The Sephardic Silver Age (1204-1391)

[@Hircine0]

Learning magic at age forty sounds like a nice midlife crisis.

[@beadingbusily]

It doesn't mean they learned whatever at this age. Just like you can watch YT, but you weren't born with that skill.

[@bennruda11]

More like ancient one cause in them days to live past 35 was an elder

[@arawn1061]

@@bennruda11 lmao what

[@general2109]

@@bennruda11 35 would have been the average age, a number influenced by high infant mortality. If you survived the first few years of life, there was no reason why you wouldn’t live in to your 50s or 60s.

[@lottie4588]

Like the equivalent of a modern dad taking up balloon animal making

[@UsefulCharts]

I'm over 40. I'd tell you the secrets of Kabbalah but I'm not allowed. 😎

[@DJArmando77]

lol

[@Alansworstnight]

Turn the kabbalah secrets into a chart

[@DJArmando77]

@@Alansworstnight lol

[@rckflmg94]

thankfully, we have science now where there are no "secrets"

[@ludvighansson2586]

@@rckflmg94 lol no

[@yosefberger6259]

My understanding is that the restriction of learning Kabalah to just those 40 and over was instituted in response to the Shabtai Tzvi debacle

[@SamAronow]

That's true, and I'll get into it eventually, but they didn't actually get around to doing that until the Brody Herem of 1756.

[@yosefberger6259]

@@SamAronow yeah, we're still a little ways away from that point in the timeline, but I'm excited for it nonetheless!

[@pedroledoux9779]

The press invention had an huge impact in Christianity boosting protestant reform. This invention also had an huge impact in Judaism. Due press invention Kaballah widespread a lot. Natan of Gaza and Shabatai used it a lot in order to promote the idea that Shabatai was the Messiah. This movment caused a big damage in Judaism thus Kaballah has become restricted.

[@esterherschkovich6499]

Yes correct.

[@mikeyweaselwhipper3074]

i found that at 40 i still wasn't ready to dive into kabbalah, and took another ten years of studying torah before i looked at it. to be fair, my studies had included a large part of kabbalah; it's difficult to study chassidut without gaining some kabbalah.

[@Jaynat_SF]

Wait a minute, UsefulCharts is now a pateron? That's, as a certain polish jew once put it, Nea-to!

[@UsefulCharts]

I know a good channel when I see one.

[@theklorg305]

Which Polish Jew was that?

[@theklorg305]

@@UsefulCharts You've earned yourself a friend

[@Jaynat_SF]

@@theklorg305 "Aron HaParash." I was referencing his collab video with HHP about Polish Jews, he isn't an actual human being.

[@avishalom2000lm]

-Jews from HRE fleeing plague massacres come to Castile -King Pedro and his Prime Minister welcome them and appoint a Jewish treasurer -King Pedro's brother starts a war for the kingdom -King Pedro throws his treasurer and Jews under the bus to hold on to his kingdom -King Pedro loses the war and is killed, Jews massacred all over his kingdom ...and all I could think of after hearing his minister's name was, "I knew they should have taken a left turn at Albequerque".

[@MrHanderson91]

I spit water over my phone when reading this!

[@erika43]

I love your music choices, absolute gold

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

Man, all we have left is the bronze and copper ages. Maybe the carbon age.

[@sodadrinker89]

💎

[@legoabrahamman567_YT]

@@sodadrinker89 lol

[@sfogbobi387]

Stay safe Sam..

[@jordeldennie7266]

When he said he earned a herem he doesn't mean harem like with women herem is like getting excommunicated

[@elliottprats1910]

Damn, I thought he gained a bunch of women, wouldn’t been alot cooler if he did.

[@KrazyKaiser]

"Kabbalah: It's Judaism, after dark"

[@Yitzhak480]

great episode as always!

[@mrmr446]

Catholic names would be names in Castilian at a guess, leaving Hebrew and Arabic names to emphasise 'otherness.' Looking forward to the next episode.

[@SamAronow]

But all Jews would have had a "gentile name," usually just a translation of their Hebrew name; so Yohanan would be Juan, Hana would be Gracia, and so forth. That's what mystifies me. Most common Spanish-language names of the time would have been of Hebrew origin.

[@mrmr446]

@@SamAronow But a Castilian name of Hebrew origin wouldn't be seen as a Jewish name just a name and only being able to use a Hebrew name could have made it more difficult to enter into contracts when they were proscribed.

[@mrmr446]

@@SamAronow Am I to understand that this mystifies you because it was such a common practice? They would have used Catholic and Christian interchangeably so it would be the same as me being given a Christian name as a child, which I found confusing as I have never felt Christian but was unable to object at the time.

[@SamAronow]

I'm mystified because I don't have enough context to understand the exact meaning of the rule. Perhaps you're right that they couldn't use their own names in Castilian, but perhaps it meant that they couldn't use names of non-Hebrew origin (which is a semantic nightmare in itself), or that they couldn't use any names found in the New Testament. It's unclear in a way that these kinds of laws usually aren't.

[@mrmr446]

@@SamAronow From the framers perspective ambiguity can be useful, it allows for exceptions if someone has the money or connections to get treated leniently. If a name was derived from a biblical one but by way of its' Latin or Greek equivalent or translation then it wouldn't have been seen as Hebrew, another way I thought about it was that if Catholic was used interchangeably with Christian then Christian names were for those who had been Christened. Sometimes all we can do is guess what the available evidence means. Thanks for your time I enjoyed your dismissal of the modern fluffy nonsense that is hippy 'kabbalah.'

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

All I could think in this episode was about the bakery and nuts and seeds.

[@Solon1581]

4:05 Isn't that where we get the infamous number 666 from? The name "Nero Caesar" transcribed into Jewish numbers.

[@SidheKnight]

Yup

[@haroldbrown6184]

Kissinger is no longer the only Jewish Foreign Minister since Cordova. Tony Blinken is Jewish.

[@Yitzhak480]

is Gematria a Greek word that became Hebrew?

[@YaaqovShenkin]

Yes, from γεωμετρία, the same word we get 'geometry' from in English

[@Yitzhak480]

@@YaaqovShenkin ok, thanks.

[@barakdan1858]

It's countiues to amaze me how interconnected the Jewish communities were.

[@sdelmonte]

Always that Shimon Bar Yochai wasn’t the writer of the Zohar but thought it was the Arizal. (How sad that after last week’s stampede, more people know Shimon that ever before.)

[@homescholed]

3:57 didn't Jews always use letters in represent numbers? Like alef being 1 and bet being 2?

[@trevor1667]

It’s all starting to come together!

[@jonyprepperisrael60]

11:00 Philp and Isabella: OBSERVE

[@gedgar]

Always excited for these videos :o !!!

[@thebiggesttk]

Sam can you do a collab with Usefulcharts on the Aboulafia family tree?

[@esterherschkovich6499]

שלום 💐 Never heard of this saying..Silver age 🤔

[@theklorg305]

Imagine how many Jews there would be today without any assaults on us.

[@MegaBallPowerBall]

The Klong Jews made up around 10% of the Roman Empire's population which itself was estimated to be around 25% of the world's population. If those figures are correct then Jews made up 2.5% of the world's population. Equivalent to 190 Million people today. Even if the actual percentage of the world's population is half of that, it would be a completely different world.

[@צמחישראלמרום]

@@MegaBallPowerBall yet they say jews massacring palestinians in gaza, while their poplulation gone up from 500,000 to 2.5 million in 75 years.

[@HistoricalStoriesoftheBi-qm3te]

Good job

[@dhribbler7303]

As a non-Jewish person, I couldn't completely understand the 40 years and above rule, is it because people aren't considered sufficiently mature below that age? Also great foreshadowing in 11:03

[@SamAronow]

Basically, yes.

[@rckflmg94]

@@SamAronow this has been a great series for us "gentiles" but I'm curious if you mention any Jewish skeptics or Jewish agnostics along the way. Jews have contributed to science and philosophy and most today don't believe in the ancient myths. I wonder who were the trailblazers in this area of Jewish culture. For example, I admire many contemporary Jewish intellectuals and scientists like Steven Pinker and so many more!

[@ludvighansson2586]

@@rckflmg94 just look up the haskalah "the Jewish enlightenment" and you'll see the myriad of great minds. Scientists, philosophers and so on. However the best remained true to Yiddishkeit, the Vilna Gaon for example.

[@rckflmg94]

@@ludvighansson2586 Okay I will. "the best remained true to ..." Why is that? Aren't we all much better off since modern society left the old myths and religions behind?

[@ludvighansson2586]

@@rckflmg94 lol no

[@fireball-yj8fl]

I'm not sure if you'll be checking a comment on a 2 year old video, but with theosophical Kabbalah, is that right? I thought theosophy as a term was coined by Helena Blavatsky for her Theosophical Society which was apart of that process of appropriation of Kabbalah along with Aleister Crowley

[@SamAronow]

I caught that too- especially in light of links between Blavatskyan Theosophy and the Great Replacement Theory in the US (see my recent video "The Melting Pot"). But the word "theosophy" is not a 19th century original; it's synonymous with theology but with more mystical connotations; Blavatsky et. al. borrowed the term from Christian Theosophy.

[@Mark_Williams300]

Why does Sicily have a zit?

[@jonyprepperisrael60]

so all of Kabbala isn't allowed to be taught outside of jewish men over 40 or just practical Kabbala?

[@SamAronow]

All of it.

[@Hazardfootball]

Hey sam!I love your videos. I find them really interesting. Btw. Are you bucharian or a Cohen by any chance?

[@SamAronow]

Neither, why?

[@Hazardfootball]

@@SamAronow cuz your aronow sounds like Aaron. And a lot of bucharian names end with -ov or ow

[@SamAronow]

Oh, that's because my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was named Aron, and after the PLC was partitioned, his son had to adopt a family name and used his patronymic.

[@themosinguy6508]

so how does one learn Practical Kabbalah anyway?

[@esterherschkovich6499]

Kabalah...it takes years to learn..Normally a Rabbi is a Kabbalist.

[@theklorg305]

It would be interesting if their was a miracle in Abulafia's survival. That is to say Adonai played a part.

[@depreciatingasset]

Is it the same as islamic mysticism? Like sufi, druze and other esoteric sects

[@ajanimation8239]

Ya the Kabbalah kinda confuses me now because I thought mysticism was forbidden in the Torah.

[@wisdom.research1051]

Well I do know Kabbalah And can say you are not doing a bad job 👍 Although Sefer Yetzira is much older than 2 Century C.E. It was taught orally, and written in a near final form by Rabbi Akiva.

[@freetube5304]

Just when you thought the Almohads were anti-jewish

[@Zakariya3603]

They were, the hated the Jews to a point where it makes the Spaniards look Judeophilic.

[@sorrybro4890]

Could you talk about the jews of iran During medieval period

[@James_Wisniewski]

You know what situation you never want to be in? This conversation: "Hey, the good king died." "Ah, shucks. Well, who's the next guy." "His sixteen-year-old son."

[@uriel7203]

I just wanted to address some of the misconceptions that you mentioned in this video. There is no claim that the Zohar was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The claim is that its TEACHINGS are from him. As a matter of fact, the text itself is proof that he didn't write it. That being said, there are 2 parts of the Zohar that were directly from him. The Idra Rabba, which was from him and his students "חבריו". The second one is the idra rabba that was only him (and Rabbi Abba, who transcribed it). Also, the Zohar is not one book. I believe that it is a compilation of a 4 books written by different authors. Rabbi Moshe DeLion compiled them into one book and ordered them differently based on what he thought was appropriate. An other misconception is the idea that one cannot read the book until they are 40. Though it is true that one has to be mature enough and in the right mindset to engage learning the mystical concepts, age is just a number. Many of the greatest Mekubalim started their careers quite young. The Arizal didn't even live to 40 and is considered the greatest of them all. The idea of "magic" is considered the least important in the study of Kabbalah. After all, kabbalah is about the study of Godliness. "Magic" would most likely be a distraction.

[@oliverkarehag9883]

Thank you, I have always wondered what the difference was between Jewish money lending and the de Medici bank.

[@aliyaser7698]

Isn’t usury forbidden to take a monkey from the bank and increase the amount in this month of usury?

[@EMattheww]

I remember the rabbi's son in law giving a sermon on bible codes. I don't think he was 40 lol. Is this not considered Kabbalah? and if it is, why were we allowed to hear it? is this not learning Kabbalah? So many questions!

[@kevinm536]

What's the name of the song at 8:00

[@marcosfarodrigues]

Se habla Español, él no es un abogado. ???

[@SamAronow]

En Los EEUU, mirámos muchos avisos de abogados en español; por ejemplo "¿Accidentes? ¡Abogados! 222-2222 Se habla Español." Eso es un meme.

[@marcosfarodrigues]

@@SamAronow jajaja ahora entiendo. Gracias por responder. Me encanta tu canal, soy un gran fan tuyo desde Portugal. ¡He aprendido mucho! el mes pasado estuve en Belmonte. abrazo

[@samuelfeldman9912]

I’m honestly curious, why aren’t you allowed to learn Kabbalah?

[@christiandaugherty6339]

He's under 40, I think.

[@ConstantGardener-q9q]

This is the silver age?!

[@eitanmichaeli6770]

Michael laitman is Israel's version of a qabbalah swindler he teaches general New age bull as ''kabbalistic wisdom'' and he is openly non observent I also seriously doubt that''rabbi'' laitman actually has rabbinic semikha

[@SamAronow]

He does not. He was never formally ordained, and watchdogs and experts widely consider his movement to be a cult (and the properly defined kind, not the edgelord "all religion is a cult" kind).

[@eitanmichaeli6770]

@@SamAronow it is a cult but a cult that draws people through new age bull

[@vauiarex4877]

I really love these maps. Are these your maps in Omniatlas' style, or did Omniatlas contibuted to them, or are you part of the Omniatlas project?

[@SamAronow]

I've been working with Omniatlas since 2013, and my maps are custom originals made from his templates in Adobe Illustrator.

[@vauiarex4877]

@@SamAronow Great, thanks! I'm glad I could get an idea how the medieval period looks like in Omniatlas style

[@Ido_morgenshtein]

Lev cham? You know that means "hot heart" do ya?

[@harelkalifa2451]

11:01

[@Rifat.Rafael.Birmizrahi]

Omg the Spanish inquisition is coming!

[@elliottprats1910]

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[@artisanrocky8496]

Are you okay? Is everything safe for y’all over there?

[@KateGladstone]

Why did you pronounce פשט with the accent on the first syllable, instead of pronouncing it correctly. That makes you sound as if you had read the word and not bothered to learn its pronunciation.

[@OliveOilFan]

Wait why aren’t you allowed to learn it? Is it because you’re secular?

[@SamAronow]

I'm under 40.

[@rickyair8075]

0:30 That isn't actually the Hebrew inscription. Looks like a Google translation.

[@brenosantana1458]

.

[@KohanKilletz]

How come supposedly smart and competent Jews always fall for the charms of supposedly tolerant Christians?

[@elliottprats1910]

And vice versa!

[@gre8]

Sometimes people don't have a choice and must do the best with the hand that is dealt to them. Sometimes preliminary tolerant intentions by the Christian king were sincere, but later political events forced his hand to become a persecutor. Politics are weird and the ruling classes often sacrifice minorities because the political cost of doing so is less than that of alienating the majority. By the way, some Christian rulers were tolerant, some weren't. Some Muslims rulers were tolerant, some weren't. The middle ages were complicated enough for silly factionalist simplifications.

[@diegorivas1991]

Technically speaking, the official language of Spain as the Castile kingdom ever since the XI century first, then the unified kingdom of Castile Aragon and later Spanish Kingdom and Empire after the XVI century Reconquista is not "spanish" but castillian, wich was originated from that region and emerged as their language and even to these days keeps it's official name. The only parts of the world where castillian is remarked as not being called and neither confused as "spanish" are Spain itself were several autonomous communities (their equivalent to provinces or states) have their own official languages alongside castillian, such as catalan, valencian, galician, esukera, aragonese, asturian, andalusian and others wich are romance languages derivated from latin as their main root plus germanic and goth as their main influences, and some cities of the United States were due to both racism and ignorance is called "mexican".

[@norelfarjun3554]

Honestly this is the most embarrassing part of our history (the Jewish people) The book is poorly written and the ideas there are at the level of depth you would expect to hear from a teenager in the emo phase

[@ludvighansson2586]

Are you writing about the Zohar?

[@norelfarjun3554]

@@ludvighansson2586 yhe

[@jaystrickland4151]

No you are not you are being swindled. That is pretty much my go to for anything new age.

[@ludvighansson2586]

But the Kabbalah is not "new age" though. Sorry, if you were not referring to that.

[@jaystrickland4151]

@@ludvighansson2586 I was not referring to The Kabbalah. Though new age stuff generally claims to be "old knowledge", especially by swindlers. Generally anything promising secret knowledge is a scam.

[@alsatusmd1A13]

Are musical scales named for the Sefirot technically not allowed then? en.xen.wiki/w/3L_7s

[@benjaminromm8184]

Great video as always!

[@Ido_morgenshtein]

Lev cham? You know that means "hot heart" do ya?

[@Ido_morgenshtein]

Lev cham? You know that means "hot heart" do ya?