Sigismund Schlomo Freud (1856–1939) was born in Freiberg, Moravia, part of the Austrian Empire. His parents were originally from Galicia, a region in northwestern Ukraine. His family moved to Vienna when he was three years old. Freud lived in that city for virtually his entire life. In 1881, he graduated with a medical degree from the University of Vienna. In 1886, he married Martha Bernays, the granddaughter of Isaac Bernays, the chief rabbi of Hamburg. The couple had six children. In 1938, Freud left Vienna to escape the Nazis. He died in exile in the United Kingdom. Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology.

By the time Freud was born, his parents were already less observant of Jewish law and rituals than they had been when they lived in their villages in Galicia. Yet, Freud’s home was rich in Jewish culture and religion. The Jewish scriptures were the primary instrument of Freud’s education until he attended school at the age of nine. His social life also took place primarily within a Jewish framework. The first to hear his ideas on psychoanalysis were the members of his B’nei B’rith group, a Jewish service organization.

For Freud, the most important element of Judaism was the «prohibition against making an image of God.» Therefore, the Jew’s relationship with God took place in his mind, in his intellect, what he called «Geistigkeit.» The Jew speaks, argues, requests, thinks, imagines, and reasons with a God who has neither form nor name. And they do it all in their mind. This contrasts with other religions that approach God primarily through the senses, where He does have an image, a name, and a ceremony where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and even taste the divine. Freud said that this difference between the intellectual and the sensorial marked the Jewish character for more than two thousand years.

Freud said that, for Jews, believing that God chose them to fulfill a special role in the world helped them maintain their self-esteem, despite the adverse conditions they endured due to the deep anti-Semitism that prevailed at that time, especially in Germanic Europe. He also said that what truly made a person Jewish was not believing in a monotheistic god, eating kosher food, circumcising one’s sons, or any other number of uniquely Jewish beliefs, practices, or inclinations. According to Freud, a person is Jewish simply because they inherit «the traces of memory and experience of their ancestors.»

Freud once wrote: “I can declare that I am as far removed from the Jewish religion as from all others. They don’t attach the slightest sentiment to me. On the other hand, I have always had a powerful sense of community with my people, which I have also nurtured in my children. We all still belong to the Jewish faith.” Freud had Judaism in his veins.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Sigmund Freud, “Moses and Monotheistic Religion.” Articles by Eliza Slavet, Lydia Flem, and Mark Edmundson.