To mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Moses Mendelssohn in 1986, the Lessing Academy in WolfenbA1/4ttel organized a symposium for scholars from Germany and abroad. The results of this gathering are presented here. The broad range of topics - theological, philosophical, historical, literary - reflects the multiplicity of contexts in which the most important Jewish thinker of the German Enlightenment demands to be regarded. The twenty contributions comprise both studies of Mendelssohn's approach to specific problems in comparison with his contemporaries and discussion of the ways in which his life and writings are reflected in the history of his reception and readership and the influence he exerted. This extends to a critical appreciation of Mendelssohn's significance as a leading figure in Jewish emancipation in Germany.