CU5-20

** Goal ** Students will study the European Enlightenment, with an emphasis on rationalism, including deism, focusing on Spinoza and his excommunication. **1. Gain the attention of the learner** Tell the story of the 10 plagues suffered by the Egyptians, as told in Exodus. Present the current scientific explanation for these events. As the students which explanation — the supernatural or the scientific — they believe to be true. Could they both be true at the same time? ** 2. Relevant past learning ** Recall Maimonides belief that religion was consistent with rational thinking. ** 3. Introduce new material ** The Enlightenment broadly refers to a philosophical movement that developed during the 17th and 18th centuries, characterized by a thorough-going belief in the power of human reason to fully understand the world and everything and every event in it and to perfect the world by prescribing actions in accordance with rational thought. An important person of this era was the philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Spinoza came from a family of Morranos, who had settled in Holland after the expulsion from Portugal and had then resumed the open practice of religious Judaism. Spinoza’s rationalism led him to adopt a view of God called “deism.” The deist believes that God’s reality and nature can be determined rationally without the need for divine revelation. Accordingly, deists tended to reject organized religion as unnecessary and supernatural explanations for events as inconsistent with reason. Spinoza was led by his philosophical approach to reject much of the teachings of orthodox Judaism, for which he was excommunicated by the Amsterdam Jewish leaders. ** 4. Provide guided practice ** Return to the alternative explanations of the plagues. We can think of religion and science as two different ways that human beings have come up with to explain events in the world. Discuss whether there are good reasons for choosing one of these approaches over the other. ** 5. Provide independent practice ** Divide the students so that they can prepare to debate the excommunication of Spinoza in two weeks. The question for debate is: Can you be still properly be considered a Jew and believe what Spinoza believed. The students should meet in their respective teams this week and prepare their arguments with respect to whether you can still be a Jew if you believe that you can learn everything you need to know about the world (including everything about the existence or nonexistence of God) through rational thought, without help from the Torah, Talmud, or the authoritative decisions of the rabbis.  **6. Close the lesson** Have the two groups come together and summarize their positions for each other. Be prepared to clarify points that they are having trouble with.
 * 5:20 ** **The Enlightenment (Part I): Rationalism**