Lavater und Lessing bei Moses Mendelssohn, 1856
The Solomon Goldman Lecture Series has been endowed by Rose and the late Sidney Shure.
Lectures, Discussions, Panels
Solomon Goldman Lecture
- Imagined Stories, Historical Truth
Jewish-Christian Relations on the Eve of Modernity - Sunday, October 22, 2006 at 2 pm
- $12 | $10 members | $8 students
- For reservations call 312.322.1743 or email rsvp@spertus.edu
Moses Mendelssohn is often regarded as the first modern Jew, one who left the ghetto and forged close relationships with leading German intellectuals.
Author and scholar Edward Breuer explores the image and reality of Mendelssohn's celebrated friendship with Enlightment-era philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, revealing how the harmony in Moritz Oppenheim's painting of Mendelssohn, Lessing, and poet Johann Kaspar Lavater glossed over the strains between Christians and Jews.
Montreal native Edward Breuer received his PhD at Harvard University, and has taught at Loyola University-Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, as well as serving as a Spertus visiting professor. He currently is on staff at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A widely published expert of modern Jewish history, he is currently working on a translation of Moses Mendelssohn's Hebrew writings.