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Baruch Spinoza

Yitzhak Melamed looks at a bust of Spinoza in a screenshot from the film, 'Spinoza: 6 Reasons for the Excommunication of the Philosopher.' (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
September 1, 2023, 8:05 am
A film on Spinoza that got its crew banned by an Amsterdam rabbi is making waves
The heretical Jewish philosopher was excommunicated by his community in 1656 for his ideas. A newly released documentary about him had a similar reception – but critics love it
By Rich Tenorio
A view inside the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, which is part of the city's Jewish Cultural Quarter. (Bas de Brouwer via JTA)
December 3, 2021, 7:49 pm
Spinoza scholar banned from Amsterdam synagogue is now invited to visit
Portuguese Synagogue board apologizes to Yitzhak Melamed, saying rabbi acted without authority to declare him persona non grata due to his studies of excommunicated philosopher
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Dutch Portuguese Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo arguing for the lifting of the ban on Baruch Spinoza, December 6, 2015. (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)
November 30, 2021, 1:17 am
In echo of excommunication, top Spinoza scholar banned from Amsterdam synagogue
Leader of Dutch city’s Sephardic community declares Yitzhak Melamed ‘persona non grata,’ citing his ‘study of Spinoza’s banned works and the development of his ideas’
By Shira Hanau
Yitzhak Melamed was beaten by a Palestinian and then by German police officers in a Bonn park. (Courtesy)
July 18, 2018, 3:25 am
Jewish professor beaten by police says he’ll keep coming back to Germany
Yitzhak Melamed was attacked by a man claiming to be Palestinian and then, apparently mistaken for his assailant, was repeatedly punched in the face by German officers
By Ben Sales
Steven Nadler, left, and Ben Nadler, the father-son duo who wrote 'Heretics! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy.' (Courtesy the Nadlers)
June 15, 2017, 5:34 am
With graphic book ‘Heretics!’ a father-son duo juxtapose sacrilege and critical thought
Written for those whose school days are a blur, this new illustrated history resonates in today’s era of science skepticism
By Cathryn J. Prince
Nathan Lopes Cardozo
March 31, 2017, 4:12 pm
Nathan Lopes Cardozo
The trouble with sacrifices
Is the aversion to animal offerings because modernity has moved past the physical, or due to poor understanding of how great it is?
Dutch philosopher Baruch De Spinoza, circa 1660 (Hulton Archive/Getty Images/via JTA)
February 26, 2016, 9:54 pm
Spanish man skips work for 6 years to study Spinoza
Sources close to engineer Joaquin Garcia say he devoted himself to Jewish thinker’s writings, becoming an expert
By JTA
Dutch Portuguese Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo arguing for the lifting of the ban on Baruch Spinoza, December 6, 2015. (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)
December 12, 2015, 1:21 pm
Centuries after excommunication, time to void ban on Spinoza?
History’s first secular Jew was banished by Amsterdam’s Portuguese Jews for heresy in 1656. Now the community’s shop flogs his books
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Jewish philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (YouTube screenshot)
September 4, 2015, 3:20 pm
Obama awards humanities medal to Jewish secularist
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein will receive medal in a September 10 ceremony for work on Baruch Spinoza
By JTA
'Portrait de Anne Bjarne' by Amadeo Modigliani (photo credit: Wikipaintings/ public domain)
July 3, 2013, 12:28 am
Modigliani sells for NIS 31.5 million
Portrait de Anne Bjarne becomes the most expensive painting ever sold in Israel, kind-of
By Lazar Berman
'Portrait de Anne Bjarne' by Amadeo Modigliani (photo credit: Wikipaintings/ public domain)
June 27, 2013, 12:27 am
NIS 30 million Modigliani to be auctioned in Jerusalem
‘Portrait de Anne Bjarne’ will become most expensive piece of art sold in Israel; for tax purposes, actual work will remain in New York
By Lazar Berman
Built in the 17th century by refugees from the Inquisition, Amsterdam's Portuguese Synagogue withstood the Nazi occupation to remain a center of Jewish life. (Matt Lebovic)
January 28, 2013, 2:51 pm
New cultural quarter resurrects Amsterdam’s Jewish past
Dutch capital earns international notice for efforts to rebuild a presence almost entirely wiped out during the Holocaust
By Matt Lebovic
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