Moses Mendelssohn (1729−1786) has long been considered a founder and pioneer of the Haskalah (enlightenment). In this book, Dr. Gideon Freudenthal, a professor at Tel Aviv University, explores many areas of Mendelssohn’s thought in a systematic and orderly way, connecting this thought with the philosophy of his day. The times — as they always seem to — were changing and Judaism had to meet the challenges of those times. For that reason, Mendelssohn interpreted the Torah using German written in Hebrew script to foster Torah study by Jews familiar primarily with Yiddish.
This work will give students of Jewish philosophy and history further insight into a fairly bold intellectual of the eighteenth century. Seminary and university libraries will find this book a useful addition to their collection.
Nonfiction
No Religion Without Idolatry: Mendelssohn’s Jewish Enlightenment
- Review
By
– February 15, 2013
Morton Merowitz holds degrees from Yeshiva University, the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was involved in Jewish education for some ten years and currently reviews non-fiction literature which may be of interest and relevance to students and teachers of Jewish studies.
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