Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition | Deluxe Edition 2026

Originally printed in 1958

In this groundbreaking study, David Bakan challenges the traditional image of Sigmund Freud as a purely secular intellectual. While Freud is often viewed as a product of modern Western culture, Bakan argues that the father of psychoanalysis was profoundly shaped by Jewish mystical lore—a heritage Freud often appeared to distance himself from in his scientific pursuits.

The core premise suggests that Freudian theory is deeply rooted in Jewish mysticism, particularly the Kabbala. By examining Freud’s own distinction between cultural Jewishness and religious adherence, Bakan illustrates how mystical traditions informed Freud's technical genius and his complex identity as both an "infidel" and a "Jew."

• 1. The Problem of the Origins of Psychoanalysis
• 2. Hypotheses Relating the Origins of Psychoanalysis to Freud's Personal Life
• 3. Psychoanalysis as a Problem in the History of Ideas
• 4. Anti-Semitism in Vienna
• 5. The General Question of Dissimulation
• 6. Did Freud Ever Dissemble?
• 7. Freud's Positive Identification as a Jew
• 8. Freud's Relationship to Fliess and His Other Jewish Associates

• 9. Early Kabbala
• 10. Modern Kabbala
• 11. The Zohar
• 12. The Chmielnicki Period
• 13. Jewish Self-Government
• 14. The Sabbatian Episode
• 15. The Frankist Episode
• 16. Chassidism

• 17. The Moses of Michelangelo
• 18. Some Relevant Biographical Items
• 19. Moses and Monotheism—A Book of Double Content
• 20. Moses as an Egyptian
• 21. Moses Was Killed by the Jews

• 23. Introduction
• 24. The Transition
• 25. The Hypnosis and Cocaine Episodes
• 26. The Discovery of the Transference
• 27. The "Flectere..." of The Interpretation of Dreams
• 28. Freud's Paper on Demoniacal Possession
• 29. The Composition of The Interpretation of Dreams
• 30. Accretion of Meanings to the Devil Image

• 31. The Problem of Scholarship
• 32. Techniques of Interpretation
• 33. Sexuality