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Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.

Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786)

Definitely, I am one for sappy stories. This will be one of a sappiest – but also one of the most poignant. When the German philosopher and humanist Moses Mendelssohn proposed to Fromet Guggenheim, she hesitated to accept. He knew she hesitated because he was a hunchback, and told her this story: “Before I was born, an archangel showed me a room with all the unborn people in the world. I pointed out a beautiful girl. The archangel agreed with that she was beautiful but, he said, you see she is a hunchback. So I offered to the archangel to take the hunchback on myself so that she could live a good life.” Fromet married Moses Mendelssohn. They had six children and had a long and happy marriage. One of their grandchildren would be Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), the composer. Moses Mendelssohn, a Jew, believed that people of all creeds and all colors and races should be living together peacefully.
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