HEREM IN AMSTERDAM: SPINOZA’S HERETICAL THEOLOGY (REMOTE)

In the summer of 1656, Bento (Baruch) de Spinoza was expelled from the Amsterdam Portuguese-Jewish congregation with extreme prejudice. The text of his herem, meaning “exclusion,” is unique for the period, a long document full of curses toward the young man and finalizing his ban from the community. In this class, we will first consider the notion of herem in Judaism, especially its use in Jewish Amsterdam in the 17th century. Then, we will look at some major themes of Spinoza’s philosophy, which he composed in the years after the herem, to try to determine what were the “abominable heresies” that earned him such a vitriolic punishment.