A new Jewish intellectual class appeared in the 18th century. The latter is on two fronts, an inner critique of rabbinic egemony and an external criticism of how Jews are perceived in the countries where they live.
In addition to this movement, will appear that of the Jewish enlightenment , Haskalah. But unlike the French and German enlightenments, the dimension is much more internal to the Jewish community.
Indeed, it raises the question of new rights for the Jews, and also questions the spoken languages of the Jews. For it's obvious that in order to integrate into a country, it's important to know how to speak the common language.
Moreover, there was also a desire to develop access to theological, philosophical and scientific ideas for the Jewish community. Notably through the literature, such as the Hebrew magazine Ha-Meassef (1783), which will be distributed throughout Europe.
Moses Mendelssohn
M. Mendelssohn was a philosopher born in Dessau (Prussia). He was nicknamed the Berlin Socrates and had a central place in the Haskalah. When he arrived in Berlin, he spoke only Judeo-German. But in the space of a dozen years, he learned German, Latin, French, English and philosophy.
On the one hand, he was a philosopher in Berlin society, and had even won the first prize awarded by the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, ahead of Kant (2nd). And on the other hand, he was a model for Jewish orthodoxy (which will appear in the 19th century).
Mendelssohn argued that a renewal in Jewish culture should help to integrate it into European countries. He was one of the pillars in the renewal of Jewish thought, bringing in it vectors of non-religious thought, such as philosophy, history, ...
Finally, a little anecdote about him. He has not taken the step of apostasy. But all his children did and were converted to Christianity, like many Jews at that time.
❊ LMM
