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Moses

Jeffrey S. Sposato

in The Price of Assimilation: Felix Mendelssohn and the Nineteenth-Century Anti-Semitic Tradition

This chapter explores Felix Mendelssohn's collaboration with the critic and composer Adolf Bernhard Marx. Mendelssohn agreed in 1832 to write a libretto for Marx's oratorio Mose (first performed in ... More

This chapter explores Felix Mendelssohn's collaboration with the critic and composer Adolf Bernhard Marx. Mendelssohn agreed in 1832 to write a libretto for Marx's oratorio Mose (first performed in 1841, with a different libretto). Marx rejected the libretto that Mendelssohn provided, for an oratorio Mendelssohn called Moses, ending their collaboration and friendship. This chapter suggests that Marx's actions stemmed from his discomfort with the anti-Semitism in Mendelssohn's libretto. Because of his famous Jewish grandfather, the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn felt the need to distance himself from Judaism in his works, and included anti-Semitic content in the Mose libretto. Mendelssohn's libretto also deployed the Old Testament story of Moses in a Christological manner, using it to remind the listener of New Testament events, and followed the anti-Semitic tradition of oratorio composers Carl Loewe and Louis Spohr.Less

New Christians

Jeffrey S. Sposato

in The Price of Assimilation: Felix Mendelssohn and the Nineteenth-Century Anti-Semitic Tradition

This chapter explores the situation of Jews in early 19th-century Germany, and situates the Mendelssohn family within this context. With the defeat of Napoleon and the treaties of the Congress of ... More

This chapter explores the situation of Jews in early 19th-century Germany, and situates the Mendelssohn family within this context. With the defeat of Napoleon and the treaties of the Congress of Vienna, the situation of German Jews worsened, and many of them, including the Mendelssohn family, chose to convert to Protestantism at that time. Felix Mendelssohn's father, Abraham Mendelssohn, had distanced his family from its Jewish roots for many years. Although Abraham's father, Moses Mendelssohn, was a prominent Jewish philosopher, Abraham avoided Jewish connections and declined to live in Jewish neighborhoods. In 1816, Abraham and his wife, Lea, converted their four children. In 1822, the parents themselves converted. The chapter also disputes critics, such as Eric Werner, who have argued that Mendelssohn retained a strong attachment to Judaism during his lifetime.Less

 Three Jewish Theologians of Christianity

Michael S. Kogan

in Opening the Covenant: A Jewish Theology of Christianity

This chapter discusses three Jewish theologians of Christianity: Menachem Ha Me'iri (1249-1315), Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), and Elijah Benamozegh (1823-1900). Rabbi Menachem Ben Shlomo Ha Me'iri ... More

This chapter discusses three Jewish theologians of Christianity: Menachem Ha Me'iri (1249-1315), Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), and Elijah Benamozegh (1823-1900). Rabbi Menachem Ben Shlomo Ha Me'iri of Provence was a remarkable figure in the history of Jewish-Christian relations. He lived in an age characterized by narrowness and bigotry, witnessing the expulsion of the Jews from France in 1306. Yet he defended Christians and Christianity, going so far as to include them under the category “Israel”, rejecting all past Jewish claims that Christianity constituted a form of paganism. Moses Mendelssohn was a true son of the Enlightenment and the inspiration for all modern Jews seeking acculturation to Western ways of living in the world without the assimilation that would lead to the disappearance of the faith and people of Israel. He taught us how to share in the wonders of the general civilization, indeed, how to help shape and direct it, while maintaining essential elements of the ancient faith bequeathed to us by our forebears. Elijah Benamozegh, rabbi of the Italian city of Leghorn, was fluent in many languages and was learned in philosophy and in Christian theology as well as Jewish theology. In the last years of his life, he set about writing an 800-page tome defending his faith against charges of narrow tribalism and declaring it to be universal in scope and that he was prepared to lead the world into a new age of human fellowship. In the process of developing his arguments, he produced what might be seen as an outline of a Jewish theology of Christianity.Less

Mendelssohn's Defense of Reason

Frederick C. Beiser

in Diotima's Children: German Aesthetic Rationalism from Leibniz to Lessing

This chapter focuses on Moses Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn is considered as one of the most illustrious representatives of the rationalist tradition in aesthetics. No one in that tradition had a ... More

This chapter focuses on Moses Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn is considered as one of the most illustrious representatives of the rationalist tradition in aesthetics. No one in that tradition had a profounder grasp of its metaphysics and epistemology, and no one had greater aesthetic sensitivity. In metaphysics Mendelssohn is on par with Wolff and Baumgarten; but he far surpasses them in aesthetic sensitivity. In aesthetic sensitivity he is the equal of Lessing and Winckelmann; but he far exceeds their powers as metaphysicians. In short, Mendelssohn's combination of philosophical depth and aesthetic sensitivity was unique and peerless. In the history of aesthetic rationalism Mendelssohn plays a crucial role. His task was to defend aesthetic rationalism against the new irrationalist currents of the age. Coming of age in the 1750s and 1760s, Mendelssohn had to respond to some of the growing challenges to the Enlightenment and authority of reason.Less

The First Wave: Jewish Enlightenment Bibles in Yiddish and German

Abigail Gillman

in A History of German Jewish Bible Translation

The Haskalah was a period of intense linguistic transition, and new translations of the Bible—German and Yiddish; Christian and Jewish—played a central role, above all, by rendering scripture in ... More

The Haskalah was a period of intense linguistic transition, and new translations of the Bible—German and Yiddish; Christian and Jewish—played a central role, above all, by rendering scripture in language that was “clear, correct, and beautiful.” Two Yiddish Bible translations printed in Amsterdam in 1678 and 1679, though not commercially successful, must be counted as the first modern Jewish translations in Ashkenaz and precursors of the monumental Mendelssohn translation of 1780-83. Amsterdam publishers Phoebus and Athias were likely inspired by the popularity of the much-admired Dutch States Bible and the Luther Bible; their translators, Yekuthiel Blitz and Joseph Witzenhausen, also borrowed from those Christian Bibles. Phoebus and Athias used fine paper, engraved title pages, and Rabbinic approbations. One century later, Moses Mendelssohn reinvented the modern Jewish vernacular Bible, producing a multifaceted work, known as the Be’ur, that exerted enormous influence. Like his Yiddish forerunners, and like his Christian contemporaries (Michaelis; Schmidt), Mendelssohn domesticated biblical Hebrew and syntax, but he also foregrounded the literary and poetic qualities of biblical Hebrew, as he had done years earlier when translating Hebrew poetry. Comparisons of the Prefaces, paratextual elements, and individual verses show how these first three modern Jewish translators balanced innovation with traditionalism.Less

Refining Spinoza: Moses Mendelssohn’s Response to the Amsterdam Heretic

Daniel B. Schwartz

in The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image

This chapter probes the pioneering if only partial vindication of Spinoza by the Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), the first Jewish thinker for whom Spinoza served, both ... More

This chapter probes the pioneering if only partial vindication of Spinoza by the Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), the first Jewish thinker for whom Spinoza served, both positively and negatively, as a point of reference—in his own eyes, and certainly in the eyes of others. In the history of the image of Spinoza, Mendelssohn looms large for several reasons. The first is his pioneering role in softening Spinoza's heretical reputation in German thought and thus aiding his integration into the canon of modern Western philosophy. However, near the end of his life, Mendelssohn defended Judaism by effectively rebutting Spinoza. Indeed, Mendelssohn furnished ammunition for friends and foes of Spinoza alike. His legacy was thus one of both reclamation and resistance.Less

Socrates and the Reason of Judaism:: Moses Mendelssohn and Immanuel Kant

in Socrates and the Jews: Hellenism and Hebraism from Moses Mendelssohn to Sigmund Freud

In September 1784 the Berlinische Monatschrift published two essays, one by Moses Mendelssohn and another by Immanuel Kant, which answer the question “What is Enlightenment?” Mendelssohn highlights ... More

In September 1784 the Berlinische Monatschrift published two essays, one by Moses Mendelssohn and another by Immanuel Kant, which answer the question “What is Enlightenment?” Mendelssohn highlights the intriguing role assumed by Judaism in the Enlightenment's wider interrogation of religion. His attempts to improve the social status of Jews was mirrored by a reformist attitude within the Jewish community that he also helped to cultivate. To his contemporaries, Mendelssohn was not only just a Jewish Luther or a wise Nathan, he was a “German Socrates.” This chapter considers the term “German Socrates” to investigate the fusion of Enlightenment thought and Judaism in a period of explosive German philhellenism. Mendelssohn argued that ancient Jerusalem could act as a rival to the idealized societies of Athens and Rome, insisting that its inclusions must have certain effects both for Judaism and for Enlightenment. This chapter examines the ethical and political consequences of Mendelssohn's and Kant's debate over the place of reason in Judaism.Less

The Philosophical Composer: The Influence of Moses Mendelssohn and Friedrich Schleiermacher on Felix Mendelssohn

Leon Botstein

in Rethinking Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn’s philosophical convictions regarding faith and human reason not only hold a clue to his intentions as a mature composer but also set him apart from many contemporaries. His ... More

Felix Mendelssohn’s philosophical convictions regarding faith and human reason not only hold a clue to his intentions as a mature composer but also set him apart from many contemporaries. His philosophical inclinations influenced his ambitions as a composer and helped him formulate and justify his aesthetic, particularly during the last decade of his life. This chapter examines the influence of his grandfather Moses Mendelssohn and the Protestant theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, whom Mendelssohn knew from his youth in Berlin. Such philosophical affinities turn out to be illuminating and provocative, suggesting a way of recapturing a sense of the distinct character, beauty, and power of Mendelssohn’s music.Less

one Performing Reason: Mendelssohn on Judaism and Enlightenment

Bruce Rosenstock

in Philosophy and the Jewish Question: Mendelssohn, Rosenzweig, and Beyond

This chapter considers the background to Moses Mendelssohn's Jerusalem, namely, the debates surrounding Christian Wilhelm Dohm's work advocating Jewish emancipation. It ... More

This chapter considers the background to Moses Mendelssohn's Jerusalem, namely, the debates surrounding Christian Wilhelm Dohm's work advocating Jewish emancipation. It examines the argument of Jerusalem as a provocation against the regnant understanding of the nature of enlightened sociality among Mendelssohn's contemporaries in Germany. According to Mendelssohn, the Jewish people can serve as a model of enlightened sociality because they are the “living script” of divine revelation, embodying a noncoercive, dogma-free social-religious bond. At the heart of Judaism is an open-ended conversation across the generations. In explicating Mendelssohn's conception of Judaism as a conversation-based sociality, the chapter invokes its modern parallel in Ludwig Wittgenstein's analysis of how meaning is constructed through language practices that are open to constant revision and reinterpretation.Less

two Jacobi and Mendelssohn: The Tragedy of a Messianic Friendship

Bruce Rosenstock

in Philosophy and the Jewish Question: Mendelssohn, Rosenzweig, and Beyond

This chapter deals at length with the Spinoza Quarrel and how it reflects to be Friedrich Jacobi's gnostic assault on the Jewish God as the true face of the abstract and ... More

This chapter deals at length with the Spinoza Quarrel and how it reflects to be Friedrich Jacobi's gnostic assault on the Jewish God as the true face of the abstract and lifeless God of Enlightenment Reason. The Spinoza Quarrel began when Jacobi confronted Moses Mendelssohn with a story about Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's confession to him, shortly before his death in 1781, that he was a Spinozist. The personal animus involved in Jacobi's attempt to divide Mendelssohn from his late friend contributed to the fact that, tragically, neither could understand what the other was saying. Ironically, both Jacobi and Mendelssohn attempt to defend the claim of revelation against the excesses of Enlightenment Reason, but they are unable to find any common ground of dialogue. Jacobi views Judaism through the figure of a hyper-rationalist Baruch Spinoza and he understands Mendelssohn as committed to replacing revelation with a religion of reason.Less

four Reinhold and Kant: The Quest for a New Religion of Reason

Bruce Rosenstock

in Philosophy and the Jewish Question: Mendelssohn, Rosenzweig, and Beyond

This chapter charts the efforts on the part of Karl Leonhard Reinhold and Immanuel Kant to construct a religion of reason that was intended to be the philosophical supersession ... More

This chapter charts the efforts on the part of Karl Leonhard Reinhold and Immanuel Kant to construct a religion of reason that was intended to be the philosophical supersession of Christianity. They represent their philosophical supersession of Christianity as a cleansing of Christianity of all its remaining ties to Judaism. In this way, they respond to Friedrich Jacobi's accusation that the religion of reason is merely a cover for the reintroduction of the abstract Jewish God in place of Christianity's personal God. Reinhold and Kant, although they did not stand on Jacobi's side of the Spinoza Quarrel, nonetheless saw that it was necessary to separate their religion of reason from any connection with Moses Mendelssohn's Judaism. Reinhold saw Kant's philosophy as answering the deepest need of the historical moment, namely, to find a way to resolve the Spinoza Quarrel.Less

Fugal Fingers (1805–1818)

R. Larry Todd

in Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn

Little is known about Fanny Hensel's early years in Hamburg. The first notice about her is a letter, written by Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy to his mother-in-law the day after Fanny's birth, ... More

Little is known about Fanny Hensel's early years in Hamburg. The first notice about her is a letter, written by Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy to his mother-in-law the day after Fanny's birth, reporting the difficulties of Lea Mendelssohn Bartholdy's labor but also her prophetic maternal observation—their daughter had “Bach fugal fingers”. Some three years later, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's arrival in February 1809, prompted more comparisons: the son, Lea informed her Viennese cousin Henriette von Pereira Arnstein, promised to be “more pretty” than Fanny, an allusion to a slight orthopedic deformity inherited from her grandfather Moses Mendelssohn. At age three and a half, she was reading her letters plainly and purposefully fabricating phrases with clarity and coherence. At age six, Fanny was innocent enough of these worldly affairs, though she evidently was beginning to correspond with her aunt Henriette in Paris, who described the child's writing as “really the second edition of all the maternal talent”.Less

Elijah and the Enlightenment

Eliyahu Stern

in The Genius

This chapter discusses the philosophical leanings of Elijah ben Solomon during the Enlightenment. Historians commonly misrepresented Elijah by stating that he was a traditionalist who defended ... More

This chapter discusses the philosophical leanings of Elijah ben Solomon during the Enlightenment. Historians commonly misrepresented Elijah by stating that he was a traditionalist who defended traditional rabbinic Judaism. It argues that Elijah actually questioned the canons of rabbinic authority through his hermeneutic idealism, while his opponent, Moses Mendelssohn, ardently defended the historical rabbinic tradition to German-speaking audiences.Less

A Translator Culture

in Faithful Renderings: Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation

This chapter examines German–Jewish culture through the lens of translation, beginning with Moses Mendelssohn's Bible translation and ending with the translation theory of Walter Benjamin. While ... More

This chapter examines German–Jewish culture through the lens of translation, beginning with Moses Mendelssohn's Bible translation and ending with the translation theory of Walter Benjamin. While previous scholarship has tended to conceptualize German–Jewish translation in the light of cultural integration or symbiosis, it is argued that the formulation of translation as a variety of cultural encounter conceals a number of tensions and asymmetries in the German–Jewish translation project. Benjamin's model of an interlinear Bible translation, along with Buber and Rosenzweig's attempt at creating a German Bible in which the Hebrew original would somehow be visible, can be traced to philosophical and political circumstances comparable to those that shaped Aquila's work. The “translator cultures” of Hellenism and German–Jewish modernism divested the sacred tongue of what had been its correlate: untranslatability. In this cultural context, translating the sacred necessarily produces a difficult or incomprehensible text as guarantee that translation has not succumbed to the chimera of linguistic transparency or the demands of cultural assimilation.Less

The Master-Interpreter: Notes on the German Career of Joachim Wach (1922–1935 )

Steven M. Wasserstrom

in Hermeneutics, Politics, and the History of Religions: The Contested Legacies of Joachim Wach and Mircea Eliade

This article examines the life and works of Joachim Wach (1898–1955) during his career in Germany (1922–35). Aspects examined include his homosocial participation in youth movements (Jugendbewegung) ... More

This article examines the life and works of Joachim Wach (1898–1955) during his career in Germany (1922–35). Aspects examined include his homosocial participation in youth movements (Jugendbewegung) and in the Stefan George Circle, the development of his conceptions of the Master, interpretation (Verstehen), and the science of religion (Religionswissenschaft), and his personal relationships with members of the so-called Conservative Revolution. These aspects are examined in an effort to illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of his thought in its American versions, especially during his time at the University of Chicago (1945–55). His flight from Nazi Germany, his self-understanding of his own Jewish ancestry and of his Mendelssohn heritage, and his establishment of an Americanized history of religions are also applied toward an integrated interpretation of his life and works.Less