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HALEVI, JUDAH.   Term Paper ID:24811 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Life, career, philosophy, influences & works of 12th Cent. Spanish Jewish poet.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Life, career, philosophy, influences & works of 12th Cent. Spanish Jewish poet. Paper Introduction: The works of Judah Halevi (c. 1080-c. 1142) presented a powerful response to the tendency toward secularization in twelfth-century Jewish culture and to the philosophical trends that, to some degree, drove this movement. Halevi, who was first known as a brilliant poet, often expressed a profound longing for Israel in his poetry. This longing, and his dissatisfaction with the worsening position of Spanish Jews, led him to examine the essence of Judaism and the nature of the Jewish people's unique destiny. Unlike many other twelfth-century Spanish Jews, Halevi held that Greek rationalism placed no burden on traditional revelation and there was no need to reconcile what were essentially two very different types of knowledge. Ultimately, in his Sefer Ha-Kuzari (the Hebrew title), Halevi also called for the return to Israel. Halevi died in the course of his journey Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Unlike many other twelfth-century Spanish Jews, Halevi held thatGreek rationalism placed no burden on traditional revelation and there wasno need to reconcile what were essentially two very different types ofknowledge. 1 8 -c. Hebrewwas chosen for poetry because many of the poems were liturgical in natureand Hebrew was the language of religious practice. The lover whowatches the sleeper hopefully extends his feeling of tenuous control to thewaking hours, and wishes, of the beloved and the poem is charged with thefeeling of a lover's insecurity and the hope that sees him through. The works of Judah Halevi (c. The book was built around the conversion of the Tartar Khazars toJudaism in 74 . Rev. ed. TheAristotelian revolution in thought caused "a painful conflict betweenreason and revelation" for the Jews, Muslims and, later, the Christians(Cantor 362). But, despite his intense feelings about Israel and the need for areturn to traditional Judaism, Halevi's quest might not have inspired himto turn to Arabic prose and philosophical polemic. Hebrew Poems from Spain. The wealthy Jews of Cordoba,Toledo and Lucena "bought off persecution with heavy gold contributions"and refused to see that they were living on the edge of "an eruptingvolcano" (Minkin 19 ). Halevi determined, however, that he preferred poetry to medicine andfound his career confining. But thesesubtle connections were gradually replaced "as the tone of Halevi's workbec[ame] steadily more anti-intellectual, didactic, and nationalistic inoutlook" (Cantor 368). His letters to friends and the poems in which hememorialized their personal qualities were witty and beautifully written.In his celebrations of the warm south Halevi "embodied in clear images therichness of the vivid colors, the joyous, triumphant cry of nature bubblingwith life" (Zinberg 86). This skepticism largely derived from the influence of Aristotle'sscientific writings--which had gradually been translated by Arab scholarsin Sicily and Spain. Not only was such a standard opposed to theuniqueness of Judaism, it was also an impossibility in the changingpolitical climate of twelfth-century Spain. The Kuzari is basically a concertedeffort to convince the Jews of Spain that their only hope lay in the returnto Israel. "Judah Halevi." Great Jewish Personalities in Ancient and Medieval Times. The feelings of longing and dissatisfaction whichled to this change became apparent gradually. New York: Schocken, 1966.Minkin, Jacob S. But Halevi reasoned that they were making two kinds of mistakes.First, he held that whether rational thought can or cannot be shown to beconsistent with Biblical revelation was irrelevant. On a simple rational levelHalevi was also concerned over the effect of the Jews' excessiveassimilation of "the mores and ideals of their environment [and] he becameconcerned with the preservation of the identity of the Jewish people" whichwas endangered by exile (Cantor 368). 182- 2 1.Zinberg, Israel. 1142) presented a powerfulresponse to the tendency toward secularization in twelfth-century Jewishculture and to the philosophical trends that, to some degree, drove thismovement. Soon Halevi's poems concentrated primarily on the dilemma of theJewish exile. In poetry, though Arabic literature was a major influencethere as well, Jewish poets had begun consciously adapting Hebrew to thedemands of a new style of writing as early as the tenth century. His erotic poetry, intensely personal and"steeped in the pleasures of the flesh," was as sharp and deep as the rest(Minkin 187). A History of Jewish Literature. He became a masterful writer inboth Hebrew and Arabic and his poetry was widely praised even while he wasa young student. "Not only was socialintolerance increasing," and being ignored, "but Jewish culture itself,"rather than returning to the source of its strength, as Halevi saw it, "wasexperiencing widespread religious skepticism" (Berger 217). London: Peter Owen, 1962. As Goldstein notes, it was quite common forJews to see the Song of Songs "as a dialogue between God and Israel and,later, as a communion between man and his soul" (5). It was always "themoral content and educative power" of the Torah that was important andthese were essentially unaffected by the success or failure of any attemptto "philosophically substantiate" Judaism "with the aid of logical theoriesand arguments" (Zinberg 119). The deciding factor wasthe worsening conditions of the Jews in Spain and the rest of the Islamicand Christian regions. and trans. Withvariations over time the Jews of Spain had lived in relative harmony withboth the Islamic and Christian kingdoms of Iberia. But Halevi's high spirits and sensuality gradually came to becombined with other thoughts. Bernard Martin. Halevi was an important part of the Hebrew revival. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. "The days dance their merry cycle for me" and "broad and full asthe sea is my heart" were typical lines describing his general outlook(quoted in Zinberg 85). Ed. This longing, and hisdissatisfaction with the worsening position of Spanish Jews, led him toexamine the essence of Judaism and the nature of the Jewish people's uniquedestiny. Halevi died in the course of hisjourney to his spiritual home. The Kuzari was a direct attack on theJewish intellectuals who supported these notions and can be understood asHalevi's most concentrated effort to get across the Zionist message thathad come through earlier in his poems. Simon Noveck. He was welcomed everywhere as an important poet and a goodcompanion but settled eventually in the city of Cordoba. This was expressed emotionally in beautiful poems such asIsrael's Complaint, which begins "My love, have you forgotten how you laybetween my breasts?/Why have you now sold me forever to those who enslaveme?" (in Goldstein 93). Though he died inthe attempt, and may never have gotten farther than Egypt, Halevi's messagelost none of its strength in the centuries that followed--even when no onewas listening. Ultimately, in his Sefer Ha-Kuzari (the Hebrew title), Halevialso called for the return to Israel. New York: Harper, 1993.Goldstein, David, ed. Though very little is known about Halevi's life it has beenestablished that he was born in Toledo in Christian Castile and, around11 , was sent to the Muslim city of Lucena to complete his education.Lucena was an important center of Jewish culture and Halevi studied Talmudunder the direction of Joseph ibn Migash. Second, Halevi held that such tendenciestook Jews away from the essence of Jewish culture and led them to hope forand esteem "a cosmopolitan relativism where the good life wascontemplation, accessible to all people, irrespective of religiouspractice" (Berger 219). In such poems Halevi expressed his personallonging and suggested the incompleteness of a people who were separatedfrom the land that gave them their identity. Philosophywas written in Arabic not just because the main sources of inspiration wereArabic works or Greek writings rendered in Arabic, "but also because Hebrewdid not have the verbal resource or flexibility for such writing"(Goldstein 4). This rediscovery of the Bible and of the Hebrew language was centeredin the academies of Lucena and Cordoba and the poets of Spain "seized theopportunity" to employ "only the 'pure' language of the Bible" in their art(Goldstein 5). Ed. But their politicalsituation was growing much worse during Halevi's lifetime and theirposition in both societies was endangered. Though he, andother Jewish intellectuals, wrote their philosophical works in Arabic,Hebrew was the language in which Halevi wrote his great poetry. and trans. Halevi decided on medicine as a profession andreturned to Toledo where he was very successful at his profession and mayhave risen as high as the "position of body physician at the court ofCastile" (Zinberg 84). His ideas, however, were less successfulthan his art. Halevi, who was first known as a brilliant poet, often expresseda profound longing for Israel in his poetry. Cleveland: P of Case Western Reserve U, 1972. The "protest against the entire social order of Jews in Spain" whichhad been explicit in his writing became "even harsher in his decision tomake the pilgrimage and settle in Israel" (Berger 219). Itwas in Cordoba that "the foundation of the post-biblical Hebrew revival waslaid [and] where the Jewish spirit was fostered and preserved" (Minkin187). Works CitedBerger, Michael S. In such poems the thought of Israel seems to lurkbehind every thought and, in this case, bursts out when it can no longer becontained. "Toward a New Understanding of Judah Halevi's Kuzari." Journal of Religion 72 (1992): 21 -28.Cantor, Norman F. In this work, however, Halevi was not preaching toGentiles but to the Jews themselves. He abandoned Toledo for several years ofwandering from one city to the next--sampling the literary and intellectuallife of each. In a remarkable weddingpoem, a form Halevi frequently used to celebrate his friends' marriages,the poet suddenly turns from the usual reflections on the marital union tothe wrenching conclusion, "Oh, when will the poor daughter of Zion alsofind rest on the bridal bed, and when will God's voice resound, 'Arise youwho wander in strange lands; behold the day comes and the sun has risen?"(quoted in Zinberg 9 ). Halevi also studied the physical sciences, metaphysics,and Greek-Arabic philosophy, which was becoming "the intellectual fashionat the time" (Minkin 184). Though he was disgusted with the persecutors of theJews, Halevi also felt extreme bitterness toward the refusal of mostSpanish Jews to acknowledge the changing situation. 12 vols. And theologically Halevi held thatintellectual trends in the Diaspora were leading to excessivesecularization which entirely overlooked the "moral grandeur of traditionalJudaism" (Cantor 368). He rejected the notion of areconciliation between revelation and reason, he rejected the notion ofsecularization, and he rejected the possibility that even secularizationcould lead to peaceful assimilation. The city was amajor center of learning which, in addition to being the western capital ofIslam, hosted a large and flourishing Jewish community. All three of the theistic faiths--Islam, Judaism andChristianity--were based on a profound belief in revelation. Much of the Halevi's earliest poetry was extremely sensual andjoyous. Here, at therabbinic academy established by Hadai ibn Shaprut Talmudic scholarship hadachieved a level of excellence rivaling that of the Babylonian schools. In, for example, a line where he asks to see the beloved'sface as it wakes Halevi says, "If you dream someone kissing your lips, I'llinterpret your dreaming for you" (quoted in Minkin 187). The only means by which the Jews ofthe Exile could hope to regain their essential Jewish character was toreturn to Israel--and this is the message made explicit by the Haver,Halevi's alter-ego in the Kuzari. Halevi's poetry, forall its sensuality, was also a vehicle for his feelings about God'srelation to the world and Halevi's own relation to Judaism. In addition, Hebrew hadbeen undergoing a revival based on the return to the study of the actualwords of the Bible itself, "denuded of their traditional Rabinnicinterpretation and subject to the enquiries of grammarians and linguistswho [sought] to clarify the meaning of the Hebrew word of God" (Goldstein5). It was the age of the First Crusade and "incessantand violent anti-Semitism" stemmed from that era (Cantor 365). Though he was acknowledged as the greatest of Hebrew poetsit was not until the nineteenth century that the Zionist movement proved tobe receptive to Halevi's ideas. Thus when Halevi came to writehis Kuzari, its subtitle was Book of Argument and Demonstration in Aid ofthe Despised Faith. The response of many Jewish intellectuals such as SaadiahGaon and, later, Maimonides, was to attempt to establish an accord betweenreason and revelation and produce "a rational theology" (Cantor 363). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.