http://www.remember.org/guide/History.root.modern.html

France was the center of the Enlightenment movement and the French philosophes aimed at changing society by applying rational analysis to existing social and political problems. The leading figure in the movement, which included Diderot, Montesquieu, and Condorcet, was Voltaire. All attacked the oppressive practices of Christianity and the Inquisition. Theoretically, they all favored toleration of the Jews and denounced persecution of them, but Voltaire also attacked Jewish "particularism," stubbornness, perversity, and greed. Enemies of Jews quoted Voltaire to prove that not only their religion but their essential character was bad, that they were narrow-minded and bigoted, as reflected in the Bible.
These arguments were used in the intense debates over whether Jews were worthy to be accepted as citizens debates in the first phase of the struggle for Emancipation, from 1780 to 1814. Would Jews constitute a "state within a state" (a phrase first used by the German philosopher Fichte in 1793)? If they were given the right to own land, to join the guilds, to work at varied occupations outside the ghettos, could they qualify as citizens?

"So a little Jew, long of nose, pale of hue,
Poor, but satisfied, thoughtful, and reclusive,
Spirit subtle and hollow, less read than celebrated,
Hidden under the coat of Descartes, his master,
Walking with counted steps, approached the great Being:
'Excuse me,' he said, speaking to Him very softly,
'But I think - between you and me - that you don't exist.' "

Voltaire (speaking of Spinoza)