Jerusalem: Or on Religious Power and Judaism

266 Pages·1983·26.398 MB·English

by  Moses Mendelssohn

Moses Mendelssohn
JERUSALEM
OR ON RELIGIOUS POWER AND JUDAISM
D BY Allan Arkush
TRANSLATE
INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY BY
Alexander Altmann

JERUSALEM

Moses Mendelssohn
JERUSALEM
OR ON RELIGIOUS POWER
AND JUDAISM
TRANSLATED BY
Allan Arkush
INTRODUCTION
AND COMMENTARY BY
Alexander Altmann
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY PRESS
Waltham, Massachusetts
Published by University Press of New England
Hanover and London
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published by University Press of New England
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© 1983 by Trustees of Brandeis University
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The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the
Translations Program of the National Endowment of
the Humanities in the publication of this book.
Printed in the United States of America
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CIP data appear at the end of the book
ISBN: 978-0-87451-264-9
CONTENTS
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE Vll
INTRODUCTION 1
MENDELSSOHN'S JERUSALEM 31
COMMENTARY 141
ABBREVIATED REFERENCES 241
APPENDIX: DRAFT OF JERUSALEM 247
INDEX 249

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
T
HERE exist three previous translations of Moses Men-
delssohn's Jerusalem into English: M. Samuels (Lon-
don, 1838), I. Leeser (Philadelphia, 1853), and A.
Jospe (New York, 1969). The merit of these transla-
tions is not in dispute and is gratefully acknowledged. However,
a new, more philosophically exact rendition of Jerusalem is an
urgent desideratum. Recent progress in Mendelssohn research has
sharpened our awareness of the subtle shades of meaning in the
text. The precision in terminology which characterizes the entire
work has become manifest.
The present translation is based on the editio princeps (Berlin,
1783). Its aim is complete fidelity to the text without detriment
to the character of the English language. The temptation to "im-
prove" the clarity of Mendelssohn's thought' by paraphrasing it
has been carefully resisted. No attempt has been made to make
Mendelssohn sound contemporary. The reader is entitled to a
translation that authentically reflects a distinguished eighteenth-
century text in all its preciseness. It is for the reader to judge
whether this goal has been achieved.
ALLAN ARKUSH