Moses and the Evolution of Freud’s Jewish Identity

Abstract

During the formative years of psychoanalysis Freud seems to have been primarily concerned lest his being a Jew become an obstacle to the spread of psychoanalysis. Merely to point out that Freud was ambivalent towards being a Jew, given the social and psychological environment in which he grew up, is of little interest. What matters is the creative use to which this ambivalence was put. While this ambivalence was never entirely overcome, Freud's attitude, as already indicated, grew increasingly positive. In this evolution the figure of Moses played a significant role. Freud was well aware that his interpretation did not fit the Biblical text where Moses in fact broke the Tablets. Freud turned tables on the anti-Semitic ministers, identifying with the aggressor, mishandles eminent colleagues because they were Jews, and denying in the dream his worry that anti-Semitism would stand in the way of his promotion.

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