Enacting a “Living Script”: Moses Mendelssohn on History, Practice, and Religion
Leora Batnitzky, Jeffrey Stout, Daniel Garber
My dissertation explores the conception of Jewish practice developed in the writings of Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), often described as the “founder” of modern Jewish thought and as a leading philosopher of the late Enlightenment. Drawing on his well-known German writings, on his little-known Hebrew texts, and on neglected developments in early modern thought, I propose a new reading of Mendelssohn’s work, arguing that one of his central goals is to develop an account of Jewish practice capable of addressing perils arising from history, and that this reading contributes to broader discussions about modernity and religion.
Jewish Thought and Enduring Human Questions
Christian Ethics and Modern Society
Religion in Modern Thought and Film
Articles:
“‘Finden Sie mich sehr amerikanisch?’: Jacob Taubes, Hermann Cohen, and the Return to German-Jewish Liberalism” (invited article for 2012 Leo Baeck Institute Year Book)
“Moses Mendelssohn,” in Oxford Bibliographies Online: Jewish Studies, ed. David Biale (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2012)
Translations:
Selections from the writings of Moses Mendelssohn (Hebrew), in “Moses Mendelssohn: Writings on Judaism, Christianity, and the Bible,” ed. Michah Gottlieb, Brandeis Library of Modern Jewish Thought (Brandeis University Press, forthcoming 2011)
Selections from the writings of Hermann Cohen (German), in “Hermann Cohen: Judaism and Neo-Kantian Philosophy,” ed. Samuel Moyn, Brandeis Library of Modern Jewish Thought (Brandeis University Press, in preparation, publication date to be determined)
Conference Papers:
“‘A Source of Splendor’: Sexual Desire in Mendelssohn’s Hebrew Writings,” Association for Jewish Studies, Washington D.C., December 2011
“Authority in Mendelssohn’s Hebrew Works: Rethinking the Canon of Modern Jewish Thought,” American Academy of Religion, San Francisco, November 2011
“Politics in a Hebrew Key: Mendelssohn on Judaism, Citizenship, and the Common Good,” Moses Mendelssohn and the Legacy of the Enlightenment, Center for Jewish History, September 2011
“Reenacting the Philosophical Past: Rosenzweig, Hegel, and Neighbor Love,” Rhetorics of Religion in Germany 1900-1950, Princeton University, March 2011
“Ethics, Politics, and Jewish Practice: Revisiting Mendelssohn’s Hebrew Writings,” Association for Jewish Studies, Boston, December 2010
“Moses Mendelssohn’s Philosophy of Judaism Reconsidered,” Centre for Jewish Studies Graduate Colloquium, University of Toronto, April 2010
“Recontextualizing the ‘Living Script’: Jewish Practice Through Mendelssohn’s German and Hebrew Writings,” The Question of Unity in Mendelssohn’s Thought, Princeton University, April 2010
“Between Creation and Revelation: Jonas, Maimonides, and the Return to Medieval Rationalism,” Hans Jonas Working Group, Princeton University, December 2009
“‘Finden Sie mich sehr amerikanisch?’: The Exile of Jacob Taubes and the Return to German-Jewish Liberalism,” Transferring German-Jewish Modernity Into the World, LMU Munich, October 2009
“Spinoza, Maimonides, and the Politics of Prophecy,” Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought Graduate Colloquium, Princeton University, July 2009
Graduate Prize Fellowship, Princeton University, Center for Human Values; Award for Excellence in Teaching, Princeton University, Department of Religion; Graduate Fellowship, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization; Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Wexner Foundation; Sophia Freund Prize, Harvard University; Thomas Hoopes Prize, Harvard University; Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard University