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The encounter between Judaism and Freemasonry was the result of two “dialogical” phenomena. On the one hand, from the second half of the eighteenth century onward, the Jewish community became increasingly fragmented, evolving into a pluralist society by the nineteenth century. On the other hand, Freemasonry both in Europe and in America became one of the first “melting pots” that opened itself to the religious “other.” Freemasonry gradually welcomed more and more Jewish members, even though this tolerance remained extremely limited in certain countries, particularly in Germany. This article examines the factors that led to the presence of the Jewish elite, especially Jewish social reformers, in Masonic lodges. It highlights the fact that Freemasonry was for them a driving force behind realizing their intellectual and social aspirations, and was both the framework and the testing ground for their emancipation.