The Political Perfection of Original Judaism: Pedagogical Governance and Ecclesiastical Power in Mendelssohn's Jerusalem
Moses Mendelssohn famously penned his Jerusalem; or, On Religious Power and Judaism in response to a public challenge. Mendelssohn had declared “ecclesiastical power” to be a contradiction in terms, and had thus come out strongly against the use of coercion in religious life, and against the ban of excommunication by rabbinic authorities, in particular. In the anonymously published The Search for Light and Right, August Cranz defies Mendelssohn to explain how he could reconcile this liberal view of religion with his continued commitment to—and his insistence that Jews were still obligated to observe—Jewish law. “As reasonable as all you say [about religious power] may be, to just that degree it contradicts the faith of your fathers . . . and the principles of its church . . . expressly set down in the books of Moses,” Cranz argues. “The theocratic ruling staff drove the whole people . . . with force and punishment.” True, Cranz concedes, exile reduced the capacity of Jewish authorities to enforce Jewish law, “but these ecclesiastical laws are there even if their exercise is no longer a must.” Cranz challenges Mendelssohn to explain his apparently irreconcilable commitments: “How can you persist in the faith of your fathers and shake the whole structure by clearing away its cornerstones, dear Mr. Mendelssohn, when you contest the ecclesiastical law given as divine revelation through Moses?”
Faith and Freedom: Moses Mendelssohn's Theological-Political Thought
DEDICATION ABBREVIATIONS PREFACE INTRODUCTION 1. God is Good: The Harmony between Judaism and Enlightenment Philosophy 2. Philosophy and Law: Shaping Judaism for the Modern World 3. Either/Or: Jacobi's Attack on the Moderate Enlightenment 4. Enlightenment Reoriented: Mendelssohn's Pragmatic Religious Idealism CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Questionable Judaism of Moses Mendelssohn
Renowned during the latter part of the eighteenth century as the "German Socrates," Moses Mendelssohn today occupies only a minor place in most histories of philosophy. He is generally recognized by historians of Jewish religious thought, however, as the inaugurator of a new epoch. Even those who see little merit in his overall theological position readily grant that Mendelssohn is the founder of modem Jewish philosophy. In retrospect, it is rather surprising to see how little he had to do in order to earn this title. Few, if any, figures in the history of Jewish thought have attained a stature comparable to that of Mendelssohn on the basis of so little work. Only a relatively small part of his entire opus is devoted to specifically Jewish matters, and only a small fraction of that consists of writings that could be properly designated as philosophical, as opposed to merely exegetical. For the most part, Mendelssohn concerned himself with the elaboration of a Jewish philosophy rather late in life and only with somewhat limited purposes in mind. He did not seek to develop a comprehensive philosophy of Judaism; rather, he endeavored to explain, in general terms, how he was able to combine allegiance to reason with loyalty to the God of Israel. His effort to do so rested on his deep-seated assurance of human beings' ability to discern the existence of a God who governed the world benevolently. Revelation, according to Mendelssohn, added nothing new to the essential truths of natural religion. God had vouchsafed it to the Jews alone in order to prepare them to play a specific role in