Limmud Seattle 2019 presenters Gilah Kletenik and Samuel Klein discuss Rembrandt, Menashe ben Israel, and Spinoza, three great minds who coexisted in old Amsterdam. While detailing what made each of them unique, they also discuss ways they overlapped in the vibrant intellectual community of the time. We learn about the groundbreaking way Rembrandt utilized the new technique of chiaroscuro along with his own innovation of layering paint, to create personal and emotional paintings. Menashe ben Israel is shown to be a great rhetorician who bridged communities, but was ultimately disappointed by his inability to get Jews allowed back into England. We see Spinoza in the context of his community, but also how his groundbreaking thought transformed fields as varied as psychology, religion, and politics. Interview by Tamar Libicki.