Moses Mendelssohn lived between the years 1729 and1786.
He was known as the ” father of Haskalah ” becauseof his contributions to the Haskalah movement. Mendelssohnwas a Jewish philosopher, and got much of his educationfrom his father, the local rabbi, David Frankel. Mendelssohnstudied the philosophy of Maimonides. He had written the “Principally Leibnia “,as an attack on the national neglect ofnative philosophers. Also published by Mendelssohn was the” Philosophical Conversations ” in 1755.
Between the years1756 and 1759, Mendelssohn became known as the “leading spirit of the Bibiothek ” and ran some risk by freelycriticizing the poems of the king of Prussia. In 1762 he wonthe prize offered by the Berlin academy for an essay on theapplication of mathematical proofs to metaphysics. OnOctober 1763, the King granted Mendelssohn the privilegeof Protected Jew (Schutz – Jude), which assured his right toundisturbed residence in Berlin. Mendelssohn devoted hislife to the culture and emancipation of the Jews.
He began byhis German translation of the pentateuch and other parts ofthe bible. From this, the Jews learned the German language,German culture, and got a desire for German nationality. Mendelssohn put forward his plea for tolerance in Jerusalem” Oder Uben Religios Macht und Judenthum “. Mendelssohnwas a great philosopher, and his contributions to the Jewswere and still are great. Samson Raphael Hirsch livedbetween the years 1808 and 1888. He was the leader ofOrthodoxy in Germany in the nine-teenth century.
Hirschwas known as the ” Jewish religious thinker “, and the “founder of Trenniley-Othodixie ” (separatist Orthodoxy). Hewas the leading spirit in the establishment and of modernizedOrthodox Jewish congregation and school system. Theslogan of the growing ” neo-orthodox ” group was ” torahcombined with wordily wisdom “. They believed in schoolsthat the Hebrew language, Jewish subjects, secular studies,and the school curriculum should be taught. Prussia adopteda law permitting Jews to secede from the general Jewishcommunity and establish separate religious societies. Hirschwrote ” Nineteen Letters “,” Horeb “, commentaries on thePentateuch, Psalms, the Hebrew prayer book, and editedthe monthly ” Jeshurun “.
Hirsch showed Judaism as acommunity based on faith, aiming at the sanctification of life,the spiritualization of man, and the attainment of anawareness of G-d’s presence on Earth. He rejected biblicalcriticism, and the application of scientific methods to thestudy of Judaism. Moses Mendelssohn and Samson RaphaelHirsch were different in that Mendelssohn believed in seculareducation,assimilation within your country, and learning thelanguage of the country ( in his case, it was Germany ) . Hirsch, on the other hand believed that everything revolvesaround your religion, and did not encourage assimilation. Mendelssohn supported his belief by translating books fromthe torah into German, to encourage the learning and use ofthe language.
Hirsch objected to this and believed that thetorah must be learned in the ” lashon hatorah “, the languageof the torah. I agree with Mendelssohn to some degree. Ibelieve that a certain amount of assimilation is good, and thatlearning the torah in the language of your country ( as an aidto the language of the torah ) is helpful, and may encouragemore learning. I also think that too much assimilation can beharmful. I think that intermarriage is bad and that justweakens the Jews. MOSES MENDELSSOHN ANDSAMSON RAFAEL HIRSCH 8-K Jewish HistoryCategory: History
