[This is a re-post of post from a previous incarnation of this site, first published on 27 May 2006.]

The greatest philosophical mind of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, and often considered the father of it all, was the largely self-taught Moses Mendelssohn. (If the last name sounds familiar, it should; Felix Mendelssohn, the musical prodigy, was his grandson.) Moses Mendelssohn was a friend of Immanuel Kant, who refers to him on multiple occasions in his works. Unlike Kant, much of whose work is devoted to arguing that rationalists have taken on an impossible set of projects, Mendelssohn is clearly a rationalist.

Mendelssohn’s most famous work is Jerusalem, in which he argues that Judaism is not a revealed religion; or, to be more exact, that it is a purely natural religion supplemented by a divinely revealed legislation. On this view, all dogmas and doctrines of Judaism are discoverable by reason alone (although sometimes he seems to restrict this only to essentials). The revelation of Sinai does not present a worldview but a way of life. This perspective is probably influenced by Spinoza (although it differs importantly from Spinoza’s view); and certainly influenced certain aspects of Kant’s view of Judaism. In addition to this important line of thought, Judaism argues for a view of church and state in which they are mutually reinforcing but sharply distinguished by their means of sanction: the state can sanction by force and coercion; the church, however, can sanction only by love. This argument is in great measure an argument for freedom of conscience.

Readings for Further Information

* Moses Mendelssohn at the Jewish Virtual Library

* Moses Mendelssohn at the SEP

* An excerpt from Mendelssohn's Jerusalem

*  Fidelio Magazine has a number of articles about and excerpts from Mendelssohn, which can be found via their search page.