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			It may seem odd that our representative for Reform Judaism is person who was not a Reform ‎Jew at all. In fact, he died over 20 years before the first Reform temple was created. Well, ‎Mendelssohn is widely (but not universally) considered to be the father of Reform Judaism so ‎that alone should justify the choice. He earned this title for a good reason. It was his ‎unorthodox ideas about Judaism and how it should fit into the modern enlightened world of ‎‎18th century Germany that laid the groundwork for the future of Reform Judaism. ‎
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Perhaps fate has been cruel to Mendelssohn. He is arguably the most famous personality in a ‎movement that not only would he likely not have supported, but would have been in active ‎opposition. His beliefs really fit squarely into what is now called Modern Orthodox, yet most ‎card-carrying Modern Orthodox Jews would not want to be seen reading one of ‎Mendelssohn’s books. He is probably the only Jewish scholar to be praised by both Orthodox ‎and Reform leaders. Early Reformists revered him, and no less an authority than Samson ‎Rafael Hirsch, though sometimes critical, was nevertheless lavish in his praise. ‎
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Mendelssohn was a product of the German Enlightenment Movement, a major component of ‎the general Enlightenment that captivated European intellectuals during the 17th and ‎‎18th centuries. The Enlightenment, or Haskalah, was one of the most important intellectual ‎trends in the history of mankind. It represented a radical shift in human thinking, and, to a ‎large degree, has dominated Western thought ever since. It overthrew the dominance of the ‎religion in deciding how human beings should look at the world and their situation in life. The ‎playing field between man and God had been leveled. ‎
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Mendelssohn had been educated in the best of Jewish tradition and was an accomplished ‎Torah scholar as a teen. Through tutors and self-education he became an expert in the deepest ‎areas of Enlightenment thought. It was this combination that became his life’s mission – to ‎integrate the two into one magnificent unity. It bore an uncanny resemblance to what ‎illustrious predecessor, Maimonides, for whom Mendelssohn had the greatest respect, had ‎attempted 600 years earlier. Maimonides dealt with the reconciliation of philosophy and ‎Judaism. Mendelssohn faced what may have been a greater challenge – the reconciliation of ‎Judaism with a system of thought that not only had the backing of philosophy, but also of ‎the ever-growing power of science. ‎
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Enlightenment thinking was not just pie-in-the-sky theorizing by a few philosophers with their ‎recently translated manuscripts of Aristotle as their chief source. It was the human mind open ‎to new ideas with no limitations and very little restrictions as far as established dogma to ‎contend with. If it made sense rationally, or could be proven scientifically, it was true, ‎regardless of what the Church or the Talmud had to say about it. Not only was scripture and ‎rabbinic literature up for criticism, even God, to some degree, was on trial. This was the battle ‎that would lead many to the inevitable destiny of atheism. ‎
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A second challenge that Mendelssohn faced throughout his life was from his many Christian ‎peers and friends. They questioned him as to how he could remain a believing Jew in the face ‎of the many irrational aspects of his religion. They claimed that there was no possible way to ‎remain a faithful Jew and an enlightened thinker. Some went so far as to urge him to convert ‎to Christianity, a faith that, in their eyes had been expunged of its irrational elements and fit ‎perfectly with the rational world they inhabited. ‎
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His magnum opus, ‘Jerusalem, or on Religious Power and Judaism’, written around 1782, was ‎composed as a response to both challenges. It is nothing short of magnificent in its creativity ‎and willingness to face tough issues. It deals with Christianity head on and makes a valiant ‎attempt to convert Judaism into a rationally based religion. In it, he introduced his most ‎famous idea – that Judaism is a religion of deed and not creed. In section 15 of the Part II we ‎find the following in response to the difficulty in communicating the essential ideas of ‎religion and life: ‎
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‎‘It was to remedy these defects that the lawgiver of this nation gave the ceremonial law. ‎Religious and moral teachings were to be connected with men’s everyday doings and not-‎doings. The law didn’t require them to engage in reflection; it prescribed only behavior, only ‎doings and not-doings. The great maxim of this constitution seems to have been: Men must ‎be impelled to perform actions and only induced to engage in reflection. Therefore, each of ‎these prescribed actions, each practice, each ceremony had its meaning, its genuine ‎significance, which was precisely fitted to the theoretical knowledge of religion and the ‎teachings of morality, and would lead a man in search of truth to reflect on these sacred ‎matters or to seek instruction from wise men…’ ‎
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He further refined this idea in a review he wrote of a book by a Swiss philosopher named ‎Charles Bonnet called ‘Palingenesis’ which attempted to prove the immortality of the soul. ‎‎‘Sacred reason gives me the most certain conviction that God calls human beings to ‎salvation through the practice of virtue. The divine religion into which I was born teaches ‎me that all peoples of the earth are saved if they live in accordance with the laws of reason; ‎and that for special purposes God has imposed on my nation alone certain special beliefs and ‎obligatory actions of which He has absolved the rest of the human race.’ ‎
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Analysis ‎
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The above, is the core of Mendelssohn’s take on Judaism. According to him, religion should ‎never compel anyone to think or believe a certain way. Beliefs are the province of each human ‎being. Of course, there are proper beliefs and improper beliefs, but each person must make ‎their way through that maze and discover the truth on their own. All a religion should do is ‎‎‘induce to engage in reflection’. With proper direction through proper ‘ceremonial law’, the ‎Jews would have the wherewithal to discover the essentials of Judaism that would enable ‎them to lead the life that God hoped them to lead. But the choice to search for these ‎essentials and the ultimate conclusions that each person would reach, were entirely in the ‎hands of the individual. ‎
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An important component of Mendelssohn’s thought was that the essential truths of reality ‎were accessible to each person through the use of their rational mind. This was vintage ‎Enlightenment. Judaism didn’t offer its adherents anything that natural human reason ‎couldn’t adequately provide, other than a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and lifelong ‎program to inculcate these truths into their lives. Judaism, to Mendelssohn, was not a ‎collection of secret truths that were revealed through prophetic or mystical insights. It was ‎bringing rational truths into practice through specific laws and by recalling events of the past ‎through ceremony. Those laws and ceremonies then had to be translated into virtuous deeds ‎in the present. ‎
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Mendelssohn, perhaps inadvertently, granted Jews of the future a great amount of freedom in ‎their religious practice. While he himself strongly advocated strict observance of the law, both ‎Biblical and rabbinic, he opened the door for liberal interpretation. Whatever was rational ‎should be retained; whatever wasn’t could be discarded. After all, Mendelssohn himself said ‎that religion could never conflict with rational thought. This was where many scholars of ‎Mendelssohn believed that he ultimately failed. Judaism has a healthy share of irrational ‎practice, let alone irrational beliefs and historical events. At the end of the day one could ask ‎Mendelssohn where he stood on this matter – would he uphold Judaism even when it went ‎against reason, or would he abandon part of it. We know that he remained a faithfully ‎practicing Jew till the end of his life. What we don’t know is what he would have done had ‎he lived another 30 years. ‎
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One crucial facet that can be gleaned from these Mendelssohn quotes is his take on the ‎purpose of life. Salvation is to lead a life of virtue. How to do this is ingrained into our minds ‎and learned through a lifetime of thinking, asking, and practicing. But it is within our grasp to ‎find and to do. We need no prophets or sons of God or miracles to figure out what we are ‎supposed to do. All those may help or they may not. Regardless, we still can and must ‎persevere in our task. Virtue is the handmaiden of reason, its royal road to salvation. The ‎marriage of Judaism and Enlightenment, if such a union can be created and not end with ‎divorce, happens through the cultivation of virtue as a life goal. How any person finds virtue ‎is their own task. Jews, he would say, must find it in the context of a Jewish life. Gentiles can ‎find it through their own religion or through the rational wisdom of the human mind. But ‎God’s purpose, the salvation of the human race, could only come about through virtue. ‎
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Practical ‎
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Virtue certainly seems like a noble goal for life. But how does one go about attaining it? To ‎simply stumble around using whatever pieces of wisdom that can be found on subway walls, ‎tenement halls, and boxes of herbal tea seems a little haphazard. To hope that one will ‎somehow figure it out through reason, in the best tradition of Enlightenment, seems kind of ‎outdated. It requires a good deal of diligence, experience, and hard-earned wisdom. It may ‎even require talking to people who are older and wiser, who may have learned a thing or two ‎in the course of their lives. The fact is, there are few things in life worth more than virtue, and ‎perhaps there are none. ‎
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If Mendelssohn were alive, he might tell Jews – Reform Jews, Conservative Jews, ‎Reconstructionist Jews, Orthodox Jews, and unaffiliated Jews – that their tradition is rich ‎with things that actively or subtly enhance the drive and the wisdom needed for ‎virtue. Maybe all the Jews who have ignored him for so many years, despite paying lip service ‎to his ideas, should look back at what he actually wrote. They may find that although a good ‎deal of the Torah is irrational and doesn’t fit well into modern life, there is also a good deal ‎that is quite rational and rather wise. They may find that even doing some of those irrational ‎things changes them into a different person, one who is a little more aware of purpose and ‎meaning, and one who cares a little more about where they are heading. They may find that it ‎is a cleansing experience to actually get out and do something that Jews have been doing for a ‎few thousand years which forged them into a unique and worthy people. So far, it’s worked ‎pretty well. Maybe it would make us all a little more virtuous. ‎
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Food for Thought ‎
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Mendelssohn’s attempt to update Judaism into the rational world of the Enlightenment was ‎unquestionably well-intentioned. But Judaism is loaded with all kinds of non-rational ‎traditions, laws, and customs. Is the attempt to rationalize Judaism an exercise in futility? ‎


		

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