Franz Rosenzweig. Primary and Secondary Writings

Louvain, viii+164 pp., 19952, ISBN 90-73683-14-9. Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) produced a polyvalent body of writings in his short life. As a western intellectual and an assimilated Jew, he initially recognized himself in German idealism. When he became aware that this way of thinking could not offer an answer to the pressing questions of our century's early decades, he rediscovered the value of revealed faith from a discussion with Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy. As philosopher and theologian, Rosenzweig expressed his original insights in a philosophical work (Der Stern der Erlösung), a bible translation prepared with Martin Buber, a translation of liturgical texts and of medieval poems by Jehuda Halevi and in a rich correspondence. In addition, he also founded the Freie Jüdische Lehrhaus, which became an important contribution to Jewish learning.The bibliography is divided into two parts. The primary bibliography contains various editions and translations of Rosenzweig's texts. The largest part was already published by Prof. B. Casper in F. Rosenzweig, Der Mensch und sein Werk. Gesammelte Schriften IV. Sprachdenken. Vol. II: Arbeitspapiere zur Verdeutschung der Schrift, Dordrecht/Boston/Lancaster, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1984. These titles were adopted and provided with a translation and an adaptation of the punctuation. They are also supplemented with a list of recent publications. A reference system and an index allow the various editions to be traced. The secondary bibliography collects mainly studies from German, English, French, American and Dutch linguistic regions. In addition, there is also a selection of Hebrew, Italian and Polish titles. The titles are listed chronologically and, within the same year, alphabetically. An index of authors and an index of key words from the title simplify the use of the bibliography. The bibliography contains 1350 entries. Research on the bibliography was concluded in March 1995. The bibliography can be ordered at: lanckaert@katho.be and costs about 25 EURO.