Moses Hirschel and Enlightenment Breslau

Breslau has been almost entirely forgotten in the Anglophone sphere as a place of Enlightenment. Moreover, in the context of the Jewish Enlightenment, Breslau has never been discussed as a place of intercultural exchange between German-speaking Jewish, Protestant and Catholic intellectuals. An intellectual biography of Moses Hirschel offers an excellent case-study to investigate the complex reciprocal relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish enlighteners in a prosperous and influential Central European city at the turn of the 18th century.

1. Introduction.- 2. Jewish Historiography.- 3. Socio-Ethnic History of Breslau History of Breslau.- 4. Moses Hirschel A critical biography.- 5. Hirschel and the Orthodoxy.- 6. Jewish Rights, Human Rights and Anti-Semitism.- 7. Haskalah and Enlightenment in Silesia.- 8. Final Remarks.