Moses Mendelssohn fought against anti-Jewish prejudices and framed this within his Enlightenment demand for tolerance and human rights for all people. Of course, Judaism also requires a reassessment of its principles: the religious ban on excommunication must be abandoned. These theses from the Manasse preface of 1782 were philosophically substantiated the following year in Jerusalem - the title is a confession of Judaism - and complemented by a reconstruction of the essence of Judaism: the Jewish religion is not based on revealed, super-rational truths, as is the case in Christianity, but on those eternal truths that can be recognized by the reason of every human being. This universal religion of humanity must not and cannot be based on any particular revelation. In the absence of mandatory articles of faith, it is thus present.