​Jerusalem oder über religiöse Macht und Judentum – Jerusalem or on Religious Power and Judaism

Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem oder über religiöse Macht und Judentum, Berlin 1783. 2 vol. German | Call Number: Jud. 774 Bd. 1-2 | Digital copy via Frankfurt's Digital Judaica Collections.

Jerusalem was the most influential philosophical work of Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), who, as the most important representative of the Haskalah, was also known as the “Jewish Socrates". Jerusalem marked the beginning of modern Jewish thought and laid the foundations for humanism from a Jewish perspective. Mendelssohn wrote Jerusalem under significant pressure. His identity as a Jew and position as an enlightened philosopher and Maskil were challenged through a number of public debates with other representatives of the German Enlightenment. Jerusalem was his last chance to write a “manifesto" that would perpetuate for generations the essence of his faith and the world of his values as a modern Jewish humanist. In this essay, Mendelssohn laid out the key aspects of his political and religious philosophy while at the same time being defending his faith. He boldly rejected the supreme rule of religion and sided with tolerance and freedom of thought.