Philosophy

//What did he do? What was he like? What were his beliefs? His philosophy? His ideal government?//

 //"A person is born. A person dies. It's what happens in between that determines how a person is remembered."//


 * Mendelsohn's Philosophy**

Mendelsohn was appealing to people because he was **intelligent**, wise, and was greatly **respected by non-Jews** in Germany. However, he was sometimes unfairly criticized for being against tradition. Mendelsohn first began his career as a tutor but eventually won fame for his philosophical writings, which later became influential among the 19th-century U.S. **Transcendentalists.** He became well-known for his devotion to religious toleration and equality between Jews and non-Jews. Mendelsohn **wished to advocate religious toleration** while genuinely sustaining the traditional religious practices and faith of Judaism. He was still a firm believer of his own faith, but was trying to, at the same time, bring the Jews and non-Jews together, striving to create a sense of equality and stability between all religions.


 * He believed Jewish communities should not have the right to excommunicate their members over differences in theological opinions, but should tolerate within themselves a wide spectrum of outlooks.** In other words, they should be open to respecting other ideas and beliefs, even if they did not personally believe them.

Mendelsohn set forth a very extensive vision of religious toleration, even more so than that of John Locke almost a century earlier. He **encouraged members of Jewish communites to embrace modern secular ideas without danger of excommunication.** Moses Mendelssohn was the first Jew to bring secular culture to those living an Orthodox Jewish life. He **valued reason** and felt that anyone could arrive logically at religious truths. He argued that what makes Judaism unique is its divine revelation of a code of law. He wrote many philosophical treatises and is considered the **father of the Jewish Enlightenment.**

His **ideal government** was one in which Jews were equal in the secular community.

Mendelsohn helped bring Jews into the mainstream of European culture. He **translated the Bible** **into German**, although it was written in Hebrew letters, with a Hebrew commentary. He tried to improve the relationship between Jews and Christians as he argued for tolerance and humanity. He became **the symbol of the Jewish Enlightenment.**

//(Continued on next page, Works)//