eless, certain of Weishaupt's doctrines are not
incompatible with the principles of orthodox Judaism. Thus, for example,
Weishaupt's theory--so strangely at variance with his denunciations of
the family system--that as a result of Illuminism "the head of every
family will be what Abraham was, the patriarch, the priest, and the
unfettered lord of his family, and Reason will be the only code of
Man,"[597] is essentially a Jewish conception.

It will be objected that the patriarchal system as conceived by orthodox
Jews could by no means include the religion of Reason as advocated by
Weishaupt. It must not, however, be forgotten that to the Jewish mind
the human race presents a dual aspect, being divided into two distinct
categories--the privileged race to whom the promises of God were made,
and the great mass of humanity which remains outside the pale. Whilst
strict adherence to the commands of the Talmud and the laws of Moses is
expected of the former, the most indefinite of religious creeds suffices
for the nations excluded from the privileges that Jewish birth confers.
It was thus that Moses Mendelssohn wrote to the pastor Lavater, who had
sought to win him over to Christianity:

Pursuant to the principles of my religion, I am not to seek to
convert anyone who is not born according to our laws. This
proneness to conversion, the origin of which some would fain tack
on to the Jewish religion, is, nevertheless, diametrically opposed
to it. Our rabbis unanimously teach that the written and oral laws
which form conjointly our revealed religion are obligatory on our
nation only. "Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the
congregation of Jacob." We believe that all other nations of the
earth have been directed by God to adhere to the laws of nature,
and to the religion of the patriarchs. Those who regulate their
lives according to the precepts of this _religion of nature and of
reason_[598] are called virtuous men of other nations and are the
children of eternal salvation.[599] Our rabbis are so remote from
Proselytomania, that they enjoin us to dissuade, by forcible
remonstrances, everyone who comes forward to be converted. (The
Talmud says ... "proselytes are annoying to Israel like a
scab.")[600]

But was not this "religion of nature and of reason" the precise
conception of Weishaupt?

Whether, then, Weishaupt was directly i