Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- Music as Metaphor in Etty Hillesum’s Spirituality
- A “staretz” in Camp Westerbork: The Connections Between Slavic Orthodoxy and the Spirituality of Etty Hillesum
- Etty Hillesum: Humanity as a Task
- Etty Hillesum & Albert Konrad Gemmeker: A Twofold Analysis of the Perpetration of the Westerbork Commander
- “Now is the Time to Put into Practice: Love Your Enemies”: Several Notes on Hillesum’s “Love for Enemies” in Levenskunst
- The Cares of the Pagans: The Reading of Matthew 6:25-34 by Søren Kierkegaard and Etty Hillesum
- Dialogizing Life amidst a Culture of Death: Etty Hillesum, Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor and Nazi Reductionism
- Patience and Hope in the Writings of Julian of Norwich and Etty Hillesum
- The Girl Who Could Not Kneel: Etty Hillesum and the Turn Inward
- Etty Hillesum and Charlotte Salomon: Pregnancy as a Theme in Their Lives and Works
- Wandering Beyond Words: Etty Hillesum and Clarice Lispector
- “Verbalize, Vocalize, Visualize”: Creative Death and Performative Writing in the Testimonies of Hillesum and Levi
- A “No” that Is an Affirmation: Etty Hillesum and Simone Weil Against the Laws of Force
- From Enclosure to Disclosure: Images of the Self in Etty Hillesum’s Diary
- A Story of Individuation in the Writings of Etty Hillesum: A Jungian Perspective
- Mad Midrash in the Diaries of Etty Hillesum
- The Mystery of Encounter: Poetry and Faith After Auschwitz in the Work of Paul Celan and Etty Hillesum
- Can Religion Help Heal a World Broken by Trauma?: Etty Hillesum as Our Ancestor in the Qahal Goyim
- The Contours of These Times:Etty Hillesum as Chronicler of Love Transcending Hate in Her Times, for Our Time, for All Time
- Etty Hillesum’s Hand Analysis: The Prologue to Her Diaries
- Suffering, Silence, and Wisdom in the Life of Etty Hillesum
- Feeding the Soul: Etty Hillesum’s Pedagogical and Spiritual Path
- Am I Really a Woman?: A Question About Female Identity in Etty Hillesum
- A Powerless God: Etty Hillesum and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- New Light on Etty Hillesum’s Actions in Camp Westerbork
- “My Beloved Desk, the Best Place on this Earth”: Etty Hillesum Says Goodbye to Her Familiar Surroundings
- Etty Hillesum’s Humanism: Ethical, Philosophical and Theological Comments
- Etty Hillesum’s Struggle to See Clearly: A Story of Two Worlds
- Present Traces of a Past Existence: Through the Lens of Photography
- Etty Hillesum Bibliography
- Works on Etty Hillesum
- Index of Names and Subjects
- Index of Citations
The Cares of the Pagans: The Reading of Matthew 6:25-34 by Søren Kierkegaard and Etty Hillesum
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- Music as Metaphor in Etty Hillesum’s Spirituality
- A “staretz” in Camp Westerbork: The Connections Between Slavic Orthodoxy and the Spirituality of Etty Hillesum
- Etty Hillesum: Humanity as a Task
- Etty Hillesum & Albert Konrad Gemmeker: A Twofold Analysis of the Perpetration of the Westerbork Commander
- “Now is the Time to Put into Practice: Love Your Enemies”: Several Notes on Hillesum’s “Love for Enemies” in Levenskunst
- The Cares of the Pagans: The Reading of Matthew 6:25-34 by Søren Kierkegaard and Etty Hillesum
- Dialogizing Life amidst a Culture of Death: Etty Hillesum, Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor and Nazi Reductionism
- Patience and Hope in the Writings of Julian of Norwich and Etty Hillesum
- The Girl Who Could Not Kneel: Etty Hillesum and the Turn Inward
- Etty Hillesum and Charlotte Salomon: Pregnancy as a Theme in Their Lives and Works
- Wandering Beyond Words: Etty Hillesum and Clarice Lispector
- “Verbalize, Vocalize, Visualize”: Creative Death and Performative Writing in the Testimonies of Hillesum and Levi
- A “No” that Is an Affirmation: Etty Hillesum and Simone Weil Against the Laws of Force
- From Enclosure to Disclosure: Images of the Self in Etty Hillesum’s Diary
- A Story of Individuation in the Writings of Etty Hillesum: A Jungian Perspective
- Mad Midrash in the Diaries of Etty Hillesum
- The Mystery of Encounter: Poetry and Faith After Auschwitz in the Work of Paul Celan and Etty Hillesum
- Can Religion Help Heal a World Broken by Trauma?: Etty Hillesum as Our Ancestor in the Qahal Goyim
- The Contours of These Times:Etty Hillesum as Chronicler of Love Transcending Hate in Her Times, for Our Time, for All Time
- Etty Hillesum’s Hand Analysis: The Prologue to Her Diaries
- Suffering, Silence, and Wisdom in the Life of Etty Hillesum
- Feeding the Soul: Etty Hillesum’s Pedagogical and Spiritual Path
- Am I Really a Woman?: A Question About Female Identity in Etty Hillesum
- A Powerless God: Etty Hillesum and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- New Light on Etty Hillesum’s Actions in Camp Westerbork
- “My Beloved Desk, the Best Place on this Earth”: Etty Hillesum Says Goodbye to Her Familiar Surroundings
- Etty Hillesum’s Humanism: Ethical, Philosophical and Theological Comments
- Etty Hillesum’s Struggle to See Clearly: A Story of Two Worlds
- Present Traces of a Past Existence: Through the Lens of Photography
- Etty Hillesum Bibliography
- Works on Etty Hillesum
- Index of Names and Subjects
- Index of Citations
Summary
Abstract
We do not know if Etty Hillesum has read anything of Kierkegaard's work, and if so, what exactly and how intensively. But speaking of her worries about future, she quotes several times Chapter 6 of the Gospel of Matthew, a passage that Kierkegaard has commented upon several times, especially in his edifying discourses of 1848 entitled Cares of Pagans. Could it be that Etty Hillesum knew these discourses? This article compares from several perspectives Kierkegaard's and Hillesum's reading of Matthew 6. It concludes by discovering in both authors what John D. Caputo has called “quotidianism”: for both, it is essential to devote all attention to living today.
Keywords: Matthew Gospel, Soren Kierkegaard, Care of the Pagans, quotidianism, worry about future, concentrating on present
My latest treasure: the birds of the heavens and the lilies of the fields
− Etty HillesumIntroduction
My article is inscribed in a kind of a triangle: a possible connection between Etty Hillesum, the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), and the Gospel of Matthew, specifically 6:25-34 where Jesus speaks of the birds of the heavens and the lilies of the fields. This passage must have touched Etty Hillesum as she was attuned to nature as God's creation, and especially to flowers. Reflecting, for example, on her roses that went on quietly blossoming in Amsterdam while she was in Camp Westerbork, she wrote, “Many say, ‘How can you still think of flowers!’”
But how was Etty Hillesum's attention drawn to Matthew's parable? Could it be that she found “the birds of the heavens and the lilies of the fields” in Kierkegaard's edifying discourses on Matthew 6? This is the basic query that I shall try to answer.
In fact, we do not know if Etty Hillesum had read anything of Kierkegaard's work. If she had, we do not know which passages nor how intensively she may have focused on them. There are only four occurrences where she even mentioned Kierkegaard in Het Werk, and these references to the Danish philosopher were quite unspecific, often inside of a list of several authors.
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- Information
- Lasting Significance of Etty Hillesum's Writings , pp. 99 - 114Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2019