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Baruch Spinoza

24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677

Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish descent, often considered one of the great rationalists of the 17th century, alongside Descartes and Leibniz. His major work, the Ethics, presents a bold and systematic vision of reality, God, and human nature.

  • Spinoza, the Alter Rebbe, and the Eternal Fire

    In Baruch Spinoza, Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Parashat HaShavua and Parashat Tzav

    The Talmud states that all the sacrifices were consumed by a heavenly fire, not by the fire lit by the Cohanim. This seems to imply that there was absolutely no need to keep the human fire on the altar burning so as to consume the sacrifices. So why were the Cohanim commanded to keep the fire on the altar lit? It seems that an answer may be found in contrasting the teachings of two very different thinkers--Spinoza, who famously did not believe in miracles, and the Alter Rebbe, who believed the existence itself is a miracle.

  • The Latest Controversy Around Spinoza

    In Baruch Spinoza, Contemporary Issues and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    Two weeks ago, a highly unfortunate incident happened at the Portuguese Spanish Synagogue in Amsterdam - based on the ban on the famous philosopher Baruch Spinoza, pronounced by the leadership of the synagogue in 1656, the synagogue’s Rabbi refused Professor Yitzchak Melamed, an Orthodox Jew, entrance to the synagogue complex, deeming Professor Melamed a “persona non grata." By public demand I am republishing the text of a lecture I delivered in Amsterdam in December 2015, a lecture wherein I called for the lifting of the ban on Spinoza.

  • An Open Letter to Rabbi Serfaty, The Portuguese-Spanish Synagogue, Amsterdam

    In Baruch Spinoza, Contemporary Issues and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    As an orthodox Rabbi who studied in the ultra-Orthodox Gateshead Yeshiva in England for many years and who has read all of Spinoza’s works, I am of the opinion that Spinoza sometimes deliberately misrepresents Judaism. I am also aware that Spinoza wrote remarkable, noble observations about human beings, nature and society which have helped all of us. I strongly object to deeming anyone who studies, researches and teaches Spinoza a “persona non grata.”

  • A Short Introduction to God

    In Baruch Spinoza and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    While in pantheistic and other non-monotheistic philosophies, the Divine has no moral input, nothing could be further from the Jewish concept of God. For Judaism, God is the source par excellence of all moral criteria. And yet, on occasion He Himself seems to violate these very moral criteria — such as in the case when He causes a devastating flood in the days of Noah. God is a conscious Being Who created the world with a purpose. And this world is real and by no means a mirage. The human being’s deeds are of great value, far from an illusion; they are the very goal of creation. Judaism objects to the pantheistic view of the human being since it depersonalizes him, ultimately leading to his demoralization.

  • My Father, Spinoza and I

    In Baruch Spinoza and Biographies

    My father constantly spoke about the famous, highly controversial philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). Spinoza was raised in the Portuguese Spanish Jewish Community whose members had fled from Spain and Portugal to the Netherlands after the Inquisition in 1492, a fate shared by my own family. Spinoza's attacks against Judaism made me wonder what Judaism was all about and why he so strongly opposed it. Thus, paradoxically, it was Spinoza who set me on the road to Judaism.

  • The Kotzker, Spinoza and I – Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz

    In Baruch Spinoza and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    I've always wondered what would have happened if Spinoza had met the Kotzker. Both were obsessed with truth, but each approached it from a different point of view. In Spinoza's pantheism, there is a strong Kabbalistic element but, simultaneously, a denial of a personal (biblical) God. However much some Spinoza scholars want to claim that all of his philosophy was based on pure reason, it is very clear that there are elements in his philosophy that reveal aspects of mysticism. Both were searching for God and knew no compromise.

  • Parashat VaYikra: The Trouble with Sacrifices

    In Baruch Spinoza, Parashat HaShavua and Parashat Vayikra

    We need to ask ourselves a pertinent question: Is our aversion to sacrifices the result of our supreme spiritual sophistication, which caused us to leave the world of sacrifices behind us? Or, have we sunk so low that we aren’t even able to reach the level of idol worshipers who, however primitive we believe them to have been, possessed a higher spiritual level than some of us who call ourselves monotheists?

  • Conference on Lifting the Ban on Spinoza

    In Baruch Spinoza

  • Video Recordings of the Spinoza Symposium in Amsterdam

    In Baruch Spinoza and Miscellaneous

    Dear Friends, Shalom U-vracha. Below is the link to the video recordings of the Spinoza Symposium in Amsterdam, which was held on December 6, 2015, organized by the University of Amsterdam and the Crescas Center. All lectures are in English. Enjoy, Nathan Lopes Cardozo http://www.crescas.nl/video/baz/de-casus-spinoza-sprekers-en-rondetafel-discussie/

  • Am I Still Orthodox?

    Reply to a Jerusalem Rabbi

    In Baruch Spinoza, Contemporary Issues, Education and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    Once the city magistrates of 17-century Amsterdam had made it abundantly clear to the Portuguese-Spanish Jewish Community that it could settle in Amsterdam only on condition that no member would ever dare to challenge the belief in the biblical God and the Old and New Testaments, Spinoza’s so-called heretical ideas became a serious challenge for the rabbis and leaders. It was a clear infringement of the agreement with the City of Amsterdam.

  • Spinoza – It Is Time to Lift The Ban

    In Baruch Spinoza, Contemporary Issues and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    Spinoza, the celebrated seventeenth-century Amsterdam Jewish philosopher, is known as the father of the Enlightenment and has influenced generations of philosophers to this day. At the age of 23, he was excommunicated by the Portuguese-Spanish Jewish community of Amsterdam because of his heresies, which included his denying the existence of the Biblical God as well as the divinity of the Torah.

  • Spinoza’s Blunder And Noach’s Misguided Religiosity

    In Baruch Spinoza, Parashat HaShavua and Parashat Noach

    In his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, Spinoza accuses Judaism of demanding obsessive and outrageous obedience. Parashat Noach teaches us that while Spinoza’s assessment is entirely mistaken, it is a warning to many religious Jews who know nothing other than "negative" obedience as opposed to positive obedience. Judaism teaches us to stand on our own feet and make our own decisions.