Moses Mendelssohn

Jerusalem, published in 1783, argues that the state should not coerce religious belief and that religious institutions should not wield civil force. Mendelssohn combined this defense of liberty of conscience with an account of Judaism centered on revealed law rather than compulsory dogma.

He became a central intellectual figure in the Jewish Enlightenment by joining Jewish learning with European philosophy and public debate. His career helped demonstrate that Jewish religious commitment and participation in German intellectual life need not be opposites.

Mendelssohn and Lessing were close friends and leading figures of the German Enlightenment. Lessing's drama Nathan the Wise is widely associated with Mendelssohn as an inspiration for its learned Jewish protagonist.

Phaedon, first published in 1767, presents dialogues defending the soul's immortality. Its title and form consciously recall Plato's Phaedo, while adapting the discussion for an 18th-century audience.