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7 CHAPTER 1 “In the Grip of the Theological-Political Predicament” The Theological-Political Problem and the Jewish Question In many respects, 1965 marks a special occasion in the academic career of Leo Strauss. In that year, two of his earliest books are republished in translation . An American publisher brings out Spinoza’s Critique of Religion, the English translation of his first book, which had originally appeared in German in 1930. Concurrently, a German publisher issues Hobbes’ politische Wissenschaft , the German original of a text of 1936, which until then had only been available in English as The Political Philosophy of Hobbes.1 In both cases, something of an old debt is settled. With the first book, Strauss’s Englishspeaking audience finally gains access to a scholarly debut that was received as an important achievement in its day. Conversely, the publication of the original book on Hobbes offers the German readership a further opportunity to get acquainted with his work. Moreover, it provides a belated compensation for the disappointments Strauss had to endure in the 1930s, when he found no German publisher prepared to print the work of a Jewish scholar.2 As is customary on such occasions, Strauss adds a foreword to both texts, in which he looks back at the road traveled and supplies elements of an intellectual biography. Reading these forewords in conjunction, the reader cannot fail to be struck by two passages. The preface to Spinoza’s Critique of Religion begins as follows: “This study . . . was written between the years 1925–1928 in Germany. The author was a young Jew, born and raised in Germany, who found himself in the grip of the theological-political predicament.”3 In the foreword to the Hobbes book, Strauss refers to his research on Baruch Spinoza while adding an important declaration: “My study of Hobbes began in conjunction with an investigation of the origins of the critique of the Bible in the seventeenth century, in particular of Spinoza ’s Theologico-Political Treatise . . . Since then the theological-political problem has remained the theme of my investigations.”4 In the case of an exceptionally careful reader and writer like Strauss, any coincidence can safely be ruled out. By dividing a single message over two distinct audiences, he not only bridges the two worlds of his native and his adoptive country, but he also joins two halves of a life devoted to scientific research and intersected by a world war. With unusual emphasis, moreover , he points to what he regards as the core and Leitmotiv of his life and work. In almost four decades, we may infer, the “grip of the theologicalpolitical predicament” has not slackened, even though his understanding of it may have changed, as the shift from “predicament” to “problem” seems to indicate. At any rate, it seems that, by Strauss’s own directions, any attempt to understand his work must focus on “the theological-political problem.” However, the picture proves to be more intricate. In 1962, presumably while composing the preface to the book on Spinoza, Strauss gave a lecture at the Hillel House of the University of Chicago. On this occasion, he told his audience, many of whose members were Jewish: “I believe that I can say without exaggeration that since a very, very early time the main theme of my reflections has been what is called ‘the Jewish Question’”5 No less deliberate and no less emphatic than the other two, this statement is apparently directed to yet another audience, and it complicates our initial question, what does Strauss mean by “the Jewish Question,” and how is it related to the “theological-political problem”? Are they identical, or is the former rather an instance of the latter? In order to answer these questions, we do well to turn to the beginnings. In the 1920s, the young Strauss was an adherent of political Zionism who energetically participated in a number of debates concerning what was then called “the Jewish Question”: the conditions, the identity, and the future of the Jews in Europe. At this “very, very early time,” his commitment was marked by a keen interest in the relationship between political and religious-theological issues. Back to Reality: Emancipation, Assimilation, and Zionism The historical issues underlying the Jewish Question can be defined with some accuracy. The term became current during the second half of the nineteenth century when, following a period of relative quiet and stability, the presence and the place of Jews in Europe was called into question...

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