Destined for the rabbinate by his parents, Ensheim left his native Metz against his father's will, and for many years led a wandering life.
[1] On leaving Mendelssohn's house he returned to Metz, where he struggled hard to make a living by teaching mathematics.
Being a Jew, he was rejected for the position of professor of mathematics at the newly founded École centrale de Metz.
In 1790, Ensheim published Shalosh Ḥidot, a satire against billiards card card games, and two hymns: Al-ha-Va'ad ha-Gadol asher bi-medinat Ẓarefat, addressed to the National Assembly in Versailles, and the triumphal song La-Menaẓe'aḥ Shir, which was sung in 1793 in the synagogue at Metz to the tune of La Marseillaise.
His Recherches sur les calculs différentiels et intégrals (1799) was highly praised by Lagrange and Laplace, with whom he was personally associated.