asinine ‘anecdote’ about Marx

[ZJW]

At the end of an otherwise serious-minded letter in the current issue appears mention of an outrageously asinine ‘anecdote’:

‘While I can’t cite a specific reference for that, it is at least recorded that he did enjoy a pork and matzah sandwich when he could.’

This ‘anecdote’, to which the letter-writer refers, seems to have been made known to the world most recently in blog posts following publication in 2024 of a book titled ‘Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig, which was written by this worthy: https://religiousstudies.wisc.edu/staff/jordan-rosenblum . I will give the relevant quote from his book, and then go on to its footnotes, and then onto an earlier (non-)source of the ‘anecdote’.

On book page 111:

‘Long before Karl Marx was a household name whose words and ideas greatly impacted sociopolitical events and college syllabi across the globe, he was a young boy whose Jewish parents had converted to Christianity. Navigating an enduring Jewish past and a Lutheran present, Marx engaged in what might seem like a curious culinary practice:27 “On the eve of Easter Karl would make his way to the ghetto of Trier. The Jewish Passover preceded the Christian Easter. The members of his Uncle Jacob’s house would be busy baking matzah and preparing the stuffed fish for the Seder. … In Brueckengasse [outside the ghetto] they were coloring eggs and roasting a piglet. Karl used to bring some matzah home and eat it with thin slices of Paschal pork. ‘We all have the same God,’ his aunts would say indulgently. ‘Sacrilege!’ Henrietta [his mother] would storm indignantly, trembling in expectation of God’s wrath.28

This matzah-and-pork sandwich — which I have taken to jokingly refer to as the “Karl Marx Special”—is less a heresy between two pieces of ritual carbs than a complex expression of Marx’s identity.29 Clearly, the pig represents his Lutheran present and the matzah his Jewish past.30 Karl enjoyed them both combined together—literally ingesting his identity in the form of a sandwich. For Henrietta, Marx’s mother, however, this was sacrilege. She was a reluctant con- vert, which explains her stormy reaction to what she perceived as culinary heresy.31 The pig represented not just Christian identity but also the ultimate Jewish taboo. Putting them together in one sandwich was a bridge too far for Henrietta. But for Karl, this sandwich was a bridge that brought together his past and present. It is unclear whether this was a bold statement foreshadowing his future revolutionary disposition or just a tasty combination of foods he enjoyed eating in spring. Religion may be the opiate of the masses, but this religion sandwich probably just satisfied Marx’s hunger.’

The footnotes:

’27 This enduring connection to Judaism comes especially from his mother, as is exemplified in the subtitle to Ainsztein 1964: “The Jewish Background of Karl Marx: His Mother Strongly Opposed Conversion.”

28 As quoted in Fabre-Vassas 1997, 233. I checked this quote against the source from which Fabre-Vassas quotes (Ainsztein 1964, 16; see Fabre-Vassas 1997, 357n1, for the reference). The 1964 reference contains slightly different punctuation than Fabre-Vassas’s version. I decided to default to the 1964 source in general but retained Fabre-Vassas’s introduction of quotation marks for direct speech, as I believe it made the story clearer to read. I also modified the transliteration of matzah (from the original of matza), for the sake of consistency throughout this book.

29 As opposed to the famous “Hillel Sandwich,” named after the ancient sage Hillel, who, over two thousand years ago, reputedly made a sandwich out of matzah and bitter herbs as part of the celebration of Passover. For discussion, see Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim 115a. This story is included in the standard Haggadah, part of the ritual observance of Passover unto today.

31 She was reluctant at least at first. After more than fifteen years, however, she reportedly became a devout Lutheran. See Ainsztein 1964, 16.’

Who is Fabre-Vassas?

Fabre-Vassas, Claudine. 1997. The Singular Beast: Jews, Christians, and the Pig. Translated by Carol Volk. New York: Columbia University Press. Claudine. 1997. The Singular Beast: Jews, Christians, and the Pig. Translated by Carol Volk. New York: Columbia University Press.

In Fabre-Vassas’ book on page 234 is written:

‘We shall begin this chapter with an anecdote that brings us back to the heart of our subject. It is attributed to the young Karl Marx, whose parents had converted to Christianity, but without renouncing their origins. The young boy therefore often visited his close Jewish relatives.

On the eve of Easter Karl would make his way to the ghetto of Trier. The Jewish Passover preceded the Christian Easter. The members of his Uncle Jacob’s house would be busy baking matza and preparing the stuffed fish for the Seder. In Brueckengasse [outside the ghetto] they were coloring eggs and roasting a piglet. Karl used to bring some matza home and eat it with thin slices of Paschal pork. “We all have the same God,” his aunts would say indulgently. “Sacrilege!” Henrietta [his mother] would storm indignantly, trembling in expectation of God’s wrath. 1’

And that footnote reads:

‘Quoted by Venetia Newall, An Egg at Easter (London 1971), p. 1)9, from Reuben Ainsztein, “The Jewish Background of Karl Marx,” Jewish Observer and Middle East Review (London), October 23, 1964’

Unfortunately this Ainsztein article, to which one of the Rosenblum footnotes already referred, could not be accessed via internet. I leave the matter to interested parties with access to a library to expose this idiocy at its no doubt unsourced ‘source’.

A couple of notes: 1) the ‘anecdote’ is actually only for what Marx supposedly ate in his childhood, not, as the letter writer would have it, Marx’s ‘enjoy[ing] a pork and matzah sandwich when he could.’ (That is, throughout his adult life, it would seem.) 2) Unless the word is just being used in a fast-and-loose sense, it is undoubtedly untrue that Trier had a [Jewish] ghetto at the time of Marx’s childhood. (‘Judenstrasse’ or ‘Judenviertel’ is to be translated as ‘Jewish Quarter’). 3) Collins English Dictionary: ‘matzo [etc spellings]: A brittle very thin biscuit of unleavened bread, traditionally eaten during Passover.’ (Attention, monoglot speakers of American English reading the Socialist Standard: ‘a brittle very thin biscuit’ translates to ‘a cracker’.) It is obviously not possible to make a meat ‘sandwich’ from such.

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