In Jung and the Jewish Experience, Aryeh Maidenbaum, a Jungian analyst and co-director of the New York Center for Jungian Studies, brings a Jungian understanding to a selection of Jewish topics and stories, interspersed with anecdotes from his own life. Aryeh, who earned his doctorate from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the Jung Institute in Zurich, is also founder of Jewish Heritage Travel and has led programs throughout the world. Throughout 2025 and 2026, everyone who travels with us will receive a copy of the book. If you are interested in purchasing a copy go here.
Table of Contents
- Dreams, the Talmud, and Jung
- The Wandering Jew
- The Golem of Prague: An Archetype
- Was Jung Anti-Semitic?
- A Jewish Saturnalian Festival: The Holiday of Purim
- Jerusalem: Archetype and Living Symbol
- To Forgive, or Not to Forgive
- Scapegoating and Shadow
- Hope, Resilience, and Humor: The Jewish Experience
- The Search for Spirit in Jungian Psychology
Reviews
“Through personal reminiscences of his intense Jewish education and of his training in Jungian psychoanalysis, Aryeh Maidenbaum explores the relationship between Carl Jung’s psychological theories and Jewish cultural and literary traditions. Besides treating such literary themes as the Golem and the Wandering Jew, moral themes such as scapegoating and forgiveness, and spiritual themes, Maidenbaum explicates the archetypal roots of anti-Semitism, and brings his own Jungian roots to bear on the much-discussed question of whether Jung was antisemitic.”
—Raymond P. Scheindlin, Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Literature, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (and a Jewish Heritage Travel scholar)
“Drawing on his professional and personal experience in both the Jungian and Jewish worlds, Aryeh Maidenbaum has written a book that insightfully examines important themes in Judaism through a Jungian lens. His work presents a passionate invitation to place these topics in an archetypal perspective by amplifying them in the light of such meaningful concepts as individuation, forgiveness, shadow, and wholeness.”
—Sylvia Perera, MA, Jungian analyst and author; faculty and board member, C.G. Jung Institute of New York
“The relationship between Jewish myths and legends and Jung’s archetypal construct that Dr. Maidenbaum explores in Jung and the Jewish Experience is fascinating. If the book were content to just do that, it would be well worth reading. But what makes Dr. Maidenbaum’s work stand out is the way he integrates his own voice into describing how Jewish myth can be understood through archetypal analyses. A gifted and compelling narrator, he enlivens each of the legends he presents while guiding the reader through the continuum of Jewish archetypes.”
—Michael Paull, Professor Emeritus, Lehman College of the City University of New York
