Moses Mendelssohn

Moses Mendelssohn (September 6, 1729–January 4, 1786) was a German Jewish philosopher. He was an important Jewish figure of the 18th century, and to him is attributable the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah, the Jewish enlightenment. To some he was the third Moses (the other two being the Biblical lawgiver and Moses Maimonides) with whom a new era opens in the history of the Jewish people. To others, he was a step into the beginning of assimilation and loss of identity for Jews and the dilution of traditional Judaism.

Support for Judaism

So far, Mendelssohn had devoted his talents to philosophy and criticism; now, however, an incident turned the current of his life in the direction of the cause of Judaism. Lavater was one of the most ardent admirers of Mendelssohn. He described him as "a companionable, brilliant soul, with piercing eyes, the body of an Aesop—a man of keen insight, exquisite taste and wide erudition frank and open-hearted." Lavater was fired with the ambition to convert his friend to Christianity. In the preface to a German translation of Bonnet's essay on Christian Evidences, Lavater publicly challenged Mendelssohn to refute Bonnet or if he could not then to "do what wisdom, the love of truth and honesty must bid him, what a Socrates would have done if he had read the book and found it unanswerable". Bonnet resented Lavater's action, but Mendelssohn was bound to reply, though opposed to religious controversy. As he put it: "Suppose there were living among my contemporaries a Confucius or a Solon, I could, according to the principles of my faith, love and admire the great man without falling into the ridiculous idea that I must convert a Solon or a Confucius."

Related Topics:
Criticism - Judaism - Aesop - Bonnet - Solon - Confucius

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Mendelssohn shared his pragmatism with Lessing; it is probable that the latter was indebted to Mendelssohn. The consequences of Lavater's intrusion into Mendelssohn's affairs were that the latter resolved to devote the rest of his life to the emancipation of the Jews. Among them secular studies had been neglected, and Mendelssohn saw that he could best remedy the defect by attacking it on the religious side. A great chapter in the history of culture is filled by the influence of translations of the Bible. Mendelssohn added a new section to this chapter by his German translation of the Pentateuch and other parts of the Bible. This work (1783) constituted Mendelssohn the Martin Luther of the German Jews. From it, the Jews learned the German language and imbibed culture; with it there came a new desire for German nationality; its popularity resulted in a new system of Jewish education, the result was a movement for Jewish secular engagement called Haskalah. Some of the conservatives among the Jews opposed these innovations, but the current of progress was too strong for them. Mendelssohn was the first great champion of Jewish emancipation in the 18th century. He it was who induced CW Dohm to publish in 1781 his epoch-making work, On the Civil Amelioration of the Condition of the Jews, a memorial which played a great part in the triumph of tolerance. Mendelssohn himself published a German translation of the Vindiciae judaeorum by Menasseh Ben Israel.

Related Topics:
Pragmatism - Lavater - Emancipation of the Jews - Pentateuch - 1783 - Martin Luther - Haskalah - 18th century - CW Dohm - On the Civil Amelioration of the Condition of the Jews - Vindiciae judaeorum - Menasseh Ben Israel

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The excitement caused by these proceedings led Mendelssohn to publish his most important contribution to the problems connected with the position of Judaism in relation to the general life. This was the Jerusalem (1783; Eng. trans. 1838 and 1852). It is a forcible plea for freedom of conscience, described by Kant as "an irrefutable book." Its basic thrust is that the state has no right to interfere with the religion of its citizens. Kant called this "the proclamation of a great reform, which, however, will be slow in manifestation and in progress, and which will affect not only your people but others as well." Mendelssohn asserted the pragmatic principle of the possible plurality of truths: that just as various nations need different constitutions—to one a monarchy, to another a republic, may be the most congenial to the national genius—so individuals may need different religions. The test of religion is its effect on conduct. This is the moral of Lessing's Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise), the hero of which is undoubtedly Mendelssohn. The parable of the three rings is the epitome of the pragmatic position. One direct result of this pragmatism was unexpected. Having been taught that there is no absolutely true religion, Mendelssohn's own descendants—a brilliant circle, of which the musician Felix was the most noted—converted to Christianity.

Related Topics:
Jerusalem - 1838 - 1852 - Monarchy - Republic - Nathan the Wise

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