adam and Eve, Abraham begging the Creator to take pity on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorra, the sending of the
Prophet Jonah to Nineveh, as well as many other parts of the Bible, had a great
effect on me, but most of all I was inspired by the Prophets Isaiah, Amos, and
Hosea, not so much by their warnings and messages of calamity as of their
promises concerning the millenium when, They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks... nation will not raise its sword
against nation and they will not learn the arts of war, when all nations will be filled
the word of G-d as the waters cover the sea. This vision of peace in the world
and harmony among nations touched me to the core of my heart when I was be-

tween 12 and 13 years old. I suppose that the most immediate reason for my being captivated by the idea of international peace can be traced to my own condition - that of a Jewish boy living in a Christian environment subject to anti-semitic
manifestations. However, even more important were the unpleasant feelings of
alienation and clannishness from both sides. I detested the clannishness perhaps
especially because I had the endless aspiration to rise above all this to the emotional seclusion of a lonely and pampered boy. Given this condition, what could
be more stirring and beautiful to me than the prophetic vision of brotherhood and
peace among all the peoples of the world.
In order to create a composite picture of Fromm from various perspectives,
we will view him (a) as a Jew reared and educated in a Jewish home who nevertheless became an atheist, as we shall see later. There is no question that this
transformation within him involved a lengthy process and that the conflict left lasting marks on him. (b) Fromm admits that the was greatly interested in the Bible the Book of Books which touched him deeply and affected him more than anything else. (c) We have stated that Fromm was selective in his interest in th Bible and, consequently, only portions affected him and find their expression in his
writings. It would be well then to analyze why these particular portions of the Bible left this effect upon Fromm. They are the rebellion of Adam and Eve, the defense of Sodom by Abraham, Jonahs mission to Nineveh, and even more important his preoccupation with the prophecies of peace,and the Last of Days that
stand out sharply in his writings
It would also be well to quote his views as stated in his book You Shall Be
As G-d in which he presents his radical inteipretation of the Bible. He writes
there, It is only right that I say a few words regarding my approach to the Bible
as it will be reflected in the book. I do not see in it the word of G-d, not only because historic investigation indicates that it was written by a variety of people at
different times but also because I do not believe in G-d. Nevertheless it is an unusual book which expresses norms and principals which have lasted thousands
of years. This is the book that presented to man a . vision which still endures and
which he is still attempting to fulfill. It was written by one man and was not dictated by G-d. It expressed the views of geniuses through the ages who struggled
for life and freedom .
Here Fromm clearly states then that, since he does not believe in G-d, he
cannot accept the Bible as a Divine work because for him the two would be contradictory. To obtain a full comprehension of the degree to which Fromm was
atheistic we will need to investigate his references to Talmudic works.

Fromms Approach to the Bible

Fromms approach to the Bible may be derived from two sources - his introduction to You Shall Be As G-d and from the rest of his works. In his introduction he
presents his theoretic approach to the Bible while within the text of the books
themselves we find his application of what is written in the Bible and perhaps his
subconsciouspersonal approach to it. (a) In his introduction to You Shall Be As
G-d Fromm begins by asking, Is the Bible anything more than a historical relic
that is honored out of courtesy because it is the foundation stone for three religions? Does it have anything to offer to modern man who lives in an age of automation, atomic weapons, and is equipped with a philosophy that either overtly or
covertly rejects any form of religious values?
As a result of what we have said we can designate two approaches to the
Bible. There are those Jews and Christians who regard the Bible as an ancient
document which nevertheless has some value in our age as well, and there are
those who are religious and regard it as something Divine which they received
from G-d. It is relevant in our day and will continue to be so in the future.
He finds within it sources which act as a guide for his religious practice, the-

ory, and philosophy. Jews have been engrossed in it through the ages and have
enriched their literature with its commentaries. This preoccupation by Jews with
commentaries on the Bible all the more points out its eternal worth to man as a
source for proper values. There is a well known adage - Accept the truth from
whoever presents it! In relating to Biblical commentary the Jewish sages have
said, The Torah has 80 faces! - which is to say that it is open to many interpretations on the condition that these interpretations do not differ with accepted Jewish halachic theory and practice. On the contrary, Jews are encouraged to engage in commentary and to add new understanding of the Torah for all of this
was originally intended when the Torah was given and is part and parcel of what
Moses received from the Creator on Mount Sinai. In the Midrash our sages state
that all the commentaries to be presented in the future by any scholar avere presented to Moses and are, therefore, an integral part of the Torah. The practical
result of this is that Jews are officially encouraged to contribute to the Torah and
have done so through the ages but these contributions have always been held in
check by set rules which prevent differing with the official accepted religious
dogma of the Jewish religion and, therefore, for the religious Jew these contributions are manifestations of the Divine intention when the Torah was given. Thus,
while the Jew has truly engaged in enlarging on the Torah, he is not really changing anything or adding anything which was not there to begin with, but is bringing
out into the open what had hitherto been hidden. It is by means of this preoccupation with commentary that the Torah is kept eternal. Thus for the religious Jew
it is the Torah which has brought about the exegeses in contrast to Fromm who
would seem to feel that the Jew, by engaging in correct thinking as it were,
brought about the Torah as a Jewish philosophy of life.
(b) Fromm writes in his work You Shall Be As G-d, The Bible is a book with
a wide content that was written and revised by many authors over a period of a
thousand years. It covers within it the advance from primitive tribal authoritarianism up to the radical view that man should be free from the bonds of blood and
earth, of idolatry, and of human masters in order to achieve freedom for the individual, the nation, and mankind as a whole. It is possible to understand the Bible
in our day better than in any other age especially, because we live in a revolutionary period in which all of mans mistakes have led him into new forms of dependence - at the same time freeing himself from the old forms of bondage which
were once hallowed in the name of G-d und the needs of society. Quite paradoxically it is possible that one of the oldest creations of Western culture will be
better understood by those who are less tied to tradition and are more aware of
the radical nature of the emancipation process that is taking place in our day.
How interesting that a book which concerns itself with a primitive tribe should
achieve the ability of being relevant ven after thousands of years and contain
within it revolutionary views the effects of which are still in force. As Fromm himself says, For me this is an unusual book which expiesses many norms and
principles which have provn themselves for thousands of years. For Frmm this
is an unusual situation but for a person of faith this type of situation is quite
nderstandable. The Bible is, after all, the product of the Creator who is eternal
and, therefore, his words are views which are eternal. It supplies answers to
questions and solutions to problems, and Jews have always searched for
sources within the Bible which concern themselves with their situation. Fromm
views the apparent contradictions within the Bible as strata within the development of the Jewish people, but this is because he is ignoring what is written in
Talmudic literature to explain these apparent discrepancies. I would like to point
out that those who do Bible research, are mistaken when they ignore what is written in the Oral Law or Talmud. The written Torah and the oral Torah or Talmud
are as one - the Talmud explaining the written Torah - and you cannot properly
understand one without referring to the other. Therefore, while the written Torah
does not always bother to explain itself, this is because the explanations are
available in the Talmud and originally, when one studied the written Torah one

automatically explained it with what was to be found in the Oral Torah. Later on
these explanations were compiled, organized, and put down in writing due to the
disruption of Jewish communal life.
Fromm points out in his introduction to You Shall Be As G-d - This book
explains the Bible in the spirit of radical humanism. By radical humanism I have
reference to the philosophy that emphasizes the unity of manking, the ability of
man to develop his powers and to arrive at internal harmony as well as to found a
world that seeks peace. Radical humanism sees as the purpose of man to become completely independent which includes the need to penetrate and self deception in order to reach full awareness of reality... If it is at all possible to uncover the seeds of radical humanism in ancient sources such as the Bible, it is
because we can recognize the radical humanism of Amos, Socrates and others.
Fromm took upon himself an important and interesting task. However, in
some of his ideas of radical humanism he charges through an already open door.
The commandments of the Torah are constructed in such a way as to enable
man to fully utilize his talents and powers and to achieve internal harmony. (See
the chapter dealing with isolation later on). As is well known, the Torah contains
613 commandments - part of them exhort man to keep away from improper behavior while the others teach him to do what is expected of him in this world, because only by combining both these portions can man achieve spiritual completion. These commandments include those which concern themselves with relationship to his Creator and those which concern themselves with his relationship
with his fellow man. It is only by means of both these groups of commandments
that man can come close to his Creator.
The Tablets of the Law are divided into two parts - one half concerns mans
duties to his Creator while the second part concerns his relationship with his fellow man. Jewish Halacha - religious law - covers all phases of his life and does
not overlook any phase both physical and spiritual but gives its point of view on
everything. It stresses freedom and does not require servility or withdrawal from
the mundane aspects of the world - as our Sages state about the Torah when
they interpret the words, And you shall live with it. This means that the stress is
on life and not death. The Torah is a way of life and wants man to enjoy the dictates of the Almighty and not suffer through them. Worship the Lord in joy.
(Psalms) The workship of G-d brings joy not sadness or servitude.
Fromm states (Ibid. P. 166), The Post-Biblical Jewish Sages bave developed the concept of freedom in a variety of ways. For instance, the tablet upon
which the Ten Commandments were written are described by the Torah as having been engraved (charut), and the Mishnah engages in play on words and interprets the word charut - engraved to mean cherut - th Hebrew word for
freedom. And the Mishnah says, Who is free? He who engages in the study of
the Torah. (Sayinga of the Fathers 86 Mishnah). So that the Torah aids man in
his own self realization, and he need have no fear about this.

Fromm, and His Exegeses

Despite-Fromms proclamation of atheism and how he views the Bible, it would
appear that Fromm never really freed himself from the effects of his religious upbring. His relationship to both the Written and Oral Law is most serious if we are
to judge by his writings. He refers to them and builds his views on them even
when he does nt clearly say so.
The effect of his Jewish sources upon him are evinced by the fact that he attempts to compare todays radical humanism with the Bible and finds within it the
first glimmerings of those ideals for which this humanism strives. This proves how
much he feels that the Bible is truly the Book of Books. There is apparently a dualistic approach. On the one hand there is the atheistic criticism and on the other
hand the view that the ideas of the Torah are eternal and always relevant and, if

we say that the Bible is always relevant and applies to all generations, then it is
above time and space and is not a developmental work created by little people
over a period of time. Since this achievement is beyond the ability of man we
must then say that it is of Divine creation.

Three Approaches to Fromm Exegesis

Fromms exegesis follows three directions:
(a) The conservative approach in which he remains true to the word of the text
and does not attempt to deviate from it. He offers comments but his comments do
not stray from the basic content of the text that he is describing such as loving
your fellow man, loving the weak, and other examples in the same vein.
(b) Passages or words of the Sages in which he does not fully accept the verbatim text and therefore offers his own interpretations wherein he may or may not
fully follow the traditional approach, and he strays back and forth attempting to
give them symbolic interpretations such as with the story of Adam and Eve, etc.
(c) Exegesis of the Bible opposing the spirit of Judaism and the Biblical text such
as his writings about G-d and certain parts of the story of Adam and Eve, etc.
From makes great use of certain chapters in the Bible that reflect the conflicts
which he experienced - the religious environment in which he grew up and his
later release from these ties and acceptance of atheism. In these passages
Fromm emphasizes the ideals of freedom, dissent, and disobedience, and wonders why there was no decisive step taken to be free of - G-d.
In the first chapter of And You Shall Be As G-d Fromm presents his radical
approach to interpreting the meaning of the name Elokim and of its historic development. There is no question that here Fromm is truly the prophet of atheism
when he writes that he believes that one of the names for G-d - Elokim historically speaking is an expression of inner experience/inner ability to withstand trial.
He says, I can understand what the Bible means or what certain people mean by
their way toward the L-d, but I cannot accept the cultural concept. I feel that the
concept Elokim is a term which is conditioned on the presence of a sociopolitical body where the power to rul is presented to the heads of the-tribe or
kings - the highest value that can be achieved analogous to the highest from of
rule in society. The name Elokim is one of many varieties expressing the highest value in humanism. It is not a condition; it is a name. In the rest of the chapter Fromm presents his doctrine of the development of the concept and in this
way explains the story of Abraham and the compacts, the story of Sodom, and
later the Divine revelation to Moses. There is no question that this interpretation
is radical and in contradiction to the spirit of Judaism and, in my opinion, it is also
contrary to the spirit of the Bible. For the believing person the Torah was presented to Moses, and the writings of the prophets are books in which the prophets present what was told to them from the Alm-ty. Together they comprise one
unit whose purpose is to direct man toward a wholesome belief in G-d and not a
development religion.. There is no question that this is the true spirit of the Bible.
However, if you do not accept this but think that the Bible is the creation of people
over the generations, it is not so strange to come to the conclusion that Fromm
did - namely that the Bible is only a historical document which reflects the spirit of
its times.
The Jew says after his morning prayer, I believe with full faith that the Creator, Blessed-be-His Name, is the Creator and Director of all creatures, and He
alone creates, created, and will create all things. I believe with full faith that the
Creator Blessed-be-His-Name, is incorporeal and cannot be fathomed by one
who can. only understand corporeality, and . there is none like Him .

The Sin of Adam And Eve

One of the more esoteric stories to be found in the Torah is the sin of Adam and
Eve. Many are the attempts to understand and explain this story of the. Bible
whether they espouse the view openly presented in the Bible or are hidden in the
mystic Kabala. But all view this as the story which relates the cause for the onset
of sin and the shortcomings of the world. This is when death took its permanent
place in the world. Not one of the Biblical commentators would say that this story
is an act of bravery, the reward for which was the differentiation between good
and evil, but Fromm does. He interprets this story in his radicalistic fashion. He
sees here the story of Adam or mans developmental status in which Adam or
man frees himself from his ties of blood and earth, takes the law into his own
hands and revolts, in order to achieve the ideal of rule and self-realization.
The sin of Adam brought about development of man who entered a process
of ever increasing individualization and cuts his ties with nature. Fromm writes
what with this first step of cutting the ties with nature, history was written and with
it came alienation. As we have seen, this is not the story of mans fall but, in fact,
marks his awakening and thus the beginning of his rise. This point of view is reflected almost everywhere that Fromm deals with this topic. However, this is not
surprising in view of Fromms own reaction to the story of Adam and Eve. He relates in Beyond the Chains of Illusion that this story of the revolt of Adam and
Eve made a great impression on me. It appears that Fromm identified with them
and decided to emulate them since we know that he was originally raised in a religious home and received a religious education and nevertheless revolted
against his home background and training and became an atheist. He could not
rest until he was able to find another source for teaching atheism as a form of revolt from all ties including the Creator and seems to have found it in the Bible - of
all things. He found that the first biengs also did what he did; they revolted
against the Creator. They tried to become more clever. He sees in the Divine
commandments to Adam and expression of fear on the part of the Creator that
Adam might learn to differentiate between good and evil and become like Him.
Therefore, Fromm concludd that religion binds man and prevents him from understanding the world. Thus, despite the threat that, once they eat from the Three
of Knowledge they would die, they were willing to forego eternal life in order to
find themselves, and they found that once they ate from the Tree of Knowledge
they did learn to differentiate good from evil. Nor did they express any open regret for their deeds despite the heavy punishment of exile from the Garden of
Eden. Fromm presents other interpretations of this story in other places but follows the same approach.
As I have said, the Bible says something else. Fromm all of this we learn that
Adam sinned. The Torah does not consider the ability to differentiate between
good and evil as a sign of the redemption of man but rather a sign of the attachment of evil to man. Evil is now close to his consciousness, more so than when
he had no knowledge of its existence, and that is why he is quick to carry it our.
Cursing the earth, being driven out of the Garden of Eden - the transition between a creature who lives in the Garden of Eden and a creature that is vulnerable does not constitute an improvement of condition but a decline.
However, Fromm sees the concept of freedom as an ideal in the Torah (P.
166) and, as long as man is not free of man, he cannot reach human perfection.
The significance of freedom in the Bible heirarchy of values is that it places the
freeing of the Jews from Egypt in the center of Jewish tradition because only free
people, and not slaves, could receive the Torah and, as long as this type of freedom from idolatry leads to another typ of attachment to the Creator and receiving the commandments, it is considered good, but a freedom that leads to a distachment from the Creator, it is not good. Therefore, one cannot agree with
Fromm that being driven from Eden was a desirable achievement, and Adam
would undoubtedly have also agreed with this point and would not have viewed
his expulsion from Eden as a goal.

Fromm, and Abraham

(See above). Fromm writes that in addition to Adam, he was impressed by Abraham who pleaded with the Alm-ty to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorra
and with Jonahs mission to save Nineveh. This impression can be explained in
two ways - (a) by the fact that it is possible for human to disagree with the Alm-ty;
(b) from the possibility that sinners may be permitted to return to their place of
sinning. If we accept these possibilities as the causes that impressed Fromm, we
find that they correlate with Fromms own situation. As we have said before, he
does this because he is seeking an authoritative source for his own views and
ideals of atheism and the freedom of the individual.
With regard to the story of Abraham and his defense of the people of Sodom,
what impresses Fromm is not the humanitarian act of defending criminals but his
bravery in demanding freedom of speech. He feels that he has the right to call
even the Creator of the World to task albeit politely in the name of justice, and his
approach, according to Fromm, is not one of a humble supplicant but of a proud
soul claiming his right to enforce the universally accepted ideal of justice which
for Fromm carries the highest value and rank, since Fromm carries the highest
value and rank, since Fromm feels that ideals are beyond subjugation or limitation. The Masoretic approach to this story and to Abraham in general is quite different. He is a symbol par excellence the pure and undiminishable believer. The
Torah compliments him openly when it writes that he believed in G-d; he does not
question the motives of G-d or his actions but He prays for mercy. We find his
unquestioning attitude clearly brought to the fore by our Jewish sages when they
proclaim that Abrahams pure belief was tested ten times, and he came through
in full glory. This stand in direct contradiction to what Fromm thought. Abraham is
the Lds servant and is so termed by the Bible (Psalms 105-6). He is definitely not
the revolutionary that Fromm wishes to see in him and that he seems to need.

Fromm, and rhe Shabbos (Sabbath)

In his chapter on Halacha Fromm presents his approach to the halachic practice
of Judaism and finds it quite favorable (Page 170). He says that, generally speaking, the practice of the commandments has not been accepted as a burden but
as a disciplined way of life. The spirit of the Halacha as developed by the Rabbis
during the past hundreds of years is permeated with a spirit of justice, love for all
men, respect for the individual, and a hallowing of human life in order to permit
the development of mans humanity.
Fromm then goes on to his treatment of the Shabbos, the Jewish Sabbath,
and he says, (P. 173) I will not be exaggerating when I say that Judaism over the
past hundreds of years of persecution and debasement could not have maintained its moral and spiritual level avere it not for the existence of this single day
of the week which transforms even the poorest of the poor into a proud and honorable Jew, and turns the pauper into a king, but in order not to see this as an
exaggeration, it is necessary to place the Shabbos in its authentic position within
the Jewish tradition. He who thinks that because he sees conadles burning he
knows that the Shabbos means has no concept of the atmosphere that the
Shabbos generates. Here ave discover Fromm as a person who knows the
commandments of the Torah and as a person who sees the truth within them. He
opposes the mechanical approach of the modern Jew to his religion, who relates
to it as superficial ceremony. Further on, Fromm objects to explaining the enactment of the Shabbos from an anthropomorphic point of view in which the Creator
is really resting from His efforts of working six days, and therefore the Jew rests
because He rested then..

Fromm then continues to explain the Shabbos and the requirement for rest
as a symbolic union of man and nature and between man and his fellow man.
The Shabbos is the presnt attainment of Messianic emancipation without resorting to magical ceremonies but by placing man into a position of peace and harmony. The human being ceases completely to wage his war for existence. As this
time he becomes a whole person whose only purpose is to be human. He then
completes this chapter by saying that on the day of Shabbos death is pushed
aside, and life is complete.
In a note at the end of the chapter Fromm calls for the keeping of Shabbos in
its traditional manner in joy and absence of care.
Here ave see Fromm in a different perspective, more as a child in his fathers
house - a monotheist rather than the atheist ave have seen before - more of a
humanist who understands the inner content and spirit of Halacha, its humanity
and justice, and who wishes to be part of it.