Love Is Strong as Death

“In a diary entry from 1905, the young Franz Rosenzweig addressed himself: ‘You believe you are philosophizing, but you are only writing your own biography.’ In his stunning biography of Rosenzweig, Mendes-Flohr has himself produced a work of genuine philosophical depth. He has demonstrated in gripping detail just how intertwined life, thought, and faith were for Rosenzweig and how much his ‘new thinking’ was rooted in the existential and erotic dimensions of his commitment to the rejuvenation of Jewish life in Weimar Germany.”

“Mendes-Flohr devoted his life to exploring the long and troubled history of modern German-Jewish thought. A superb stylist and intellectual historian, he was gifted with an erudition and eloquence that set him apart from more conventional scholars. His biographical study of Franz Rosenzweig was a labor of love and a testament to his long and distinguished career. Those who are unfamiliar with Rosenzweig will find in this book a graceful introduction; those who may feel they know Rosenzweig already will discover new reasons to revisit both the life and the work of this last and most enigmatic of philosophers.”

“Elegant, poignant, and erudite, this long-awaited book by the late Mendes-Flohr is a biographical tour de force. The living voices of Franz Rosenzweig and his interlocutors are made vivid and audible. The great philosopher was a man of flesh and blood, and his lived passions are eloquently evoked in this superbly crafted work.”

Paul Mendes-Flohr was the Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor Emeritus of Modern Jewish History and Thought in the Divinity School and associate faculty in the Department of History at the University of Chicago, as well as professor emeritus of Jewish thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of many books, including Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent and Cultural Disjunctions: Post-Traditional Jewish Identities.