Converts of Conviction by David B. Ruderman

Author:David B. Ruderman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Published: 2018-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

3Paulus Stephanus Cassel: A Convert’s, Missionary’s, and Philosemite’s Changing Historical Interpretations of Judaism and Christianity

It would be fascinating to know how Selig Cassel, after having embraced Christianity and after having become the Protestant missionary Paulus Stephanus Cassel in 1855, thought of his brother David’s representations of Jewish history, his reflections on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity as well as of his vigorous rejection of conversion. Unfortunately, no sources seem to be available that would shed light on this question, let alone on personal conversations or controversies between the two brothers concerning theological and historical issues. The same is true for David Cassel’s judgment on his brother’s decisions: it would be most interesting to catch at least a glimpse of the Jewish historian’s judgment on the twists and turns of his brother’s historical and theological views on Jews and Judaism that will be analysed in the following interpretation. However, no private letters or public statements reveal the personal dimension of what must have been a story of alienation, conflict, and separation. Given David Cassel’s firm theological and moral rejection of conversion, his brother’s choice will most likely have been absolutely unacceptable to him. As will be shown, this is confirmed by a few indications which suggest that, even though both brothers lived in Berlin for decades, they never spoke to each other again after what, for David, must have appeared as an act of apostasy that destroyed the very foundations of any further personal relationship.

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