Martinez Dettinger: Sartre on Culture and oral traditions

 In Sartre work AntiSemite and a Jew  Sartre claims that Jewish culture only exists in a negative association to society. He argues that Jewish culture can only be identified as other than anti-semitism, and it is anti semitism which effectively creates Jewish culture. He claims this because Jewish culture cannot be defined in ways that are typical of other cultures, i.e. place of origin, language, religion, faith, etc. I think, when reading this work, that Sartre misses the oral traditions which founded the Jewish culture. It is the history of the Jewish traditions, today, which unite the community in a common background and culture, though those traditions are not expressed in conforming ways. For example, the oral history of the laws of the Old Testament began the foundation for Jewish beliefs and practices that have long outlasted their connection to social norms and standards or religious practices. Today during Hanukkah, even atheist Jews can still gather with families and recount the oral history of the Maccabees, and learn lessons from that tradition. I think in his thoughts on Jewish Culture, Sartre overlooked the role that oral traditions can play in creating and maintaining culture.