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Moses Mendelssohn: Iconoclast

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Moses Mendelssohn's Metaphysics and Aesthetics

Part of the book series: Studies in German Idealism ((SIGI,volume 13))

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Abstract

Two generations after Mendelssohn’s death, Heinrich Heine compared his reform of Judaism as analogous to Luther’s revolt against Catholicism.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Heinrich Heine, “Concerning the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany,” 1833–1834, trans. Helen Mustard, in: The Romantic School and Other Essays, ed. Jost Hermand and Robert C. Holub, (New York: Continuum, 1985), 193.

  2. 2.

    Salomon Maimon, Gesammelte Werke, ed. Valerio Verra (Hildesheim: Olms, 1965–), 1:472. Hereafter cited in text as GW.

  3. 3.

    See Mendelssohn’s letter to Avigdor Levi, of May 25, 1779 (ט”לקת ןויס דוי), in Gesammelte Schriften. Jubiläumausgabe, 19: 251–53. Hereafter cited in text as JubA. For Landau’s initial reaction to Mendelssohn’s project, see Samet, “Moshe Mendelssohn, Naphtali Herz Weisel and the rabbis of their generation,” in Hakhadash assur min haTorah (Jerusalem: Karmel, 2005), 74–78. For the entire affair, see Feiner, The Jewish Enlightenment, Chap. 6, 164–87.

  4. 4.

    Words of Peace and Truth (expression taken from Esther 9:30).

  5. 5.

    Naftali Herz Weisel, Divrey shalom ve-emet (1782), Chap. 4, not paginated, p. 14. Note that Weisel refers there to Joseph decrees as divrey shalom ve-emet (p. 13). He thus identifies his brochure with the emperor’s project – and gives both the tint of enthusiasm characteristic of the original missive of Mordechai and Esther in the Bible. The content of the original message was to celebrate “the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor” (Esther 9: 30). Later, Weisel also adds: “and the heart of every wise man will rejoice when he hears of this directive” (Chap. 8, p. 26).

  6. 6.

    אלש הנידמה יקח תמחמ אלא ומירחמ יתייה ומירחהל יואר אוהש ימל םירחהל וז הנידמב תוריח ונל ‘יה אלמלאו ימש הוקא אל התעמו הערל ומש רבכ יתמסרפ פ"כע םנמא הזמ יתלדח ה"רי לוטיט ןאיצאלפאמ תושרה ילבמ םירחהל רוביח םוש תונקל ו"ח םגו... לזיו ץרה עשרהל ותיבב והחראי וא הליל תניל ןתיש הזמ העידי ול ’יהיו לארשי תדעמ אוהש רבחמהמ.

    Quoted from Israel Nathan Heschel:

    ,ג"נשת ןושח-ירשת, לארשיו ןורהא-תיב ץבוק, י"רש לזיוו ץריה ילתפנ ליכשמה דגנ םתמחלמב רודה ילודג לש םתעד הסק-בסק :בתכמה, זסק - טמק ’מע, (גמ) א ןוילג, ’ח הנש.

  7. 7.

    Quoted from:

    ,ג"נשת תבט-ולסכ, לארשיו ןורהא-תיב ץבוק, [’ב], י"רש לזיוו ץריה ילתפנ ליכשמה דגנ םתמחלמב רודה ילודג לש םתעד זכק, הכק, בכק ’מעב תואבומ.אלק - זיק ’מע, (דמ) ב ןוילג, ’ח הנש.

  8. 8.

    Heinrich Heine, Works of Prose, ed. Hermann Kesten, trans. E. B. Ashton (London: Martin Secker & Warburg, 1943), 110–13. Translation slightly altered.

  9. 9.

    This, of course, is the same attitude as Maimon’s who refused to acknowledge the sanctity of the shophar and related only to its natural properties, “a ram’s horn.” See more on this below.

  10. 10.

    Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem; or, On Religious Power and Judaism, trans. Allan Arkush, ed. Alexander Altmann (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England for Brandeis University Press, 1983), 117.

  11. 11.

    Jerusalem, 114.

  12. 12.

    Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act II, scene 2.

  13. 13.

    G. van der Leeuw, Religion in Essence and Manifestation (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1963), 448.

  14. 14.

    Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, 110–11.

  15. 15.

    Jerusalem, 105.

  16. 16.

    Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning, book 2, Chap. 16, (3), in The Advancement of Learning and New Atlantis, ed. Arthur Johnson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974), 131.

  17. 17.

    I argue for this interpretation in my No Religion Without Idolatry: Mendelssohn Enlightened Judaism (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, forthcoming).

  18. 18.

    Alexander Altmann, Moses Mendelssohn: A Biographical Study (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973), 546.

  19. 19.

    Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, 108.

  20. 20.

    םריכזה םא יכ, םילכ ראשב הוצ רשאכ, ןתיישע לע הוצ אל ףא, םה המ בותכה ונל שריפ אל, םימתה תאו םירואה תא (ל לא ןתיו רמאש ודבל השמ םא יכ ןמוא רכזנ אל השעמב ןכו, םימתה תאו םירואה תא, העידיה א”הב הנושארה םעפב התע להקל אלו, השעמ םהב הכאלמה ילעבל ‘יה אלו שרח ןמוא השעמ ויה אלש הזמ האריו, םימתה תאו םירואה תא ןשחה םתס םריכזי ךכל, םימש השעמ םהו, השודקב ובתכ אוהו, השמל הרובגה יפמ רוסמ רוס םה לבא, ללכ הבדנ םהב לארשי ןשחה ילפכ ןיב חיניש השמ תא םשה הוצ הנהו, (ד”כ ‘ג תישארב) םיברכה תא ןדע ןגל םדקמ ןכשיו ומכ, העידיה א”הבו ותוא םש לע טפשמ ארקנ ןכו, וירבד תא םמתמו וירבד תא ריאמ אוה ודי לעש םש לע ךכ ארקנו, םימתהו םירואה בתכ תא ’לעמל ש”מכ, וירבד תא תמאמו ררבמ אוה ודי לעש יפל, (א”כ, ז”כ רבדמב) םירואה טפשמב ול לאשו רמאנש, בתכה םיטפשנ םהש רבד, םימתהו םירואה םה, לארשי ינב טפשמ תא :(י"שר ירבד רואבב ל "ז ן "במרה ירבדמ ) ל "ז י "שר םשב י"שר אל םא רבד תושעל םא, ודי לע םיחכונו.

  21. 21.

    Commentary on Exodus 32:1.

  22. 22.

    Israel Samoscz, Otzar Nechmad, on Kuzari I, 97; p. 128; Mendelssohn’s commentary on Exodus 32:1.

  23. 23.

    קחצי ’ר סופד, אשראוו.דמחנ רצואו, הדוהי לוק םימסרופמה םירואבה ינש םע.םירמאמ השמחב ירזוכה רפס 1879–1880, מ"רת, ןאמדלאג

  24. 24.

    Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, trans. Shlomo Pines (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963), 3:46, p. 581.

  25. 25.

    Guide 3:30, pp. 522–23.

  26. 26.

    Psalms 106:20: “They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.”

  27. 27.

    Ibn Ezra, Halevy’s close friend, also explains the sin as an attempt at astral magic. In his short commentary he suggests that the form of a calf was chosen because “in India there are people who think that this form receives supreme power” and that “he who understands astronomy knows why they chose the form of a calf.” In his long commentary, he first relates the view of astrologers who explain that at the time the connection between the planets was in Taurus – and now rejects it (commentary on Exodus 32:1). See for details Shlomo Sela, Astrology and Biblical Exegesis in Abraham’s Ibn Ezra’s Thought (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1999), 291–99.

  28. 28.

    Commentary on Exodus 32:4. See M. Kasher, Torah Shlema, reprint,12 vols. (Jerusalem, 1992–1996), notes to Exodus 32, vol. 6:90. This view was shared by others. See Kasher, “Supplementa,” in Torah Shlema, 6: 206–12. See also Moses Maimonides, Mishne Torah, Hilchot Avoda Zara, Chap. 1. Nachmanides offers an alternative interpretation. Drawing on Ezekiel 1:10 (and on Shemot Rabba, 42), he suggests that the supreme powers which should have be drawn down on the figure were of the Divine carriage that is also associated with an ox. See also Kimchi on Ezekiel 1:28.

  29. 29.

    Mendelssohn in his commentary on Exodus 32:1. םהל ושע רשא םיפרת ןיעכ, םדא ידי השעמב םירחוב ויהו אבניו, םהה םיפרתה תורוצב יהלא ןינע קבדיש םהה םימיב םסרופמ הזה רברה ’יה יכ, םהיכרצ םהל דיגהל םהה םימיב םתוא.

    See also the commentary on Genesis 31:19.

    םימסקב םהישעמ לכ קר וילא וללפתי אלו דבבנה םשב ולאשי אל םיהלאל םהל הנמא ינטק [םיפרתה] םתוא ושעי הנהו םיפרתה םהל ודיגי רשא

    The commentary was penned by Shlomo Dubnah, but Mendelssohn says the same things in his commentary on Exodus 32:1.

  30. 30.

    Similar things can be said of Maimonides. See Moshe Halbertal & Avishai Margalit, Idolatry, trans. Naomi Goldblum (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992), 42–44.

  31. 31.

    See Bi’ur to Exodus 32:1 and Genesis 31:19.

  32. 32.

    William Warburton, The Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated on the Principles of a Religious Deist, 2 vols., 1737–1741, reprint of the 2nd English edition, 1741 (New York: Garland Publishing, 1978), 2:165–68.

  33. 33.

    Warburton, Divine Legation, 2:170.

  34. 34.

    Luther: “Ihr sollt euch keinen Götzen machen noch Bild, und sollt euch keine Säule aufrichten, noch einen Malstein setzen in eurem Lande, daß ihr davor anbetet; denn ich bin der HErr, euer GOtt.”

  35. 35.

    Mendelssohn added an explanation of the latter word in brackets. These magicians change with their arcane crafts the “appearance of things” (die durch verborgene Künste den Schein der Dinge verändern können). Thus Mendelssohn severs their art from the (evidently: real) transformation of the rod into a serpent by God’s wonder (through Moses and Aaron) reported in the previous verse. In this Mendelssohn follows Ibn Ezra, but he omits Ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the “wise,” who were also summoned by Pharao. Ibn Ezra suggests that these were astrologers (תולזמה ימכח). See Ibn Ezra’s long commentary on Exodus 7:11 and 7:22. Mendelssohn quotes Ibn Ezra’s first commentary.

  36. 36.

    In the commentary, Mendelssohn offers some German words as translations: Ziesel, Meissel and Grabstichel.

  37. 37.

    Mendelssohn’s note to the commentary on Numbers 15: 37(8)–41.

  38. 38.

    Israel Samoscz, Nezach Israel, on Kuzari I, 97:128; Mendelssohn’s commentary on Exodus 32:1.

  39. 39.

    Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, 119.

  40. 40.

    Jerusalem, 102–3, cf. 128.

  41. 41.

    In Jerusalem, Mendelssohn remarks that outside of society man cannot fulfil his duties towards God. Societal life therefore has also a religious meaning. See Jerusalem, 40.

  42. 42.

    ישימשת ןה ולאו תיציצ רפוש בלול הכוס הוצמ ישימשת ןה ולאו ןיזנגנ השודק ישימשת ןיקרזנ הוצמ ישימשת ר"ת ףד, ד קרפ "הליגמ", ילבב דומלת.ןהיתועוצרו ןיליפת לש קיתרנו ת"ס לש קיתו תוזוזמו ןיליפת םירפס ימקסולד השודק ב, וכ. Shulchan Aruch, Orach Hayyim, # 154; Yoreh Dea, # 282,.

  43. 43.

    Solomon Maimon: Autobiography, 261–62. The remark on the alleged fear of Satan refers presumably to Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Rosh Hashana, fol. 16b.

  44. 44.

    See Mishne Torah, Hilchot Avoda Zara, 11, 12 and Hilchot Tefilin u-Mzuza, 5, 4. See also Menachem Kellner, Maimonides’ Confrontation with Mysticism (Oxford: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2006).

  45. 45.

    “Das wahre Judentum ist nirgend mehr, Schwärmerei und Aberglauben ist bei uns in der größten Abscheulichkeit. Wenn meine Nation nicht so dumm wäre, so würde sie mich wegen meines ‘Jerusalems’ steinigen, aber sie verstehen mich nicht.” Mendelssohn in conversation with Sophie Becker. See Sophie Becker, “Briefe einer Kurländerin” (Berlin, 1791), Bd. 2, 172 ff. Neue erweiterte Ausgabe: Vor hundert Jahren: Elisa von der Reckes Reisen durch Deutschland 1784–86, nach dem Tagebuche ihrer Begleiterin Sophie Becker (Stuttgart, 1884), 196, 217–18, 225, 232–33. Partially quoted in: Moses Mendelssohn. Zeugnisse. Briefe. Gespräche (Berlin: Welt-Verlag 1929), 148–50. The quotation above is from the entry of November 27, 1785. Translation according to Altmann, Moses Mendelssohn, 722.

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  1. Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Gideon Freudenthal

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  1. VU University, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Netherlands

    Reinier Munk

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Freudenthal, G. (2011). Moses Mendelssohn: Iconoclast. In: Munk, R. (eds) Moses Mendelssohn's Metaphysics and Aesthetics. Studies in German Idealism, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2451-8_18

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