Q&A: Between Marxism and Jewish Faith
Between Marxism and Jewish Faith
Question
From a loose reading of some of your articles, it seems to me that the main reason you attack Marxism so sharply is that it contains a dogmatic worldview of children of light and children of darkness, at the end of which stands a utopia for the righteous. But this belief is not only woven into Judaism itself (the messianic era, the World to Come); it is also expressed through the commandments we were given (to destroy idolatry and those who serve it, to burn an apostate city and kill its inhabitants, to annihilate the seven nations). If so, where do you see the difference? Perhaps you accept the Torah’s shared characteristics but act forcefully against their successors—on one side Gush Emunim, and on the other the various Maoist regimes? If so, I definitely understand and accept that position. In any case, I’d be interested to hear your answer.
Answer
I don’t know where you got this thesis from. I am against Marxism because it sees reality through demons instead of examining it on its own terms. I have no problem when children of light are seen as children of light and children of darkness as children of darkness. I have a problem when children of light are seen as children of darkness, or vice versa.
Discussion on Answer
I do. Everything else is just a collection of baseless speculations (demons? what does that have to do with idolatry? the Other Side among the Marxists?). I have nothing to say about all this. I’m done.
There’s also the problem with Marxism that it is simply economically mistaken.
On a second look, I’m actually inclined to agree with you, although most of my criticism of Marx comes from Bakunin.
But who decides that these are the children of light and those are the children of darkness? As for your claim, I think that among us too there is a view according to which the ideas that dominate the wider world are, in general, demonic. That is where the term “idolatry” comes from. In the Torah of Moses and in Marx’s writings, this idea is central. You may think that reality as the Marxists understand it is not filled with idolatry but rather steeped in the Other Side, and if that is the case, I’d be glad to hear why you think so. And if not, then in any case, as I said, I’m interested in hearing your position.