1: Encountering Enlightenment

Our story begins with the pre-history of modern Jewish philosophy and the radical writings of Benedict Spinoza, who considered the Enlightenment’s challenges to Judaism, and found Judaism wanting. We then meet Moses Mendelssohn, the first traditional Jew to engage with the Enlightenment and mount a sophisticated defense of Judaism.

Further reading:
Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, translated by Allan Arkush (102-139)