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6.1.1935
Vienna IX, Berggasse 19
My dear Lou
One advantage of these artificial divisions of time is that by a kind of regression one hears again from those dear to one who have threatened to disappear with the passage of time. As usual you did not say much about yourself, but I think I am justified in assuming a certain measure of comfort and good health, both of which I wish you in abundance.
My one source of satisfaction is Anna. It is remarkable how much influence and authority she has gained among the general run of analysts—many of whom, alas, have derived little from analysis as far as their personal character is concerned. It is surprising, too, how sharp, clear and unflinching she is in her mastery of the subject. Moreover, she is truly independent of me; at the most I serve as a catalyst. You will enjoy reading her most recent writings. Of course there are certain worries; she takes things too seriously. What will she do when she has lost me? Will she lead a life of ascetic austerity?
What you have heard about my last piece of work I can now explain in greater detail. It started out from the question as to what has really created the particular character of the Jew, and came to the conclusion that the Jew is the creation of the man Moses.226 Who was this Moses and what did he bring about? The answer to this question was given in a kind of historical novel. Moses was not a Jew, but a well-born Egyptian, a high official, a priest, perhaps a prince of the royal dynasty, and a zealous supporter of the monotheistic faith, which the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV had made the dominant religion round about 1350 B.C. With the collapse of the new religion and the extinction of the 18th dynasty after the Pharaoh's death this ambitious and aspiring man had lost all his hopes and had decided to leave his fatherland and create a new nation which he proposed to bring up in the imposing religion of his master. He resorted to the Semitic tribe which had been dwelling in the land since th