The Enigma Of MOSES MENDELSSOHN he pamphlet emphasized the primacy of the role of lashor hakodesh in the life of the Jew, asserting it to be the only au thentic language of the Jewish peo- ple.It then wenton tolament the fact that, as a result of exile after exile. the Jewish nation had been forced to yield to foreign influences. to absor> foreign languages ‘How are we to deal,” it asked ea in the high sehout elie engin Acadiewy of Torah in Proseoce jae Are You There 12 urgently, “with the Jewis! the Torah ... in ala familiar with, find noth The textof an appe toan Agudah educat A preface to the A transcript of a Torah ( convention Speake Not exactly The pamphi Leerufan” and it se duetiot to the most ambitious pre who, tn spite of hi ce andl prodigious! ous Jews today, es Mendelssohn sour attention, ver, DedT 1¢ pamphlet emphasized primacy of the role of fashon hakodesh in the life of the asserting it to be the only au language of the Jewish peo: then wenton tolament the fact le after exile ple that, as a result of & the Jewish nation had been forced to in Influences, to absorb yield foreign languages. How are we to deal,” it asked ungently, “with the Jewish children who... desiring to taste the savor of the Torah... in a language they are familiar with, find nothir rhe text of an appeal for donations to an Agudah educational project? A preface to the latest Artscroll venture? A transcript ofa Torah Umesorah Ker convention spe: Not exactly The pamphlet is entitied "Alim Letrufah” and it served as the intro duction to the most ambitious and controversial project undertaken by 4 man who, in spite of his wide. spread fame and prodigious literary output, remainsacuriousenigmaio most religious Jews today. His name was Moses Mendelssohn and his story merits our attention, especial today ONE MAN, TWO UNIVERSES [es have co-existed, side by side The Jewish Observer, December 1966itenth century, men sc wo sot to bridge with his rebbe, lived his those houses of intellec- thesalons of Berlin, in of noblemen and, {tnot, on the very ge's Jewishness, ‘often noted, his chil- ted to Catholicism or m—all but one, his old- iuWith the security of often tend to hastily onthe mere evidence 'schoices, yet we must, \ds of Jews of by the sirens of ism, made of conveni- and many of i December 1986 meticulously Jewish life. but bravely and ae quently defended the prineiples of the Judaism ofthe Ages in the faseot Christian challengers, and hed so with accuracy and ‘finesse, and without apology or shame, Furthermore, those very facts seem. to underscore the bizarreness ofthe headlong rush with which Mendel. Sohn’s children tumbled over one another to fling themselves into the fires of apostasy, and the particu larly ugly scenes which resulted. The Mendelssohn ebildren were not lip-service Christians, Jews at heart who saw the cross as a mere Crutch, a token for admission to the theaters of social respectability and financial success. Moses’ daughter Henrietta has been described-—by a ‘ource—as “a violent Catho- her sister Dorothea eventually ran off with her co-adulterer, Fede rich von Schlegel, a particularly un- savory character, well known to the other univer a romantic poet and noveli Both women intelligen! pened salons for the ia and the Iiteratl, Hen