Judah halevi biography

Child mortality due to plague was high in Judah's time and the historical record contains five elegies that mourn the death of a child. Biographer Hillel Halkin hypothesizes that at least one of these honors one of Judah's judahs halevi biography who did not reach adulthood and who is lost to history. Joyous, careless youth, and merry, happy delight in life find their expression in his love-songs, many of which are epithalamia.

In Egypt, where the muse of his youth found a glorious "Indian summer" in the circle of his friends, he wrote his "swan-song": [ 25 ] "Wondrous is this land to see, With perfume its meadows laden, But more fair than all to me Is yon slender, gentle maiden. Ah, Time's swift flight I fain would stay, Forgetting that my locks are gray.

It is unknown whether this work reflects personal experience or artistic tradition. Judah is noted as the most prolific composer of Hebrew riddleswith a corpus of at least sixty-seven riddles, [ 26 ] [ 25 ] some of which survive in his own hand, and even in draft form, [ 27 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ] though only a few have been translated into English. Judah's riddles are mostly short, monorhyme compositions on concrete subjects such as everyday objects, animals and plants, or a name or word.

One example is the following: "What is it that's blind with an eye in its head, but the race of mankind its use can not spare; spends all its life in clothing the dead, but always itself is naked and bare? Halevi's attachment to the Jewish people is a significant theme in his religious poetry; he identifies his sufferings and hopes with that of the broader group.

Like the authors of the Psalmshe sinks his own identity in the wider one of the people of Israel, so that it is not always easy to distinguish the personality of the speaker. Though his impassioned call to his contemporaries to return to Zion might have been received with indifference, or even with mockery; [ 29 ] his own decision to go to Jerusalem never wavered.

His Zionides judah halevi biography voice both to the Jewish people as a whole and to each individual Jew, and he never lost faith in the eventual deliverance and redemption of Israel and his people:. Sun and moon, these minister for aye; The laws of day and night cease nevermore: Given for signs to Jacob's seed that they Shall ever be a nation — till these be o'er.

If with His left hand He should thrust away, Lo! One of his Zionides, Zion Halo Tishalilaments the destruction of the temple and puts forth the dream of redemption. Halevi's poems of longing for Israel like Libi baMizrach my heart is in the east juxtapose love and pain, and dream and reality to express the distance between Spain and the Middle East and his desire to bridge it.

He believed he would find true liberation through subservience to God's will in Israel. Judah was recognized by his contemporaries and in succeeding generations as "the great Jewish national poet. Judah combined descriptions from Scripture with personal and historical Jewish experiences to form another kind of religiously themed poetry. He used devices like sound patterns and vivid imagery to evoke the suffering of exile and fear of the destruction of his people as a result of a delayed redemption.

Halevi was a prolific author of piyyutimselichot and kinnot. Even the Karaites incorporated some of them into their prayer-book; so that there is scarcely a synagogue in which Judah's songs are not sung in the course of the service. The following observation on Judah's synagogal poems is made by Zunz:. Much of his work that expresses his personal relationship with God was later established as liturgical poetry.

Judah also wrote several Shabbat hymns. One ends with the words:. Judah used complicated Arabic meters in his poems. A later critic, applying a Talmudic witticism to Judah, has said: "It is hard for the dough when the baker himself calls it bad. Literary journals and periodicals that have published his work include: [ 6 ]. Some anthologies of Hebrew poetry that feature his work include: [ 6 ].

Halevi studied philosophy as a youth. He admired it but criticized it [ 15 ] in a way comparable to al-Ghazali. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. Judah Ha-Levi is best known as a lyricist and a religious poet. His known poems include piyyutim liturgical poems intended for use in religious servicesbut even his secular poetry reflects a deeply religious attitude.

His philosophical work, Kitab al Khazari, The Book of Argument and Proof in Defense of the Despised Faithknown in Hebrew as the Kuzari, or Cuzari, was written in the form of a dialogue between the pagan king of the Khazars and a rabbi. It was a defense of Judaism against Islam and Christianityand against the Aristotelian philosophers who attempted to rationally dissect and define religious experience.

The first place in his secular, or non-liturgical, poetry is occupied by poems of friendship and eulogy. He was associated also with the grammarian Abraham Ibn Ezra. When he traveled to Egypt near the end of his life, the most celebrated men vied with one another in entertaining him. Judah Ha-Levi sympathetically shared in their sorrow and joy, in the creative spirit and all that moved the souls of these men, as he says in the beginning of a short poem Brody, l.

The tone of Judah's elegies is especially tender and plaintive. Brody, l. Many of them are dedicated to friends. Besides those composed on the deaths of the brothers Judah ib. Baruch ib.

Judah halevi biography

The news of this friend's death suddenly changed Judah's poem of eulogy Nos. Many of these are epithalamia; and are characterized by a brilliant near-eastern coloring, as well as by a chaste reserve. In Egypt, where the muse of his youth was revived in the circle of his friends, he wrote his "swan-song":. Wondrous is this land to see, With perfume its meadows laden, But more fair than all to me Is yon slender, gentle maiden.

Ah, Time's swift flight I fain would stay, Forgetting that my locks are gray. Geiger, l. After living a life of worldly pleasures, ha-Levi experienced an "awakening" that changed his outlook on the world; he abandoned frivolous pleasure, and his poetry turned to religious themes. His profound experience may have been the consequence of his sensitivity to the events of history that were unfolding around him.

During the first Crusade, and other wars, a new kind of religio-political fanaticism emerged in the Christian and Muslim worlds. Judah ha-Levi recognized the danger to the Jewish community in Spain. The religious poetry of Judah ha-Levi is regarded as among the greatest produced by medieval Judaism. He struck a chord in Jewish believers by eloquently expressing the religious and mystical feelings of drawing near to God, clinging to Him, feeling safe in His shadow.

In some of his poetry he said that the physical body is too narrow: the soul yearns for its Father in Heaven, and to break through the earthly shell S. Luzzatto, DiwanNo. Without God, the soul would wither away. Luzzatto, l. God was his best beloved, and his dearest concern Heller, l. Over of these poems have been adopted into the liturgy; they were carried as far as India Zunz, Ritus, 57 ; and they influenced the rituals of the most distant countries.

Even the Karaites incorporated some of them into their prayer-book. The longest, and most comprehensive poem is Kedushshah, which summons all the universe to praise God with rejoicing. Judah was recognized by his contemporaries as "the great Jewish national poet," and in succeeding generations, by all the great scholars and writers in Israel.

The following comment on Judah's synagogal poems is made by Zunz ib. Judah by his judahs halevi biography has also beautified the religious life of the home. His Sabbath hymns should be mentioned here; one of the most beautiful of which ends with the words:. On Friday doth my cup o'erflow, What blissful rest the night shall know, When, in thine arms, my toil and woe Are all forgot, Sabbath my love!

It seems that his profound experience was the consequence of his sensitivity to the events of history that were unfolding around him. He lived during the First Crusade and other wars. There was a new kind of religio-political fanaticism emerging in the Christian and Muslim worlds. Holy judahs halevi biography were brewing, and ha-Levi may have recognized that such trends had never been good for the Jews.

At the time, life was relatively "good" in Spain for the Jewish community. He may have suspected things were about to change for the worse, however. If one may speak of religious geniuses, then Judah ha-Levi must certainly be regarded among the greatest produced by medieval Judaism. No other writer, it would seem, drew so near to God as Judah; none else knew how to cling to Him so closely, or felt so safe in His shadow.

At times the body is too narrow for him: the soul yearns for its Father in Heaven, and would break through the earthly shell. Without God, his soul would wither away; nor is it well with him except he prays. The thought of God allows him no rest; early and late He is his best beloved, and is his dearest concern. He occupies the mind of the poet waking and sleeping; and the thought of Him, the impulse to praise Him, rouse Judah from his couch by night.

Next to God, the Jewish people stands nearest to his heart: their sufferings and hopes are his. Like the authors of the Psalms, he gladly sinks his own identity in the wider one of the people of Israel; so that it is not always easy to distinguish the personality of the speaker. Often Judah's poetic fancy finds joy in the thought of the "return" of his people to the Promised Land.

He believed that perfect Jewish life was possible only in the Land of Israel. The period of political agitation aboutwhen Islam, so intensely hated by the poet, was gradually losing ground before the victorious arms of the Christians, gave Judah reason to hope for such a return in the near future. The vision of the night, in which this was revealed to him, remained indeed but a dream; yet Judah never lost faith in the eventual deliverance of Israel, and in "the eternity" of his people.

On this subject, he has expressed himself in poetry:. The poems of Judah ha-Levi, which have been adopted into the liturgy, number in all more than The longest, and most comprehensive poem is a "Kedushah," which summons all the universe to praise God with rejoicing, and which terminates, curiously enough, in Ps. These poems were carried to all lands, even as far as India Zunz, "Ritus," p.

Even the Karaites incorporated some of them into their prayer-book; so that there is scarcely a synagogue in which Judah's songs are not sung in the course of the service. The following observation on Judah's synagogal poems is made by Zunz:. Judah by his verses has also beautified the religious life of the home. Sources: This material was originally published in Sparks!

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