The Avant-Garde of Haskala

In the 1770's, the decade of Mendelssohn's illness, the number of gifted, “enlightened” Jews in Berlin increased considerably. For the most part, they were newcomers to the city, where they remained for different periods of time. Almost without exceptiori they looked upon Mendelssohn as their chief spokesman and leader, although they represented various shades of conviction within the burgeoning Haskala and went their own several ways in many respects.

Berlin was now fast becoming the center of West-European Jewish Enlightment. There had been Maskilim in Berlin long before, of course. In the 1740's, men like Israel Samoscz (who died in the year 1772 in Brody, where he had finally settled), Abraham Kisch, and Aaron Gumpertz had been Mendelssohn's teachers when he was a mere youth. There was Marcus Eliezer Bloch (1723-1799), Mendelssohn's physician and a friend from the early days, about whom he had written to Lessing on December 19, 1760 (a week after Bloch had registered as a medical student at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder): “What makes my sojourn here still more lonely is the fact that Herr Bloch, to whose company I had become accustomed, has departed for the Hoke Schute …. ” Bloch achieved worldwide fame as an ichtyologist, and his magnum opus in twelve volumes, with four hundred and thirty-two magnificent illustrations, counted King Frederick the Great among its sponsors. He remained a loyal member of the Berlin community, and throughout his life retained a keen interest in Hebrew literature.

These men were extraordinary figures, however. As avant-couriers, they indicated the shape of things-to-come but did not constitute a movement. In the l 770's the picture changed: a more or less cohesive group of Maskilim began to come into being.

This development had a visible effect on Mendelssohn's role in the community. He was now the acknowledged head of a group, and he was well aware of it. Moreover, the influx of men of great talent enabled him to embark upon a bold project of cultural reform. The German Pentateuch translation and the new Hebrew commentary became a feasible proposition because his circle provided him with the necessary scholarly and administrative manpower. His decision to devote his energy to the advancement of his people came at the right moment.