The Kabbalistic Sources of Spinoza

Abstract

This article provides the first overview of research on the kabbalistic sources of Benedictus de Spinoza (1632–1677). While this topic has not been a major focus in Spinoza research, this article argues that it has both biographical and philosophical relevance for the investigation of Spinoza and the context in which he first conceived of his hallmark ideas. Revisiting the extant historical sources, this article refines the present understanding of the connection between Spinoza and the seventeenth-century kabbalistic circle of Amsterdam and the kabbalistic literature of that time.