The Untold Story of Plato and Kabbalah in the Renaissance

During the Renaissance, Kabbalists attempted to synthesize and interpret Kabbalah through a Neoplatonic lens, based on the belief that Plato had studied the secrets of Judaism. Join us as we explore the secret of Plato and Kabbalah in the Italian Renaissance.

Check out the rest of our wonderful collaborators:

00:00 Platonism and Kabbalah during the Renaissance
01:30 Shout out
04:06 Changing Favours
06:27 The Rise of Plato
15:14 How did Plato know Kabbalah?
20:12 Prisca Theologia, Perennial Philosophy
24:58 Case Study: The Sefirot
32:57 Italy vs Spain
37:57 Ripple Effects of the Renaissance
41:01 Summary
43:34 Reading Recs
43:57 Thank you & Shout out

Sources and Recommended Readings:
• Abraham Melamed, “The Myth of the Jewish Origins of Philosophy in the Renaissance: from Aristotle to Plato,” in Jewish History, 26(1-2), 2012, pp. 41–59., 214—219.
• Abraham Melamed, The Myth of the Jewish Sources of Science and Philosophy, 2009, pp. 214-219, 299-315
• Abraham Melamed, The Philosopher-King in Medieval and Renaissance Jewish political Thought (Albany, 2002), 229, n. 30.
• Alexander Altmann, "Lurianic Kabbalah in a Platonic Key: Abraham Cohen Herrera's Puerta del Cielo," HUCA 53 (1982)
• Chaim Wirszubski, Pico della Mirandola’s Encounter with Jewish Mysticism
• Hava Tirosh-Rothschild, Between Worlds: The Life and Thought of Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon (Albany, 1991), 50, 233.
• Miquel Beltran, The Influence of Abraham Cohen de Herrera's Kabbalah on Spinoza's Metaphysics. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2016
• Moshe Idel "Differing Conceptions of Kabbalah in the Early 17th Century,"in I. Twersky and B. Septimus, eds., Jewish Thought in the 17th Century (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987), 138-41, 155-57
• Moshe Idel, "Jewish Mystical Thought in the Florence of Lorenzo il Magnifico," in La cultura ebraica all'epoca di Lorenzo il Magnifico, ed. D. Liscia Bemporad and I. Zatilli (Florence, 1998), pp. 31-32
• Moshe Idel, "Kabbalah and Ancient Philosophy in R. Isaac and Judah Abravanel", in The Philosophy of Leone Ebreo, eds. M. Dorman and Z. Levi (Tel Aviv, 1985) (in Hebrew), pp. 73-112, 197.
• Moshe Idel, "Kabbalah, Platonism and Prisca Theologia: the Case of Menashe ben Israel,” Menasseh ben Israel and his World, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1989, pp. 207-219.
• Moshe Idel, "The Anthropology of Yohanan Alemanno: Sources and Influences," Topoi 7 (1988): pp. 201-10; reprinted in Annali di storia dell'esegesi 7 (1990): 93-112;
• Moshe Idel, “The Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretations of The Kabbalah in the Renaissance,” in Jewish Thought in the Sixteenth Century, by Bernard Dov Cooperman (ed.), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983, pp. 186-242
• Moshe Idel, “Italy in Safed, Safed in Italy: Toward an Interactive History of Sixteenth-Century Kabbalah,” in David B. Ruderman and Giuseppe Veltri, eds., Cultural Intermediaries: Jewish Intellectuals in Early Modern Italy, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004, p. 243
• Moshe Idel, “Jewish Kabbalah and Platonism in the Middle Ages and Renaissance” in Lenn Goodman, Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought, State University of New York Press, 1992, pp. 319-351
• Moshe Idel, “Metamorphoses of a Platonic Theme in Jewish Mysticism,” in Jewish Studies at the Central European University 3: 67
• Moshe Idel, “Particularism and Universalism in Kabbalah, 1480-1650,” in Essential Papers on Jewish Culture in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, edited by David B. Ruderman, 1992, p. 327-8, 338
• Moshe Idel, Kabbalah in Italy, 1280-1510: A Survey, Yale University Press, 2007
• Richard Popkin, “Spinoza, Neopiatonic Kabbalist?,” in Lenn Goodman, Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought, 1992, pp. pp. 367-410
• S. Toussaint, "Ficino's Orphic Magic or Jewish Astrology and Oriental Philosophy? A Note on Spiritus, the Three Books on Life, Ibn Tufayl, and Ibn Zarza," Ac- cademia 2 (2000): 19-33

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[SeekersofUnity]

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With love,
Zevi

[heqaib]

Amazing video. To borrow an American baseball expression: This clip ‘knocks the ball out of the park.’ Ideas and thoughts do not come from one individual. You show how western thought managed to reach back to Greek thought, use it, and shape it with the Biblical and Kabbalistic traditions. It makes sense that the Renaissance was when religious philosophy blossomed; just as art blossomed, so did emanations of our universe.

[tigo]

Thanks alot Sir! wonderful times were living in!

[genghisgalahad]

Such a rich and epic elegant distillation of western philosophy, Kabbalah and the Renaissance! From the contrasts between Plato and Aristotle, between Italian and Spanish Kabbalists to just now actually learning what "emanation" in the context of Kabbalah means! Thank you! Will continue explore and walk through these welcoming doors! Visuals are amazing!

[lunarchandelierpress]

Deeply grateful for this accesible, coherent and detailed exploration. Very persuasive! The citations and links are very generous.

[singhjasbeer]

Zevi you deserve a new title Master of Kabbalah, never imagined neo platonism’s this relationship with Kabbalah that you elucidated in this video. Thanks so much for valuable content🙏🏻

[canisronis]

There is only one thing for those with the "eyes to see". Your work is pointing the way, thank you!

[mysticalmindstate]

At the start of the segment around the 25 minute mark you said “arguably the central theme” and my inner dialogue had to repeat it. He said “arguably, ” and it’s accurate by todays standards. 😂 loving this series. You guys are rock stars.

[Protogonas]

It's always a good day when Zevi comes out with a new video 🙏

[shaharfrydman]

As interesting and enlightening as it is pleasant and well-presented. יישר כוח

[pagerhoads]

Manly P Hall explains things very well too I listened to his lectures last night

[giffica]

Watching this again. Just phenomenal work. Rich, dense, and expansive. As soon as my children are ready I’ll be having them watch your lectures on these subjects. God bless.

[BrotherJohn]

This is just excellent. Thank you for your hard work and that of your team.

[luvnlife]

Fantastic work! Can't wait to catch up on the other videos in this Neoplatonism series!

[sethcable]

Simply beautiful, incredible work! Thank you again so much for all you do!

[p.h.freitas]

The most famous poet of the portuguese language, Camões, was a reader of Leão Hebreu.

[musamusashi]

One more great essay, Zevi.
Peace and blessings!

[haleya]

Wow, this is great!! I learned a ton, and now I'm intrigued by Italian Kabbalists....

[steveclark]

Excellent. "real housewives of ancient Greece" lol. This whole series on Neoplatonism is incredibly well done informative and entertaining. A book with a chapter by each contributor would def make my wish and my buy list!

[RavinderKumar-ihin]

Brother very nice you should also unite these ideas with Indian Philosophy, religion and mythology. I think it would be very exciting and enlightening to find universal bt East and West