Benny Lévy (also Pierre Victor; 28 August 1945 – 15 October 2003) was a philosopher, political activist and author. A political figure of
May 1968 in France
May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...
, he was the disciple and last personal secretary of
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...
from 1974 to 1980.
Along with him, he helped founding the French newspaper ''
Libération
(), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...
'' in 1972.
After having encountered the
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until the modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconc ...
of
Emmanuel Levinas
Emmanuel Levinas (born Emanuelis Levinas ; ; 12 January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the rel ...
in 1978, he operated a return to tradition. He then founded the
Institut d'études lévinassiennes in Jerusalem with
Alain Finkielkraut
Alain Luc Finkielkraut (; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French essayist, radio producer, and public intellectual. Since 1986, he has been the host of ''Répliques'', a talk show broadcast weekly on France Culture. He was elected a Fellow of the Ac ...
and
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, politi ...
.
Benny Lévy is known for his unusual itinerary from
Maoism
Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...
to
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, or "from Mao to Moses", which was also followed by a few other philosophers of his generation.
May 68 and the Gauche prolétarienne
Born in Egypt to a Jewish family originally from
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
, in present-day Syria. Benny Lévy grew up without experiencing Judaism as a faith. He left Egypt after the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
of 1956 and immigrated to Belgium and then France with his family. His elder half-brother, Eddy Lévy, stayed in Egypt, converted to Islam in 1956 and changed his name to Adil Rifaat. The historian of mathematics
Tony Lévy is his brother.
Benny Lévy soon proved to be a brilliant student and completed his studies at the
École Normale Supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
, learning under such key intellectual figures as
Marxist philosopher
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and ...
Louis Althusser
Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher who studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy.
Althusser was a long-time member an ...
and
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida;Peeters (2013), pp. 12–13. See also 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was a French Algerian philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in a number of his texts, ...
, founder of
deconstruction
In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understand the relationship between text and meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who described it as a turn away from ...
. He entered the
Union des étudiants communistes (UEC), a student communist group, and then at his foundation in 1966 the Maoist
Union des jeunesses communistes marxistes-léninistes (UJC - ml). He became one of the main leaders of this latter organization after
Robert Linhart. Benny Lévy was an important figure during the
May 68 Student Revolt. After these events, the direction of the UJC-ml was put in minority, and founded the Maoist
Gauche prolétarienne
The (GP) was a French Maoist political party which existed from 1968 to 1974. As Christophe Bourseiller put it, "Of all the Maoist organizations after May 1968, the most important numerically as well as in cultural influence was without question ...
(GP, Proletarian Left). Taking the pseudonym of Pierre Victor, Benny Lévy was one of its main leaders, along with
Alain Geismar
Alain Geismar (; born 17 July 1939) is a French politician, physicist, and Honorary Inspector General of Education.
He was one of the student leaders during the unrest of May 1968 in France.
Biography
Geismar was born in Paris to an Alsatian Jew ...
.
As editor of the Maoist newspaper ''
La Cause du Peuple'' (The Cause of the People), he was arrested repeatedly by the French police, who were determined to suppress the unrest. By 1970, with arrests occurring more frequently, Lévy and the other editors decided to turn to
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...
, whom they knew benefited from protection from police harassment. Sartre responded by adding his name to the list of editors, and the arrests indeed stopped. It was then discovered by the government that the proletarian leftwing leader Pierre Victor was, in fact, a
stateless refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
. The passport given to him by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
was confiscated, and he was ordered to appear at the local police station once every two weeks with his relatives and a lawyer.
The organisation was outlawed in 1970. As stateless and leader of an outlawed organisation, Benni Lévy was forced to
clandestinity until 1973, the date of the auto-dissolving of the GP. By this point, however, Lévy had developed a very amicable relationship with Sartre, who decided to make him his protégé and asked him to serve as his personal secretary, which he remained from September 1974 till Sartre's death in 1980. Sartre interceded to President
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981.
After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...
, and Lévy was
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
.
The thought of the Return
During these six years, Lévy worked with Sartre, and the two men produced four books until Sartre's death. While working with Sartre, Lévy began to discover Judaism, initially through his research into the
Kabbalah
Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
, which he conducted with his mentor. Their work together created a stir among the circle that surrounded Sartre, because Sartre had begun introducing new ideas and terms that evoked religious and, more specifically, Jewish concepts, such as Redemption and
Messianism
Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Some religions also have messianism-related concepts. Religions with a messiah concept include Hinduism (Kalki), Judaism ( Mashiach), Christianity ( ...
. Some, including
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...
began accusing Lévy of brainwashing Sartre and faking his writings. After this Ms de Beauvoir and Mr Levy were no longer on speaking terms. Two months before his death, Sartre responded to these critics, claiming that he had indeed abandoned some of his earlier ideas. In 1978, Lévy encountered Levinas, and started learning Hebrew and beginning
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic studies.
Starting in 1975, he taught at the
University of Paris-VII
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
, founded in the wake of May 68, before obtaining a doctorate in philosophy at the
Sorbonne in 1985, and a habilitation to direct researches (HDR) in philosophy in 1998, under the direction of
Dominique Lecourt
Dominique Lecourt (; 5 February 1944 – 1 May 2022) was a French philosopher. He is known in the Anglophone world primarily for his work developing a materialist interpretation of the philosophy of science of Gaston Bachelard.
Biography
Leco ...
at Paris-VII.
Benny Lévy embraced Jewish Orthodoxy, and began to study in a
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
. He finally immigrated to
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
in 1997, where he established the
Institut d'études lévinassiennes in Jerusalem along with
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, politi ...
and
Alain Finkielkraut
Alain Luc Finkielkraut (; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French essayist, radio producer, and public intellectual. Since 1986, he has been the host of ''Répliques'', a talk show broadcast weekly on France Culture. He was elected a Fellow of the Ac ...
, and learned with Rabbi Moshe Shapira. He died suddenly during the holiday of
Sukkot
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...
in 2003. In ''Etre Juif'', he wrote:
To be Jewish. To be, in an absolutely singular manner... a thought of the Return. The Return to the Sinaï... The thought of the Return (''la pensée du Retour'') requires a critique of the atheology of the modern jew . Theology of the silence of God after Auschwitz, critique of theodicy
In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...
, finally return to the notion of absolute Evil, these are the points through which one must pass in a critical manner. In this sense, this book addresses itself at any man, insofar as he is still sensible to the question of the origin of evil.[French: ''« Être Juif. Être, de manière radicalement singulière ; être, irrémissiblement rivé à son judaïsme comme le dit Emmanuel Lévinas, présent tout le long des lignes de ce texte. À partir de cette facticité juive, s'esquissent quelques propositions pour une pensée du Retour. Retour au Sinaï. Là précisément où le juif est rivé. La pensée du Retour requiert une critique de l'athéologie du juif moderne. Théologie du silence de Dieu après Auschwitz, critique de la théodicée, enfin recours à la notion de Mal absolu, voilà les points par où il faut passer de manière critique. En ce sens, ce livre s'adresse à tout homme pour autant qu'il est encore sensible à la question de l'origine du Mal. »'']
Bibliography
*
Alain Finkielkraut
Alain Luc Finkielkraut (; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French essayist, radio producer, and public intellectual. Since 1986, he has been the host of ''Répliques'', a talk show broadcast weekly on France Culture. He was elected a Fellow of the Ac ...
, Benny Lévy, Le Livre et les Livres, essai sur la laïcité,
Verdier, 2006.
*
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...
& Benny Lévy, L'espoir maintenant : les entretiens de 1980, présentés et suivis du Mot de la fin par Benny Lévy, Publication : Paris : Verdier, 1991.
*
Philon
Philon (), Athenian architect of the 4th century BC, is known as the planner of two important works: the portico of twelve Doric columns to the great Hall of the Mysteries at Eleusis (work commissioned by Demetrius Phalereus about 318 BC) and, ...
en regard des pharisiens de l'intériorité, Publication: Lille 3: ANRT, 1986 Description matérielle: 3 microfiches; 105x148 mm Note(s): Th. 3e cycle: Hist. de la philos.: Paris 1: 1985.
* Être Juif, Verdier, 2003.
* La confusion des temps, Verdier, 2004
* La cérémonie de la naissance, Verdier, 2005
* Le Logos et la lettre: Philon d'Alexandrie en regard des pharisiens, Publication: Lagrasse: Verdier, 1988.
* Le meurtre du pasteur: critique de la vision politique du monde, Paris: B. Grasset: Verdier, 2002.
* Le Nom de l'homme : dialogue avec Sartre, Publication: Lagrasse: Verdier, 1984.
* On a raison de se révolter, sous le pseudonyme de Pierre Victor, avec Jean-Paul Sartre et Philippe Gavi, Gallimard, collection "La France sauvage", 1974.
* "Today's Hope: Conversations with Sartre"
''Telos''44 (Summer 1980). New York: Telos Press.
* Visage continu: la pensée du retour chez Emmanuel Lévinas, Publication: Lagrasse: Verdier, 1998.
References
Further reading
*Beinin, Joel. ''The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora''. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998 199
*Sébastien Repaire, ''Sartre et Benny Lévy'', Paris, L'Harmattan, 2013.
External links
Benny Levy's Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Benny
1945 births
2003 deaths
Egyptian emigrants to France
École Normale Supérieure alumni
20th-century French philosophers
21st-century French philosophers
French Orthodox Jews
Jewish philosophers
Jewish socialists
1968 in France
French activists
French communists
Israeli philosophers
Israeli Orthodox Jews
Baalei teshuva
French Maoists
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Egyptian people of Syrian descent
French people of Syrian-Jewish descent