Moses Mendelssohn

Born into poverty in Dessau, Moses Mendelssohn rose to prominence as a leading philosopher of the German Enlightenment. Despite physical handicaps and a rather humble beginning, he became a celebrated intellectual, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Kant and Lessing. His work championed religious tolerance and individual freedom, arguing that Judaism was a rational religion perfectly compatible with modern society. He was, to put it mildly, kind of a big deal.

Mendelssohn’s most famous work, Jerusalem, or On Religious Power and Judaism, argued for a separation of church and state, and for the voluntary nature of religious observance. He saw Judaism not as a set of dogmatic beliefs but as revealed legislation, a divine law to be followed without the need for forced conversion or state intervention. He was basically saying, "You can be German, enlightened, and Jewish. Who knew?"

His efforts to integrate Jews into European society, while preserving their religious identity, earned him the title of "the German Socrates" (though he probably didn't drink hemlock, which is good for intellectual output). However, his radical ideas, including his advocacy for translating the Torah into German, also sparked controversy within traditional Jewish circles. Mendelssohn’s legacy is complex, having arguably set the stage for both the flourishing of modern Jewish thought and the assimilationist movements that followed. Still, for a guy who started out teaching himself Latin from an unbound copy of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he did alright.