André Neher


André Neher was a French Jewish scholar and philosopher.

Biography

Neher was born in Obernai, Bas-Rhin. He was a student at the Collège Freppel in Obernai, then at the Lycée Fustel de Coulange in Strasbourg. He became professor at the Collège Erckmann-Chatrian in Phalsbourg, then at the Lycée Kléber in Strasbourg. During World War II, he lived in Brive-la-Gaillarde, where he was a member of Rabbi David Feuerwerker's community. After the War, he became a professor at the University of Strasbourg in 1948. In 1974, at age 60, Neher moved with his wife, Renée Neher-Bernheim to Jerusalem, Israel.

L'Exil de la Parole

His masterpiece is The Exile of the Word, about the biblical silence, and God's silence after the Shoah and the great world tragedies. Neher thinks that through the Bible's silence one can discover divine revelation; through the silence human freedom is possible. He draws on the image of a suspension bridge to describe human "ontological insecurity and pain" caused by this freedom, which is characterized by a "radical factor of uncertainty". For this reason it is necessary to concentrate our attention not on the ideas of redemption or salvation, but on "being here in our life".

Writings