"Overall, Moses Mendelssohn's Living Script represents an exciting revival of sophisticated scholarly interest in the ''German Socrates''' philosophical-theological contributions. . . . The book is a must-read for students of Judaism, German intellectual history, and the hermeneutic tradition, and it may be hoped that more of its kind will follow.
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~Toronto Journal of Theology
"Highly recommended."
~Choice
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Sacks has written an accessible book that will help students who read Jerusalem to better understand Mendelssohn's intellectual methods and objectives as well as his contributions to the development of modern religious forms of Judaism. Mendelssohn's Living Script is also an important book that makes a valuable contribution to debates that will continue to engage the next generation of scholars of Mendelssohn.
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~Reading Religion
"Elias Sacks's suggestion that Mendelssohn is philosophically motivated by the threat of historical consciousness to traditional Judaism is novel. A fresh, important, and exciting argument for the continued relevance of this founder of modern Jewish thought."
~Paul E. Nahme, Brown University
"Scholars will take issue with this or that in Sacks's arguments, but they will not be able to ignore his work. It forces a rethinking of Mendelssohn's thought at a time when attention is again being focused on this Jewish thinker. Sacks's middle ground onMendelssohn's traditionalism or radicalism seems to me a persuasive one and will, I believe, win broad, if not complete acceptance."
~Michael A. Meyer, author of Judaism within Modernity
"With scholarly acuity and philological sophistication, Sacks offers us an elegant historical examination of Mendelssohn's own historical consciousness, capturing the philosopher's enduring relevance for the present and future."
~The Journal of Religion