The Kuzari is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Yehuda Halevi, in full Yehuda ben Shemuel Ha-Levi, also Judah Halevi, or Judah ben Samuel Halevi ( Hebrew: יהודה הלוי) (c Divided into five essays ("ma'amarim" (namely, Articles)), it takes the form of a dialogue between the pagan king of the Khazars and a Jew who was invited to instruct him in the tenets of the Jewish religion. Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller rustic" is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world "Kazar" redirects here for the Marvel Comics character see Ka-Zar; for the village in Azerbaijan see Xəzər. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Originally written in Arabic, the book was translated by numerous scholars (including Judah ibn Tibbon) into Hebrew and other languages. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Judah ben Saul Ibn Tibbon (1120 – after 1190 was a translator and physician Though the book is not considered a historical account of the Khazar conversion to Judaism, scholars such as D.M. Dunlop have postulated that Yehuda had access to Khazar documents upon which he loosely based his work. Douglas Morton Dunlop (1909 - 1987 was a renowned Orientalist and scholar of Islamic and Eurasian history His contemporary, Avraham ibn Daud, reported meeting Khazar rabbinical students in Toledo, Spain in the mid-12th century. Abraham ibn Daud ( Hebrew Avraham ben David ha-Levi; Arabic ابراهيم ابن داود) was a Spanish-Jewish astronomer Rabbi (pronunciation, although in English usually) in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’ or more literally ‘my great one’ when addressing any master Toledo Spain locationpng|thumb|right|200px|Location of Toledo in Spain
Contents |
Introduction
After a short account of the incidents preceding the conversion of the king, and of the conversations of the latter with a philosopher, a Christian, and a Muslim concerning their respective beliefs, a Jew appears on the stage, and by his first statement startles the king; for, instead of giving him proofs of the existence of God, he asserts and explains the miracles performed by Him in favor of the Israelites. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel.
The king expresses his astonishment at this exordium, which seems to him incoherent; but the Jew replies that the existence of God, the creation of the world, etc. , being taught by religion, do not need any speculative demonstrations. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Further, he propounds the principle upon which his religious system is founded; namely, that revealed religion is far superior to natural religion. For the aim of ethical training, which is the object of religion, is not to create in man good intentions, but to cause him to perform good deeds. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life This aim can not be attained by philosophy, which is undecided as to the nature of good, but can be secured by religious training, which teaches what is good. As science is the sum of all truth found by successive generations, so religious training is based upon a set of traditions; in other words, history is an important factor in the development of human culture and science. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic
"Creatio ex Nihilo"
Halevi writes that as the Jews are the only depositaries of a written history of the development of the human race from the beginning of the world, the superiority of their traditions can not be denied. Halevi asserts that no comparison is possible between Jewish culture, which in his view is based upon religious truth, and Greek culture, which is based upon science only. Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena above all it is the Culture of secular communities of Jewish people but it can also include The Culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years with its beginnings in the Mycenaean and Minoan Civilizations, continuing most notably into Classical Greece He holds that the wisdom of Greek philosophers lacked that divine support with which the Israelite prophets were endowed. Ancient Greek philosophy focused on the role of Reason and Inquiry. Had a trustworthy tradition that the world was created out of nothing been known to Aristotle, he would have supported it by at least as strong arguments as those advanced by him to prove the eternity of matter. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Belief in the eternity of matter, however, is not absolutely contrary to Jewish religious ideas; for the Biblical narrative of the Creation refers only to the beginning of the human race, and does not preclude the possibility of preexistent matter.
Still, relying upon tradition, the Jews believe in "creatio ex nihilo," which theory can be sustained by as powerful arguments as those advanced in favor of the belief in the eternity of matter. "Creationism" can also refer to Creation myths in general or to a concept about the origin of the soul. The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of Knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. The objection that the Absolutely Infinite and Perfect could not have produced imperfect and finite beings, made by the Neoplatonists to the theory of "creatio ex nihilo," is not removed by attributing the existence of all mundane things to the action of nature; for the latter is only a link in the chain of causes having its origin in the First Cause, which is God. Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical Philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD founded by Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. The cosmological argument is an Argument for the Existence of God or a " First Cause "
Superiority of his faith
Halevi now attempts to demonstrate the superiority of his religion, Judaism. The preservation of the Israelites in Egypt and in the wilderness, the delivery to them of the Law on Mount Sinai, and their later history are to him so many evident proofs of their superiority. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society For other places named Mount Sinai see Mount Sinai (disambiguation Mount Sinai (Arabic طور سيناء, Hebrew הר סיני also He impresses upon the king the fact that the favor of God can be won only by accomplishing the precepts in their totality, and that those precepts are binding only on the adherents of Judaism. The question why the Jews were favored with God's instruction is answered in the Kuzari at I:95, as based upon their pedigree, i. e. , Noah’s most pious son was Shem. His most pious son was Eber. Abraham was Eber’s descendant and disciple. Isaac his most pious son and Jacob his most pious. The sons of Jacob were all worthy and their children became the Jews. The Jew then shows that the immortality of the soul, resurrection, reward, and punishment are all implied in Scripture and are referred to in Jewish writings. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living This article concerns itself with Jesus Christ Christian, Islamic and other religious interpretations of resurrection in general
Question of attributes
In the second essay Judah enters into a detailed discussion of some of the theological questions hinted at in the preceding one. To these belongs in the first place that of the divine attributes. Judah rejects entirely the doctrine of essential attributes which had been propounded by Saadia Gaon and Bahya ibn Paquda. Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda (also Pakuda Bakuda Hebrew: בחיי אבן פקודה) was a Jewish philosopher and Rabbi who lived at Saragossa For him there is no difference between essential and other attributes. Either the attribute affirms a quality in God, in which case essential attributes can not be applied to Him more than can any other, because it is impossible to predicate anything of Him, or the attribute expresses only the negation of the contrary quality, and in that case there is no harm in using any kind of attributes. 'Accordingly Judah divides all the attributes found in the Bible into three classes: active, relative, and negative, which last class comprises all the essential attributes expressing mere negations. See also: Divine simplicity; Negative theology
The question of attributes being closely connected with that of anthropomorphism, Judah enters into a lengthy discussion on this point. In Theology, the doctrine of divine simplicity says that God is without parts Negative theology - also known as the Via Negativa ( Latin for "Negative Way" and Apophatic theology - is a Theology that Although opposed to the conception of the corporeality of God, as being contrary to Scripture, he would consider it wrong to reject all the sensuous concepts of anthropomorphism, as there is something in these ideas which fills the human soul with the awe of God.
The remainder of the essay comprises dissertations on the following subjects: the excellence of Palestine, the land of prophecy, which is to other countries what the Jews are to other nations; the sacrifices; the arrangement of the Tabernacle, which, according to Judah, symbolizes the human body; the prominent spiritual position occupied by Israel, whose relation to other nations is that of the heart to the limbs; the opposition evinced by Judaism toward asceticism, in virtue of the principle that the favor of God is to be won only by carrying out His precepts, and that these precepts do not command man to subdue the inclinations suggested by the faculties of the soul, but to use them in their due place and proportion; the excellence of the Hebrew language, which, although sharing now the fate of the Jews, is to other languages what the Jews are to other nations and what Palestine is to other lands. Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Prophecy, generally describes the disclosing of Information that is not known to the Prophet by any ordinary means Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid.
The third essay is devoted to the refutation of the teachings of Karaism and to the history of the development of the oral tradition, the Talmud. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Judah ha-Levi shows that there is no means of carrying out the precepts without having recourse to oral tradition; and that such tradition has always existed may be inferred from many passages of the Bible, the very reading of which is dependent upon it, since there were no vowels and accents in the original text. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract
Names of God
The fourth essay opens with an analysis of the various names of God found in the Bible. According to Judah, all these names, with the exception of the Tetragrammaton, are attributes expressing the various states of God's activity in the world. The multiplicity of names no more implies a multiplicity in His essence than do the multifarious influences of the rays of the sun on various bodies imply a multiplicity of suns. To the intuitive vision of the prophet the actions proceeding from God appear under the images of the corresponding human actions. Angels are God's messengers; and either they exist for a length of time, or they are created only for special purposes. An angel is a Spiritual Supernatural being found in many Religions Although the nature of angels and the tasks given to them vary from tradition to tradition
From the names of God and the essence of angels Judah passes to his favorite theme and shows that the views of the Prophets are a purer source for a knowledge of God than the teachings of the philosophers. Although he professes great reverence for the "Sefer Yeẓrah," from which he quotes many passages, he hastens to add that the theories of Abraham elucidated therein had been held by the patriarch before God revealed Himself to him. Abraham ( Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: The essay concludes with examples of the astronomical and medical knowledge of the ancient Hebrews. Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the
Arguments against philosophy
The fifth and last essay is devoted to a criticism of the various philosophical systems known at the time of the author. Judah attacks by turns the Aristotelian cosmology, psychology, and metaphysics. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Cosmology (from Greek grc κοσμολογία - grc κόσμος kosmos, "universe" and grc -λογία -logia) is study Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science To the doctrine of emanation, based, according to him, upon the Aristotelian cosmological principle that no simple being can produce a compound being, he objects in the form of the following query: "Why did the emanation stop at the lunar sphere? Why should each intelligence think only of itself and of that from which it issued and thus give birth to one emanation, thinking not at all of the preceding intelligences, and thereby losing the power to give birth to many emanations?"
He argues against the theory of Aristotle that the soul of man is his thought and that only the soul of the philosopher will be united, after the death of the body, with the active intellect. "Is there," he asks, "any curriculum of the knowledge one has to acquire to win immortality? How is it that the soul of one man differs from that of another? How can one forget a thing once thought of?" and many other questions of the kind. He shows himself especially severe against the Motekallamin, whose arguments on the creation of the world, on God and His unity, he terms dialectic exercises and mere phrases.
However, Judah ha-Levi is against philosophical speculation only in matters concerning Creation, God, etc. ; and he follows the Greek philosophers in treating of the creation of the material world. Thus he admits that every being is made up of matter and form. Dualism denotes a state of two parts The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two". The movement of the spheres formed the sphere of the elements, from the fusion of which all beings were created. This fusion, which varied according to climate, gave to matter the potentiality to receive from God a variety of forms, from the mineral, which is the lowest in the scale of creation, to man, who is the highest because of his possessing, in addition to the qualities of the mineral, vegetable, and animal, a hylic intellect which is influenced by the active intellect. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific The term " vegetable " generally means the edible parts of Plants The definition of the word is traditional rather than Scientific, however This hylic intellect, which forms the rational soul, is a spiritual substance and not an accident, and is therefore imperishable.
The discussion concerning the soul and its faculties leads naturally to the question of free will. The question of free will Judah upholds the doctrine of free will against the Epicureans and the Fatalists, and endeavors to reconcile it with the belief in God's providence and omniscience. Fatalism is a Philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or inevitable predetermination
Influence of the Kuzari
Although the Kuzari failed to stem the philosophical flood which, at the time of the appearance of the work, was inundating Judaism, it exercised a great influence upon the theologians. It was much studied; and traces of it are to be found in all the theological and Kabbalistic writings of the Middle Ages, not excluding even the Zohar, which borrowed from it several passages, among them the saying, "Israel is among the nations as the heart among the limbs" (Zohar, iii. For the village in southern Israel see Tzohar The Zohar (זהר lit Splendor or Radiance) is widely considered the most important 221b. )
Besides the Hebrew translation of Judah ibn Tibbon, which passed through eleven editions (1st ed. Ibn Tibbon ( Heb אבן תבון) is a family of Jewish rabbis and translators that lived principally in Provence in the twelfth and Fano, 1506), another rendering into Hebrew was made by Judah ben Isaac Cardinal, at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Judah ben Isaac Cardinal (or Cardineal) was a translator who lived at the end of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth probably in southern France The study of the Kuzari seems to have become very popular in the fifteenth century. No less than six commentaries on it appeared in the first half of that century. Many translations and commentaries on this work, both religious and critical, have been written since then. It has had a resurgence of popularity in the Orthodox Jewish community in the modern era.
See also: Yehuda Halevi
The "Kuzari Principle"
On the Kuzari Principle see the separate entry
Bibliography
- D. Yehuda Halevi, in full Yehuda ben Shemuel Ha-Levi, also Judah Halevi, or Judah ben Samuel Halevi ( Hebrew: יהודה הלוי) (c The Kuzari Principle or National Revelation is a line of philosophic reasoning derived from the medieval work Kuzari. M. Dunlop. History of the Jewish Khazars. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1954.
- Yehuda ha-Levi. Kuzari. Translated by N. Daniel Korobkin as The Kuzari: In Defense of the Despised Faith. Northvale, N. J. : Jason Aronson, 1998. Jason Aronson is an American Publisher of Books in the field of Psychotherapy.
- Yechezkel Sarna. Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna (1890 - 1969 was the successor to Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka, as the spiritual mentor of that Yeshiva Rearrangement of the Kuzari. , Transl. Rabbi Avraham Davis. New York: Metsudah, 1986
External links
- Resources on the Kuzari itself
- Complete English translation by Hartwig Hirschfeld (1905) at Wikisource.
- Hebrew Fulltext
- English Translation (Partial)
- Kuzari Video Lessons (Hebrew)
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