Gottlieb Michah - Moses Mendelssohn: writings on Judaism, Christianity, and the Bible

Moses Mendelssohn (17291786) is often considered the founder of modern Jewish philosophy, and even of modern Judaism. This reflected the view that while Maimonides was a guide for perplexed Jews in the face of medieval challenges to Judaism, Mendelssohn was a new guide in the face of modern challenges. As great as Maimonides was, modernity presented problems that he never encountered, including how to reconcile obedience to the Torah with life in a liberal state where Jews could be equal citizens. Mendelssohn guided the way.

During his life, and even more so after his death, Mendelssohn was revered as the founding father of one of the most important movements in modern Judaism, the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment.

By the latter half of the nineteenth century, however, Mendelssohn had come Orthodox and Reform thinkers alike, though for different reasons, increasingly blamed Mendelssohn for the widespread defection from Judaism by young Jews. For many Orthodox thinkers, this defection stemmed from the rationalist nature of Mendelssohns philosophy of Judaism, which they thought undercut all justification for halakhic observance, while many Reform thinkers believed it was Mendelssohns atavistic adherence to Halakhah that alienated the young Jews who turned to a more spiritually free Christianity.

The two hundredth anniversary of Mendelssohns birth was 1929. While there had been Mendelssohn celebrations since 1829, those of 1929 were unprecedented. According to Christhard Hoffmann, there was hardly a Jewish community in Germany that did not organize a Mendelssohn jubilee celebration.

Moses Mendelssohn was born Mosheh ben Mendel on 6 September 1729, in the rural hamlet of Dessau in what later became Germany. His father, Mendel Heymann, was a Torah scribe, teacher, and custodian in the local synagogue. These professions were not lucrative and put him at the bottom of the Jewish communitys social hierarchy. Mosess mother, Bela Rachel Sarah, was of illustrious lineage. She was a direct descendent of Rabbi Moses Isserles (152072), author of authoritative glosses on the most important codification of Jewish law, the Shulhan Arukh (Set table). At the age of six, Moses began studying the typical Jewish curriculum, which consisted of the Talmud and its commentaries. He learned the entire Bible by heart, and he taught himself Hebrew grammar, something quite unusual for traditional Jews at the time. When he was eleven, he was selected to be part of an elite group of students who studied at the home of Rabbi David Frnkel (170762), author of Korban Haeda (Sacrifice of the community), one of the most important commentaries on the Jerusalem Talmud. Mendelssohns studiousness was legendary. As an adult, he had a curved spine, which he attributed to the long hours he spent poring over books as a youth.

In 1743, Frnkel received a post in Berlin, and the fourteen-year-old Mendelssohn followed him there. In Berlin, Mendelssohn spent most of his time studying in the talmudic beit midrash (house of study), but he was soon opening up to wider intellectual vistas. He was fortunate to meet Israel Samocz (17001772), a Jew deeply learned in mathematics, science, and medieval Jewish philosophy. Samocz instructed Mendelssohn in key Hebrew works of Jewish philosophy, most notably Maimonidess Guide of the Perplexed and Judah Halevis Kuzari. At the time, Berlin was an exciting intellectual and cultural hub, attracting scientists, philosophers, and poets from all over Europe. The key to gaining access to the citys cultural and social life was knowledge of the important works of European literature, both ancient and modern, which required significant linguistic proficiency. Mendelssohns first language was Yiddish; he proceeded to learn German, Latin, Greek, French, and English in short order. Although he had tutors who helped him, he accomplished most of this on his own. He developed such a proficiency in German that Christians celebrated his literary style. Despite his philosophical fame, Mendelssohn never held a formal academic position. He supported himself by working in a silk factory, eventually becoming a partner.