As U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins said, "Centered on a strange but true footnote in the chronicle of 18th century Germany, Jean Nordhaus's 'The Porcelain Apes of Moses Mendelssohn' is a compelling collection of poems which perfectly blend the historical and the personal."

And I liked it, too--especially because the story of Moses Mendelssohn is timely. It strikes a deep chord as civil rights come under attack here and abroad.

Though he was the grandfather of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn whose lives were exceptional, Moses, also, was interesting. He had at least 20 life-sized porcelain apes sitting around his house. And early in his career as a philosopher, he gave Immanuel Kant a run for his money. Add to that, the fact that Mendelssohn was a tiny, hunchback of a man who stuttered, and you have the improbable subject of this fine book of poems.

The apes of the title entered Mendelssholn's house by an unfortunate curve-ball of fate. As Nordhaus explains in "A Purchase of Porcelain," under Frederick the Great, every Jew who was about to marry had to acquire a certain amount of porcelain. This acquisition consisted of otherwise unsalable items chosen by the manager of the royal china factory. The apes, like the handicaps in Mendelssholn's life, hover in the background of the poems--difficult to dismiss, but rarely mentioned.

Instead, Nordhaus conveys the "luminous humanity" of the man as only poetry can. Mendelssholn is shown coming to terms with his large apes, in much the same way we come to term with our shortcomings, our bestial intent, which gradually emerge to be confronted, and--if we are lucky--to be turned into something that can no longer damage, but bless.

Sometimes I foget that the language of authors is not always the language we are accustomed to. This book, written in the late 18th century, is a summation of Mendelssohn's thinking. This book paved the way for the three modern American Jewish sects - Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. Mendelssohn, the first Jewish thinker to translate the bible into German, was the first 'liberal', so to speak. He tried to build a bridge between the ghetto world of the persecuted Jew and the modern society. It must be kept it mind that this book was written during the Englightenment, and thus many references to reason are to be found. Mendelssohn's thesis [if you could call it that] is that Judaism is not a revealed religion but a divine legislation. Theology is not as important as actions [eg - repariing the world - "tikkun olam"]. Even for someone who disagrees with his disavowal of irrational faith, this book helps to frame further questions and beliefs. As the precursor to the liberal movement, he is an amazingly important thinker and philosopher. The writings itself are sometimes hard to follow, but his ideas are extremely important. For me, I was glad that I had obtained some introductory information on him before I began reading the work. A short biography can be found in "Jews: The Character and Essence of a People" by Arthur Hertzberg. If unaquainted with the Jewish thought of the haskalah [enlightenment], it might be worthwhile to do a bit of research before develing into this influential work.