This Jewish Philosophy lecture explores the emergence of Neoplatonism in Jewish philosophical thinking. David examines the ideas and works of three Jewish philosophers living during the later years of the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry:

- Shlomo Ibn Gabirol
- Baḥya ibn Paquda
- Yehudah haLevi.

Going in-depth into the contributions of Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, David discusses:

- Keter Malkhut
- Tiqun Midot haNephesh
- Mekor Ḥayyim

looking at the philosopher's exploration of:

- Divine essence as primal cause
- Matter and form
- Divine will.

In the second part of the lecture, David compares the works and ideas of Baḥya ibn Paquda and Yehudah haLevi. He also discusses the latter's philosophical enquiry presented in his book, The Kuzari.

Throughout the talk, David ensures the historical and intellectual context of the figures he examines - and their ideas - remains ever-present. He also provides clear and concise summaries of these ideas for a lay audience.

This is the third part of David's eight-part series, A Journey Through Jewish Philosophy, delivered on Zoom for Caulfield Shule in 2020. Other episodes can be found here:

Part One: https://youtu.be/byBHtiI7B0I
Part Two: https://youtu.be/PP7Bap8wm9o
Part Three: https://youtu.be/mTpmfoogge4
Part Four: https://youtu.be/V7RHs2u1V4g
Part Five: https://youtu.be/uZ0C8w28boc
Part Six: https://youtu.be/IC_bZTM55yA
Part Seven: https://youtu.be/4n5mShm2O5k
Part Eight: https://youtu.be/FQwN1_NKPOY

David is also renowned for his Jewish history lecture, The Whole of Jewish History in One Hour https://youtu.be/GUlM2a2tsOM​

Find more of David Solomon's podcast, with dozens of lectures on Jewish history, the Bible, Jewish philosophy, and Kabbalah at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPZc8ZC7r568Er1pwL8ZiLbU1tV6PFf4L

Learn more at davidsolomon.online

Images used in this video -

The image of David above and those used in the video opening are by Stephan Rohl and available for use under CC licensing http://www.stephan-roehl.de​​

Large image by David Solomon - all rights reserved.