The Cosmic Eye and Its Pupil: Divine Perfection and the Mediation of Universal and Particular Truth in Rabbinic Theology

In 1783, under the duress of a public attack demanding he defend his commitment to Judaism, Moses Mendelssohn published Jerusalem; or, On Religious Power and Judaism. Perhaps his most surprising and provocative claim in that work is his assertion that Judaism possesses no revealed truths necessary for salvation.¹ While one can readily accept that Jewish theology has forms and functions that distinguish it from Christian theology, is it really the case that there is no cognitive content in Judaism that has any soteriological benefit? Hasn’t God revealed to us that God is unique; that God is the creator and sustainer