Baruch Spinoza Jewish Biography as History Dr. Henry Abramson
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
- Revered by many as a pivotal figure in modern religious philosophy yet reviled by his contemporaries in the Jewish community of Amsterdam, Baruch Spinoza was placed in herem (excommunication), apparently for his public pronouncements challenging religious doctrine.
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Thank you for putting this in the public forum for us to share. :) We are all about sharing perspectives in order to construct bridges across systems of thought.
The take on Adler, orthodoxy, and heresy is brilliant. So many lessons and parallels to be synthesized from this. Thank you.
Excellent lecture Dr. Abramson. Grateful for finding your channel.
I liked this lecture a lot. Tolerance and love are two things I perceive. And it is incredible to know more about Spinoza.
I must complement Dr. A again. Great jokes.. and very great speaker. I must give this gentlemen credit. He is organized, smart, well prepared, and very sincerely funny.
Another great lecture, thank you Dr. Abramson 🙏
You are very welcome
Love Spinoza’s theology/ philosophy, as did Albert Einstein. “I believe in Spinoza’s god, not in a god who intervenes in the events and affairs of earthlings”
Another lecture I enjoyed very much. I'm glad I found your channel.
I think. Therefore, I laugh at Dr. Henry Abramson's jokes. :)
I don’t laugh at his jokes; therefore I don’t exist.
@@Javrama50 well Jack if you do not exist jokes would be optional. You have my permission also to find Dr A 's humor not funny. I do like him and feel I've learned so much here.
I listen to Dr. Abramsom to fall asleep every night. ….I think that’s a compliment 🤔
Surprisingly, you are not the only one. I'm like the "white noise" of UA-cam. Elevator muzak.
I heard a joke on Dry Bar that you might want to use. All atheists should be given a teenager. They should know what it feels like to have your accomplishes ignored, and your existence denied.
Thanks for your brilliant and open minded clases
I read somewhere (I don't remember exactly in which book) that Spinoza had recently finished saying Kadish after the death of his father for 11 months before the excommunicated
Fantastic talk. Thank you Dr. Abrahamson. Excellent
Glad you enjoyed it!
I enjoyed listening on line to this lecure from Down Under Australia.
One major question please: Where was R Manashe Ben Israel the religious head of Dutch Jewry at that time when The Cherem was announced?
one account I read he was against this "cherem", is that why the lay leaders sign this edict???
Please can you answer.
Sorry Dr Henry and crew no answer to this important question?
Many thanks for each of those great topics you are sharing!
Glad you like them!
Thanks much, Henry; S. is fascinating in many ways.
Great lecture. Have you thought about doing one on James Joyce and Ulysses?
I like your lectures'
.and your jokes
A very enjoyable and enlightening presentation.
A couple of points:
Descartes didn't make a teleological argument. He made a cosmological argument (the effect is thinking of God, but it cannot be caused by the thinking person, who has less formal reality than God - so he's reasoning from effect to cause), and the ontological argument (albeit it's not quite the same as St. Anselm's).
"Cartesian" is a reference to Descartes. Even if at times it deviates a bit from Descartes (e.g. Husserl's Cartesian Meditations)
Spinoza was offered a professorship at Heidelberg University, but he refused. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, the philosopher and diplomat, did have a meeting, at his request, with Spinoza in The Hague.
Also Spinoza is buried in a churchyard in The Hague, the Netherlands. The actual site is long unknown, but there is a cenotaph in the churchyard with the name Spinoza and in Hebrew "Amcha"
your people. But Spinoza had broken with the Jewish community and did find a connection with the
Christian community. One interesting fact about Spinoza is that he died in the same bed in which he was born.
A great man, never to be forgotten
@HenryAbramson Dear sir, if you ever visit the north east of the Netherlands, you should visit the fortress Bourtange. A stronghold in the beginning of the eighties year war with Spain. One of the most interesting thing in the fortress/ village is a tiny synagogue in the centre. Jews and christians were fighting back to back against the catholic Spanish.. I hope you'll someday visit it. :-)
Fascinating! Hope to be in the Netherlands this fall.
Descartes-- the T is enunciated, as are all consonants (in French) when followed by a vowel.
Assalamualeiqum you are a very good speaker MashaAllah.
Keep doing the good work and please explain us about sigmund Freud too.
Mr. Abramson, the french name Descartes is supposed to be read Dée-carte ( Day-carte if you're an english speaker) not Dei-car. Or, to put it in another way, you read the final t and e, and "cut" both ss, middle and final. Thx
Thanks for the correction!
Brilliant!!
Dr. Abramson, I am writing from Brazil and I have to say I enjoy very much your lectures (and jojes), please, could you possibly refer the title of the book about soul in Spinoza's philosophy wich you mentioned in the video, thank you.
That excommunication statement never specifically said what Spinoza did. They mention "heresies" but never enumerate his "evil deeds."
Hope to discuss this in more detail in a future lecture.
Think I heard this discussion occurred in Surfside. My thoughts go out to your community with the collapse of the condominium. G-d bless.
Thanks for the lecture! Is the ex-communication still in effect? are we allowed to read his writings?
Wow this is very important and helpful
I love this lecture. Just a small correction: Descartes is pronounced with a T at the end.
Has anyone tried to reconcile Spinoza's philosophy with Jewish biblical thought?
Spinoza was excommunicated from his Jewish community... Today, many Jews don't follow traditional biblical interpretations. Thus, Spinoza or the modern movement itself had a huge effect. So, in the aftermath, is it possible to go back and fit Spinoza's philosophy into Judaism to strengthened it?
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A key question seems to be whether religions are primarily democratic or authoritarian organizations. Clearly, cults are usually authoritarian. But it seems that religions generally operate democratically. It is often possible for a community to remove and replace their religious leader via democratic processes.
It seems that Spinoza may mark a definitive line between Judaism as more or less authoritarian religion to a modern conception of its aims rooted in democracy. Maybe this represents an improvement.
It seems that it would take a mind as large as Spinoza's to actually tell us whether it is possible to reconcile Spinoza's ideas of god with biblical notions. Is his philosophy ultimately reconcilable with large swaths of traditional Judaism (while possibly leaving off possibly odious aspects.)
Are there any major scholars who have attempted to reconcile Spinoza's views with Jewish thought?
Tobias C. Brown without Spinoza we would be living in the dark ages
what rubbish. It was Jewish Torah which laid down moral thinking. Spinoza thought from a Christian perspective, which was and is anathema to Torah.
@Claire Khaw not open idolatry if you do not know any different, firstly, and secondly, I grew up Catholic and have studied Torah for about 10 years. I am no longer Christian but most people, including me, only ever prayed to God our Father.Do not presume to judge people´s hearts and their relationship with God. Remember, Torah says God answers the prayers of all people and remember also that God placed people where they are, for them to search for their Creator. People can only go on the information they have. You presume to judge out of ignorance.
There is a book by Roger Scruton, in which the author goes back with his interpretation of Spinoza's philosophy to Maimonides. It's an elegant book but also eloquently and friendly written. You get the impression that writing on philosophy is an art for the author.
Descartes' latinized name = Cartesius
What a fascinating character. So contrary, and maybe so misunderstood. He was always out of bounds for yeshiva boys like me, and now I need to find out more. Thanks. Dr. Abramson.
Glad you found the video useful!
There were 2 Jewish communities in Amsterdam, the Porugese, Sefardim, and the German Jews, The Portugese were rich, the Germans poor..
Thanks for the observation.
It’s tragic to meet people named Espinoza who are illiterate and/or completely unaware of Baruch Spinoza ! But that’s the new world
*Why do people insist on calling him "Baruch" Spinoza when "Benedictus" Spinoza is the name he chose for himself?*
This channel is a G-dsend!
But would Judaism be right for me? On the one hand you don't have to believe in Virgin Birth. On the other hand, no more bacon sandwiches. It's a tough one
Haha and much more
Excellent lecture
Surprised Uriel daCosta wasn't discussed
always terrific - many thanks
from Safta Rachel Ramat Beit Shemesh
Very surprised Dr. Abramson didn’t mention the impact of Shabti Tzvi here
He is always full of surprises
Thanks yet again for another provocative talk- one that inspired me to read Ethics. Spinoza was probably expelled because his views might have been considered dangerous to the Jewish Community. In Ethics, he argues that people could behave ethically by virtue of the intellect and a belief in an “non-Abrahamic” G’d alone, with no need for an external authority. If he was “reasonable” he might have kept these views to himself. Europe in the 1600’s was awash in the “divine right of kings” and the “infallibility of the papacy.” In either case, most human behavior was governed by kings or the catholic church with no role for the “intellect.” Spinoza was, therefore, a threat to the divine right of kings ,the Catholic church and Rabbinical Jew-deism. He was out of all conventional “bounds.” If not expelled, the “powers that be” might have assumed that his views were endorsed by the Jewish Community. In short, Spinoza was dangerous because he was an unreasonable man. In the words of George Bernard Shaw "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
Around 15:51 helps me think of the statement in the Bible (somewhere) about Ephraim being jealous of Judah. Much of this persecution seems to be from jealousy. Needing to keep the Jewish people in line or within certain confines is from jealousy. And Ephraim or the house of Ephraim being jealous. Maybe some of those persecutors are from the house of Ephraim.
Again an excellent biography
Thank you!
Great education channel. Greetings from Poland. I'm studying Jewish history. Can I write you a PM?
Glad you are finding the video useful!
@@HenryAbramsonPhD I'll write my question directly here. I study history of anti-Jewish pogroms and overall Jewish history (thank you for your channel, it's a great introduction), but my primary goal is to find some texts on the similarities between Jewish and Roma community. I have found some great Polish - Jewish scholars who wrote in Polish books on Jewish history (i.e. Alexander Hertz) and made some references on Roma, but I have not met anything specifically on the topic. I know it's kind of huge field: Roma/Jews. I know there is an ongoing debate on Holocaust/Porrajmos, but I'm interested in pogroms/collective violence and similarities in experiencing of persecution/racism. If you could help me, I'd be grateful and honoured. Thank you.
@@Eponim I am Jewish and I know the terrible experiences that the Roma have gone through. Unfortunately in Europe today anti roma racism seems to be almost socially acceptable, even among some fellow Jews I meet in Bulgaria who have been personally discriminated against still don't speak fondly of the Roma. I hope that things get better for the Roma community. Btw, I went to Krackow, it is an amazing city :)
nice talk, thanx
Dear Rabbi! I believe, know , that Da.Costa as Spinoza were Conversos, seeking to return to Jewdism. Many of them left Portugal in 1580 as Spain took over Portugal and continued the Spanish search for secret Jews via the inquisition. To their dismay they discovered that Jewdism is similar to their "old " Catholic religion. Da Costa and others committed suicide . Many others either left the religion or at best marginal. Historically, many descendants were eager followers of Shabty Tzvi.
Joel Eichenbrenner
I studied Spinoza in my MA history
Nice!
@Claire Khaw What specific form of idol worshipping was he guilty of ?
@Claire Khaw So he wasn't accused of worshiping one solid physical idol, he was accused of a certain philosophy that was considered idolatrous, and speaking, writing or teaching of it publicly like he believed in it. So pantheism is idolatrous because the divine takes on a physical form ?
A priest, a minister and a rabbit walk into a bar. The rabbit says to the bartender 'I think I am a typo'
New one to me!
Spinoza rejected conventional beliefs and traditions. He was rejected, excommunicated by the Jewish community. Spinoza didn’t believe in a personal God. He saw the reality in the laws of Nature (God) and understood that there is no freewill. Jews and most people lack the understanding of Spinoza’s Ethics.
To learn and understand Spinoza go to … wayofspinoza.com #Spinoza #Gurdjieff
BR understood the mechanical nature of the human condition and tried to explain what little he thought one might do about it (not much btw) , but as is always the case attemptingl to dissuade someone of what they think they already have (a soul) is a difficult proposition.
Just found you on you tube injoy very much.trying to increase my knowledge of my spiritual growth ln the Lord his people.what a great way to begain.great histoy lession.great men. thanks
if the issue is you wanting to wrap up and go home or you need to keep your train of thought, please by all means, of course, rush, you have already contributed incalculable value; otherwise, I'd really love to hear more of your daughters questions. I wonder if Spinoza's thought directly or indirectly ever influenced Hitler. sounds like a bizarre suggestion, but they both were pantheists.
The comment that the curse of Spinoza sounds like a fatwa isn't really accurate. A fatwa is supposed to argue to its conclusion by reference to the Qur'an and the Hadiths, perhaps with scholarly commentary (tafsir) also cited. It is normally in response to a question asked of the scholar and is a legal, or at least legalistic, argument. If the elders of the congregation of Amsterdam had done that sort of thing, we'd understand what their reasons were and what Spinoza was alleged to have said or done. As it stands, they begin from a presumption of notoriety, giving no reason(s) why his conduct was wrong in their eyes, and they refer to scripture only for vivid illustration or magnification of the curse, not for analysis or condemnation of the conduct.
Sometimes, on controversial issues, another Sheikh may issue a contrary fatwa, reaching a different conclusion and a fatwa may also anticipate the counter-arguments and give grounds for dismissing them. A spectacular example of the latter is Tahir-ul-Qadri's 2010 "Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombing". It is massive, at around 600 pages in Urdu or 520 in English, and it is a compendious and exhaustive work of scholarship, meticulously taking apart and condemning, by reference to the Qur'an, the Sahih Hadiths, The Sunna and ancient tafsir, every argument advanced or plea made in favour of terrorism. It is not content with one or two refutations, either, but goes on and on digging out and expounding on every refutation he can find. Unfortunately, a source of "newsworthy" soundbites it is not! The elderly Tahir-ul-Qadri could do a somesault more easily than a soundbite, I think, but his work is an example of a fatwa with knobs on! Is it the longest fatwa ever issued? I don't know, but it may be.
Martin James. Merci pour votre commentaire.
@Claire Khaw Yes, and as I say it has no more authority that the Shaykh who issues it and another Shaykh may issue a contrary fatwa. It is then up to people to examine the reasoning which each advances for their conclusion.
His excommunication is quite simple idk why you're making it seems as thought its not thats not honest. He clearly goes against the classical understanding of God and theyre mad about that and also misunderstand what hes saying tehrefore they curse him. Its quite clear
Spinoza's insightful statement "Deus sive natura" is one of the most profound statements ever made in the history of human endeavor. Today, we would translate it as "God a.k.a. Nature." It foretold by over 300 years the theories of evolution, of the Big Bang, of galactic, stellar, and planetary developments, of continental plates, of genetics... in short, pretty much all modern science. Yet, unlike Galileo, Newton, Pascal, and Descartes, very roughly his contemporaries, he's not a popular figure... other than in this funny mambo by Przybora and Wasowski:
ua-cam.com/video/MDOQa19CuHU/v-deo.html
Interesting
You have the best jokes Professor! 👍🏽
So interesting.
Very recommendable
Saint Anselm's argument is not teleological argument, it's ontological argument.
Correct.
I enjoy your jokes even the ones I would consider inside jokes since I am new to the jewish sense of humor.
Einsteins rebbe?
mitzvah golem yesss Ha Ha
Anselm=Ontological Argument. Aristotle, Aquinas, etc.=Teleological Argument.
20:50 the point being: they were not spanish, the old enemy of the northern, protestant provinces.
Whose here after Elon Musk’s mention of Spinoza ?
The crowd left at that point
Great Lecture but this is the kinds of religious acts that have turned me against G-d and religion!!! So enraged about even today's beliefs. Man clearly invented G-d and religion.
Kebiet ess uveechu includes listineng to their directives
Them forcing you something you reject shouldn't happen
But a child should at least try to take its parents approval , it is included in Kibbid and also smart
I think the communities reaction was valid considering the context of the time period. This was at a time when Jews were still traumatized by the Inquisition and still being burned at the stake for being Jewish in neighboring countries. In addition, a significant number of Jews openly denounced their faith and converted to Xtianity, either Catholic or Protestant. Not to mention the Marranos, which often times betrayed the Jewish community. The Jewish community in Amsterdam was traumatized, isolated and vulnerable. Anything that would demonstrate the slightest chutzpah would be not be tolerated. Similar to the anti-religious Kibbutzim in Israel after 1948, which would have enacted this same time of excommunication for someone that was religious due to the recent trauma of the Shoa.
@Claire Khaw Not all Pantheists would agree with your definition of pantheism. Although a debate between Spinoza and Rambam would be worthwhile, my comment reflected the circumstances surrounding the Portuguese community excommunication of Spinoza. Orthodox Judaism time and again resists change and has difficulty adjusting to new concepts. At a time where the Inquisition was still alive, where Jews were second class citizens in Protestant countries, competed for respect from their Ashkenazi neighbors, and this community strongly rejected Lurianic Kabbalah post Shabtai Tzvi, due to the damage caused by Shabtai Tzvi- it’s no wonder the community would put Spinoza in cherem.
@Claire Khaw Although Spinoza rejects the Abrahamic G, he never denied the existence of G. Your understanding of capital punishment through Judaism is incorrect. Further, you are stating that a Jew who does not follow Rambam's 13 principles of faith is liable to capital punishment and that is incorrect. You also do not know how the Rabbi's permitted excommunication. You also seem oblivious to the fact that the Xtians believed Spinoza was a threat to their community. The question modern Rabbi's, historians and philosophers ask is the same point I originally made, the timing of the circumstances were significant of the outcome. Einstein said that his G was the same G of Spinoza, did Einstein get excommunicated?
The Spanish started to presecute non Catholics, and started with burning alive, several Christians and Jews in the City of Middle burg, our first martyrs in our revolution aginst the Pope and Spain, so for the Dutch the jews and christians were on the same side against the Romans as we saw the catholics, and we saw our war against the catholics/spain as like the history of Israel..
Thanks for the input
if everything is god nothing is god, philosophical mathematics. so many minds claim spinoza. “outside the camp”
The mezuzah there is not in place! It's higher then the katif and higher then the tchilas shlish huelyoin
Fix it thanks
Politics and Religion, or Lack of Thereof, if you could have only fast forwarded to the year 2020 !
Hmm
It is not OOtrecht, it is Utrecht with an Ü sound, not a ou like in you, so like as in French Tu.
Thanks for the input
Pardon me, Gentile here. what's up with those lil hats?
why are you wearing them?
do they have to be black?
can I do a blue one?
How bout green?
are they mandatory?
Thank you.
Hi! Jew here. The hats are called kippahs, and they don’t have to be black, there are many customized kippahs with all sorts of colours out there, they’re just there as a reminder that God is always above. Some people wear them only during prayer, but more religious people wear them at all times. You can find rainbow kippahs , cool patterned ones, all sorts of em. The standard colour is black though, but there definitely are different colours and patterns and fabrics.
וְנָשִׂיא בְעַמְּךָ לֹא תָאֹר
Only if it's ouisa masa amchu
We see Baruch Spinoza as Dutch, not as Jewish, a typical Dutchman of our Golden century.. Like Rembrandt etc..
Thanks for the input
Can't he be both? People can have multiple identities. For example I am an American Jew, someone can be a Pakistani Brit, identity is not mutually exclusive.
All is God as nothing is besides him nothing is in addition to him therefore all his him
What is here as a creation is something that isn't something on it's own, it's just a creation, not an addition
Nothing , that's an EITZEM, or else it would of existed on it's own like God
Everything here is just an illusion as we understand Mittzeeyus
Creation doesn't mean actual
Existing is just the opposite of non existent but not eitzim
Only God can curse a man and he who says something wich God hasnt decreed is surely saying something blamable
We really should call him "Benedict", not "Baruch". "Benedict" was the name he used and was published under. It is the name he was known by for most of the years since his death. "Baruch" was the name he was given in the synagogue when he was a baby, and the name under which he was cursed, reviled, and excommunicated by the synagogue. I think it is an insult to him not to use the name he chose.
And the same synagogue denied that he was a Jew.
Well, up to you of course, but he probably was known as Baruch within the community, even if they rejected him. You could even look at the question as a form of rehabilitation. Note however that the authorities did not deny that he remained a Jew, that would be beyond their reach.
@@HenryAbramsonPhD But he was, for centuries, known to world as Benedict.
It looks to me as though they only want to claim him as a Jew because he is famous and admired.
The phrase "that the said Espinoza should be excommunicated and expelled from the people of Israel..." isn't denying that he is a Jew?
@@robinharwood5044 Nope, the Hebrew term does not imply removing his status as a Jew.
Interstices!
You're the Rabbi...hahaha. A good one!!
Love your videos rabbi! I unknowingly ran with your son at ing 2014, but with team lifeline! (And also the half, oops)
That's great! BTW not a Rabbi, just a regular guy.
@@HenryAbramsonPhD okay doctor ☺️
certainly Hashem will intervene in the events and affairs of earthlings, martians, and test lab monkeys. easy to hide miracles in random chance. purim was fun this year. e=mcc f=ma
Is he a Hologram?
?
@@HenryAbramsonPhD The person in this clip flickers, while the background doesn't. It sort of looked like a holographic projection. 't was but a jest. I liked the video by the way. Spinoza is from my home town.
😎😎🌼
ty
Good lecture despite the apartheid flag in the background.
More jokes, please!
Only in the older videos
I don't understand why you glorify an apeekoires
I appreciate your impartial way of speech , but still when are dressed as a religious Jew and you quell and admire an apeekoires and are not careful on exact wording you are playing with fire!
If you want to sound 100% impartial and be able to appreciate heretic thinking, then or you change your appearance from a religious Jew to more secular, or make audio only videos
You can be impartial when you need to debate and prove a point
But when you give a lecture even if you want to sound impartial you are still a jew and represent it
My Name very critical.
I love Spinoza.Love him dearly.Can't remember what I did.But I remember that as a young man I equated his concept of God with the null set.I am so happy so happy that at last Spinoza is acknowledged as a Jew.I am weeping because besides being my favourite philosopher.Spinzo was expelled from the tribe because he condemned the Dutch West Indian Company with its engagement in Slavery.For this Spinoza must be celerbrated as we celerbrate William Willberforce.Non of the other philosophers condemned Slavery.In this regard Spinoza stands alone.Spinoza I love your geometry of Ethics.
Spinoza is Jewish. I am Jewish, at least culturally but I do not believe in god. We are products of our culture, judge by the content of his argument, not his outward appearance.