Editing Franz Kafka (section)

=== Judaism and Zionism ===
{{further|Franz Kafka and Judaism}}

[[File:Franz Kafka 1910.jpg|thumb|upright|Kafka in 1910]]
[[File:Kafka's notebook.JPG|thumb|Kafka's notebook with his studies of Hebrew]]

Kafka grew up in Prague as a German-speaking Jew.{{sfn|History Guide|2006|p=}} He was deeply fascinated by the [[Eastern European Jewry|Jews of Eastern Europe]], who he thought possessed an intensity of spiritual life that was absent from Jews in the West. His diary contains many references to [[Yiddish literature|Yiddish writers]].{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} Yet he was at times alienated from Judaism and Jewish life. On 8 January 1914, he wrote in his diary:
{{Text and translation|{{lang|de|Was habe ich mit Juden gemeinsam? Ich habe kaum etwas mit mir gemeinsam und sollte mich ganz still, zufrieden damit daß ich atmen kann, in einen Winkel stellen.}}{{sfn|Alt|2005|p=430}}
|What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe.{{sfn|Kafka|Brod|1988|p=252}}{{sfn|Kafka-Franz|2012}}}}

In his adolescent years, Kafka declared himself an [[atheist]].{{sfn|Gilman|2005|p=31}}

Hawes suggests that Kafka, though very aware of his own [[Jewish peoplehood|Jewishness]], did not incorporate it into his work, which, according to Hawes, lacks Jewish characters, scenes or themes.{{sfn|Connolly|2008}}{{sfn|Harper's|2008}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=119–126}} In the opinion of literary critic [[Harold Bloom]], although Kafka was uneasy with his Jewish heritage, he was the quintessential Jewish writer.{{sfn|Bloom|1994|p=428}} Lothar Kahn is likewise unequivocal: "The presence of Jewishness in Kafka's {{lang|fr|oeuvre}} is no longer subject to doubt".{{sfn|Kahn|Hook|1993|p=191}} [[Pavel Eisner]], one of Kafka's first translators, interprets {{lang|de|Der Prozess}} (''The Trial'') as the embodiment of the "triple dimension of Jewish existence in Prague{{nbsp}}... his protagonist Josef K. is (symbolically) arrested by a German (Rabensteiner), a Czech (Kullich), and a Jew (Kaminer). He stands for the 'guiltless guilt' that imbues the Jew in the modern world, although there is no evidence that he himself is a Jew".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p=23}}

In his essay ''Sadness in Palestine?!'', [[Dan Miron]] explores Kafka's connection to Zionism: "It seems that those who claim that there was such a connection and that Zionism played a central role in his life and literary work, and those who deny the connection altogether or dismiss its importance, are both wrong. The truth lies in some very elusive place between these two simplistic poles."{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} Kafka considered moving to [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]] with Felice Bauer, and later with Dora Diamant. He studied [[Hebrew]] while living in Berlin, hiring a friend of Brod's from Palestine, Pua Bat-Tovim, to tutor him{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} and attending Rabbi Julius Grünthal<ref>Tal, Josef. Tonspur – Auf Der Suche Nach Dem Klang Des Lebens. Berlin: Henschel, 2005. pp. 43–44</ref> and Rabbi [[Julius Guttmann]]'s classes in the Berlin {{lang|de|[[Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums]]|italic=no}} (College for the Study of Judaism),{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=196}} where he also studied the [[Talmud]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Hunters of Lost Books: New Project Finds and Digitizes Books Looted in WWII |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2024-01-11/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-hunters-of-lost-books-new-project-finds-and-digitizes-books-looted-in-wwii/0000018c-f81b-d432-a7ae-fffbb9fd0000 |access-date=8 February 2024|newspaper=[[Haaretz]]}}</ref>

[[Livia Rothkirchen]] calls Kafka the "symbolic figure of his era".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p=23}} His contemporaries included numerous Jewish, Czech, and German writers who were sensitive to Jewish, Czech, and German culture. According to Rothkirchen, "This situation lent their writings a broad cosmopolitan outlook and a quality of exaltation bordering on transcendental metaphysical contemplation. An illustrious example is Franz Kafka".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p=23}}

Towards the end of his life Kafka sent a postcard to his friend Hugo Bergmann in Tel Aviv, announcing his intention to emigrate to Palestine. Bergmann refused to host Kafka because he had young children and was afraid that Kafka would infect them with tuberculosis.{{sfn|Bloom|2011}}