NEW YORK (VINnews) — The rabbi of the Spanish Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam, Rabbi Yosef Tzarfati, announced his sharp opposition to the shooting of a movie about philosopher Baruch Spinoza in the community’s institutions. The rabbi stressed that the community’s herem (excommunication) of Spinoza, who abandoned and ridiculed the Jewish faith, is still in effect 350 years later.
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The rabbi published a harsh letter attacking the producer of the movie about the renegade philosopher, stating that “the chachamim and parnasim of Kahal Kadosh Talmud Torah excommunicated Spinoza and his writings with the severest possible ban, a ban that remains in force for all time and cannot be rescinded.”
Rabbi Tzarfati’s letter opposing the movie
Rabbi Tzarfati referred to the producer of the movie, Yitzchak Melamed,a prominent professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins university and declared him a “persona non grata” following his request to record footage at the synagogue for the project. Rabbi Tzarfati stated that the request to create the film about “this epicouros” in our “Esnoga (shul) and Yeshiva is incompatible with our centuries-old halachic, historic and ethical tradition and an unacceptable assault on our identity and heritage.”
Spinoza denied the authenticity of Judaism and is considered one of the founders of modern secularism. At the age of 24 he was excommunicated for his heretical ideas, which were even banned by the Catholic church and by the Dutch government after his death.
The original excommunication was read aloud in Portuguese, its citation of unspecified “evil opinions and acts” followed by a string of curses against the youthful Spinoza
“Cursed be he by day and cursed be he by night; cursed be he when he lies down and cursed be he when he rises up. Cursed be he when he goes out and cursed be he when he comes in,” it reads, adding: “The Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man … [and] blot out his name from under heaven.”
Ironically, in recent years the community had not demonstrated such extreme opposition to Spinoza. At a 2015 symposium in Amsterdam, a debate took place as to whether to lift the ban on the philosopher and former chief rabbi Pinchas Toledano, told the crowd that at present there was no limitation on freedom of thought, citing the fact that at the community’s gift shop, the philosopher’s books are for sale at the souvenir.
The rabbi added that he does not have the authority to lift the herem, since this “would clearly imply we share the views of Spinoza that state that God does not exist” and that “the law of Moses is no longer relevant,”. Rabbi Toledano added that these ideas “tear apart the very foundations of our religion.”
All Spinoza did was prove that religion – all religions including Christianity, are a matter of faith, not rationalism. The Rambam tried hard to claim and wrote you can be a rationalist and still be religious. 300 years later Spinoza attacked that concept and proved it is not possible.After Spinoza all seminal thinkers and philosophers have to deal with him, this is why he is so famous until our days. In the back of their heads Spinoza is lurking there, and they are forced to deal with his arguments.
Okay, all this means we have to have our beliefs based on a “Leap of Faith” and an “acceptance” of a higher authority realizing there is no absolute proof – nothing wrong with that, that is what religion and faith are