Benjamin saw Judaism as a transmitter of intellectual life, not an end in itself.

Evidence

Benjamin had a sense that whoever I turned to with my ideas, it was mostly Jews who reciprocated intellectually and practically'. From this he concluded that Judaism, in no sense an end in itself’, was `a highly respectable transmitter and representative of intellectual life’. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 337

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 337
• XREF: connects to: Benjamin secularized Jewish messianism into his Marxist theory of revolutionary time — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 600; Benjamin’s Marxism retained a Talmudic exegetical mode of thought — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 599; Benjamin’s concept of redemption fused Jewish Messianism with secular socialist revolution — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 638 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Benjamin secularized Jewish messianism into his Marxist theory of revolutionary time #expands (0.90) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 600
• Benjamin’s concept of redemption fused Jewish Messianism with secular socialist revolution #expands (0.90) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 638
• Benjamin’s Marxism retained a Talmudic exegetical mode of thought #expands (0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 599
• The Institute pushed Benjamin toward secularism rather than theology #qualifies (0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 602