Izabrana: život Edith Stein

Abstract

Edith Stein bila je naučnica i filozofkinja koja u tridesetim godinama svoga života prelazi na katoličanstvo. 1942. godine deportovana je u Aušvic kao žrtva nacističkog progona Jevreja. Ona i dalje izaziva brojne polemike između hrišćanske i jevrejske zajednice. Papa Ivan Pavao II ju je proglasio mučenicom i sveticom. Ipak, veliki dio njenog života ostao je neistražen. Roman „Izabrana“ počinje s rođenjem Edith Stein. Već od samog početka uronjeni smo u religiozne obrede i običaje Židova, kao i napetu dramu rađanja. Edith se rađa u vrlo religioznoj ortodoksnoj židovskoj obitelji. Njezin otac je Siegfried Stein, uvaženi trgovac drvima koji se unatoč razgranatom poslu nije odvajao od Tore i Talmuda, podučavajući od malih nogu svu svoju djecu propisima židovske vjere. Autorica ovog romana Domaš piše sa stajališta promatrača koji opaža misli i molitve aktera, njihovu unutrašnjost i vanjštinu, vanjsku radnju i duševnu dramu. Djevojčica se rodila na Jomkipur, najsvetiji blagdan Židova. A i radnja i drama odišu religioznošću. I taj trgovac drvima, koliko god bio zaokupljen poslom, znao je da njegova bit nije u materijalnom nego u duhovnom i da bez povezanosti s Izvorom, ni on ni itko drugi, ne može preživjeti.

Edith Stein was a scientist and philosopher who converted to Catholicism in her thirties. In 1942, she was deported to Auschwitz as a victim of the Nazi persecution of Jews. It continues to cause numerous controversies between the Christian and Jewish communities. Pope John Paul II declared her a martyr and a saint. However, a large part of her life remains unexplored. The novel "The Chosen One" begins with the birth of Edith Stein. From the very beginning, we are immersed in the religious rites and customs of the Jews, as well as the tense drama of childbirth. Edith was born into a very religious orthodox Jewish family. Her father is Siegfried Stein, a well-respected wood merchant who, despite his extensive business, did not separate himself from the Torah and Talmud, teaching all his children the precepts of the Jewish faith from an early age. The author of this novel writes as an observer who perceives the thoughts and prayers of the actors, their interior and exterior, external actions, and mental drama. The girl was born on Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday. And both the action and the drama exude religiosity. Even that wood merchant, no matter how busy he was with work, knew that his essence was not in the material but in the spiritual and that without a connection to the Source, neither he nor anyone else could survive.