For Jewish philosophers like Moses Mendelssohn, Enlightenment debates about religious tolerance and the role of religion in public life were anything but theoretical. For Mendelssohn and other participants in the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, anti-Semitism was not just one example among many of intolerance and fanaticism; it was a defining fact of their lives. Like Glückel of Hameln (see Document Project 18), Mendelssohn faced severe restrictions on his personal freedom and on his legal rights. Despite Enlightenment arguments in favor of tolerance and the isolated acts of a few rulers to reduce the legal burdens borne by Jews, most eighteenth-century European Jews saw little change in their social or legal status.

This direct experience with intolerance gave Jewish participants in Enlightenment discussions of religion a unique perspective. On the one hand, Jewish thinkers and writers knew all too well the pernicious effects of religious hatred and fanaticism. On the other hand, many also had a deep appreciation of the value of religious customs and traditions. Mendelssohn and Glückel may have shared the pain of discrimination and oppression, but they also shared an unshakable commitment to a faith that comforted, reassured, and sustained them. Keep this dual perspective in mind as you read the following excerpts from eighteenth-century writings on religious tolerance. What did religious tolerance mean to Moses Mendelssohn? How did his position fit into the larger Enlightenment debate about tolerance?