J. Frankel

In this paper we present a philosophical examination of love of fate in the Talmud. While love of fate—or amor fati—is something most would associate with Nietzsche, we show that a version of it is present in the story of the Third Century Amora Elazer ben Pedat. Elazer ben Pedat was a poor man who was given the opportunity by God to restart all of creation. He chose not to do so, despite the tribulations he suffered in this world. It is precisely this rejection of the alternative world that resonates with a Nietzschean affirmation of this world. In this paper, we connect the Rabbinical interpretations of Elazer ben Pedat’s motivation with contemporary scholarship on Nietzsche and Analytic discussions of Jewish Philosophy. We show how the optimism that motivates Elazer ben Pedat to affirm his life compares to—and even has philosophical advantages over—Nietzschean optimism.