Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) was a German philosopher, critic, writer, and Bible translator.  

His most famous work, Phaedon, proved the immortality of the soul and won him international acclaim in the literary world.

In addition to his achievements as a philosopher, Mendelssohn was active on behalf of Jews. He fought for Jewish rights in law. He also translated the Bible into German.

Mendelssohn began a new period in Jewish history. Mendelssohn become the first Jew in modern history to combine Judaism with modern culture and to be recognized as doing so by the non-Jewish world. He became proof that Jews could become equal members of modern society. 

While Mendelssohn was interested in Jews attaining a secular education equivalent to that attained by non-Jews, he was not a protagonist of religious reform. Nevertheless, many people today remember Mendelssohn as being the source of modernist tendencies of 19th century Judaism.