Spinoza Summary and Analysis

Spinoza's background and history begins with the odyssey of the Jews. The Roman capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. drives the Jews out of their natural home. They scatter throughout Europe and other continents. The Jewish dispersion begins centuries earlier but when the Temple is destroyed it becomes a mass migration. One part of the migration follows the Danube and Rhine into Poland and Russia. The other part migrates to Spain and Portugal with the Moors in 711 A.D. Some of these Jews migrate after 1492 to Holland when the King of Spain begins confiscating their goods. The Espinoza family of Portuguese Jews is in that group. In 1640 Baruch Spinoza, destined to become one of the greatest modern philosophers, is a child of eight. The education of Spinoza begins at synagogue studying Jewish religion and history. Spinoza is unsatisfied with answers he...