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Moses Mendelssohn

Sage of Modernity
by Shmuel Feiner
Moses Mendelssohn: Sage of Modernity. Yale Univ. (Jewish Lives). Nov. 2010. c.256p. tr. from Hebrew by Anthony Berris. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780300161755. $25. BIOG
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Feiner (modern Jewish history, Bar Ilan Univ., Israel) presents a fascinating portrait of an important Enlightenment figure. Mendelssohn (1729–86) departed from his assumed destiny as a Torah scholar to become a man of "arts and sciences," a German Jewish philosopher and scholar, especially well known for his work Jerusalem as well as his translation of the Pentateuch and other biblical texts into German. More important, however, was his advocacy of Enlightenment rationalism, intellectual autonomy, and religious tolerance. Feiner also covers the tension between Mendelssohn as a public figure and Mendelssohn's desire to lead a private life in the parlor, his study, synagogue, and silk factory. (He was an important leader of the textile industry.)
VERDICT Feiner's biographical bildungsroman is a respectful and balanced treatment of the "Socrates of Germany" and the "Father of Reform Judaism," appropriate for both academic and public library collections. With a helpful chronology of Mendelssohn's life and a concise, selected bibliography. Expect more high-caliber titles from this new partnership between Yale University Press and the Leon D. Black Foundation.
Reviewed by Brian Smith McCallum, Arlington Heights Memorial Lib., IL , Oct 15, 2010
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