This scholar was the model for a character who tells Saladin the Parable of the Ring, the protagonist of his friend Gotthold Lessing's Nathan the Wise.
Johann Lavater famously challenged this scholar to refute Pietism or convert to Christianity, which he refused to do since he believed that revealed truth was irrational and that Judaism was unique in its revealed divine law code. This scholar published a German translation and critical study of the Pentateuch called the Bi'ur. With Christoph Nicolai, this resident of Berlin encouraged Christian von Dohm to publish his work "On the Civil Improvement of the Jews." In a dispute with (*) Friedrich Jacobi, this scholar defended his friend, the author of Emilia Galotti, from charges of Spinozism. This scholar was the model for a character who tells Saladin the Parable of the Ring, the protagonist of his friend Gotthold Lessing's Nathan the Wise. For 10 points, name this author of Jerusalem, a leading philosopher of the 18th century Haskalah or Jewish Enlightenment.
Johann Lavater famously challenged this scholar to refute Pietism or convert to Christianity, which he refused to do since he believed that revealed truth was irrational and that Judaism was unique in its revealed divine law code.
Moses Mendelssohn