Book contents
- The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
- The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Using this Lexicon
- Abbreviations
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- 83. Hate
- 84. Hebrew State
- 85. Herem
- 86. Hobbes, Thomas (1588–1679)
- 87. Hope and Fear
- 88. Hudde, Johannes (1628 –1704)
- 89. Human Nature
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Bibliography
- Index of Cross-References
- References
85. - Herem
from H
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 January 2025
Book contents
- The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
- The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Using this Lexicon
- Abbreviations
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- 83. Hate
- 84. Hebrew State
- 85. Herem
- 86. Hobbes, Thomas (1588–1679)
- 87. Hope and Fear
- 88. Hudde, Johannes (1628 –1704)
- 89. Human Nature
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Bibliography
- Index of Cross-References
- References
Summary
On July 27, 1656 (the 6th of Av, 5416, on the Jewish calendar), Bento (Baruch) de Spinoza was formally expelled from the Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam by the ma’amad, or governing board, of the Talmud Torah congregation. The writ of ostracism (or ban), called a herem, may originally have been composed in Hebrew and read before the congregation in the synagogue. However, it is extant only in a Portuguese version entered in the Livro dos Acordos da Naçao e Ascamot, the community’s record book. Spinoza was only twenty-three years old when the herem was issued; as far as we know he had not yet written anything.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon , pp. 227 - 228Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024
References
Recommended Reading
Kaplan, Y. (1984). The social functions of the herem in the Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam in the seventeenth century. In Michman, J. (ed.), Dutch Jewish history: Proceedings of the Symposium on the History of the Jews in the Netherlands, 2 vols. (vol. i, pp. 1–55). Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar
Kasher, A., and Biderman, S. (1990). Why was Baruch de Spinoza excommunicated? In Katz, D. S. and Israel, J. (eds.), Sceptics, Millenarians and Jews (pp. 98–141). Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadler, S. (2001). Spinoza’s Heresy: Immortality and the Jewish Mind. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salomon, H. P. (1984). La vraie excommunication de Spinoza. Forum Litterarum, 28, 181–99.Google Scholar
Vaz Dias, A. M., and van der Tak, W. G. (1982). Spinoza: Merchant and autodidact. Studia Rosenthaliana, 16, 105–71.Google Scholar
Vlessing, O. (2002). The excommunication of Baruch Spinoza: The birth of a philosopher. In Israel, J. and Salverda, R. (eds.), Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500–2000) (pp. 141–72). Brill.Google Scholar