Love Is Strong as Death

A brilliant and engaging biography of one of the great modern Jewish thinkers. Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) was one of the central figures of the Jewish cultural and intellectual renaissance in Weimar Germany. His masterwork, The Star of Redemption (1921), is a classic of existential thought and Jewish philosophy, and his considerable legacy also includes his collaboration with Martin Buber on a key translation of the Hebrew Bible into German and the establishment of an education center in Frankfurt that brought together the most important young German-Jewish intellectuals of its time. Rosenzweig's personal biography is no less fascinating than his ideas and accomplishments. Drawing on unprecedented access to Rosenzweig's unpublished personal correspondence, Paul Mendes-Flohr skillfully weaves together the threads of Rosenzweig's life to give us a moving portrait of this towering figure--from his near-conversion to Christianity to his tragic diagnosis with ALS. Mendes-Flohr also closely explores Rosenzweig's relationship with Margrit Huessy, who was a vital intellectual partner for Rosenzweig, as well as a muse and lover. He worked out many of his ideas about love both in conversation and consort with her, and Mendes-Flohr shows the importance of intimacy--both romantic and platonic--in the development of Rosenzweig's thought. Love Is Strong as Death provides a unique and insightful look at one of the most important modern Jewish thinkers.