““Mendelssohn was keenly aware of the difference between the respect he received and the disdain shown to other Jews. In a letter to a Benedictine monk, he expressed his frustration: “Throughout this so-called tolerant land I feel hemmed in; my life is so restricted on all sides by genuine intolerance.”2 Yet he continued to believe that much of that prejudice would eventually disappear if young Jews combined their religious training with secular studies. It was a controversial idea at a time when many Jews feared that secular learning would lead to the loss of their culture, customs, and traditions. Mendelssohn disagreed. He insisted that it was possible to be both a Jew and a German.””
![“[Moses] Mendelssohn was a religious Jew. I felt sorry for him.” quote by Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/823/elie-wiesel-341_felt_moses-mendelssohn-was-a-religious-jew-i_1164649.jpg)
