Jerusalem: Or on Religious Power and Judaism

Moses Mendelssohn was a leading figure of the Enlightenment and the Jewish Haskalah. In his work Jerusalem or On Religious Power and Judaism, he argues for religious freedom and the separation of state and religious authority. Mendelssohn maintains that governments should regulate civil affairs while matters of faith belong to individual conscience and cannot be imposed through coercion. The book also defends Judaism as a rational religion compatible with Enlightenment ideals and is widely regarded as an important contribution to modern ideas of tolerance and civil equality.