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It has been the consensus among all of Sigmund Freud's biographers, notably, Ernest Jones (1953, 1955, 1957), Max Schur (1972), Ronald W. Clark (1980), and Peter Gay (1987, 1988), that Freud grew up in an assimilated Jewish family and that he, himself, in adolescence and adulthood, intensified his efforts in departing from the religion of his ancestors. They view Freud as a man of the 19th-century Western European Enlightenment, a man who totally liberated himself from the constraints of centuries of religious dogma and practice. His sole contact with Judaism was thought to be with its ethnic aspects as expressed in his membership in B'nai Brith, where he was given the opportunity to expound upon his discoveries in psychoanalysis. These views about his Jewish identity were initiated by Freud himself and subsequendy reinforced by members of his family.
In view of the discovery of new biographical data and a reinter-pretation of existing data (Rice, 1990; Yerushalmi, 1991), it is now possible to subject this traditional perception of Freud to serious question. Revision of this aspect of Freud biography will reveal a view of Jacob and Amalia Freud, the parents of Sigmund, that appears to be consistent with that of a family far more involved with Jewish religion and tradition than reflected in their public image. It can be assumed, and with adequate justification, that the son could not have escaped the strong influence of the family ambiance, specifically in regard to religion and ethnicity.
Recent publications on the subject of Freud's Jewish heritage indicate a sharing of my views. Notable among these authors are