Items related to Kitab al Khazari (Forgotten Books)
Book Description:
"Framed as a dialog between the king of the Khazars, a Central Asian kingdom, and a Rabbi, the Khazari is an exposition of late medieval Jewish philosophy. Legend has it that the king of the Khazars held a symposium to decide whether his people should convert to Judaism, Christianity or Islam. This book is a fictional account of the Jewish side of this debate.
Judah Ha-Levi, the author, was born about 1080 [AD]. in Muslim-controlled area of southern Spain. This was a bright spot in the history of Jewish-Muslim relations, when Jewish communities prospered under a tolerant Islamic state, and scholarship flourished. He studied the Talmud and Kabbalah, wrote secular poetry, and was fluent both in Hebrew and Arabic. (This work was originally written in Arabic). Midlife he had an awakening which led him to write on more spiritual themes, and the resulting body of work is considered some of the best post-Biblical Jewish poetry.
Conflict was increasing between the Muslims in the south of Spain and the Christians in the north, with the line moving back and forth. As the Christians advanced, Jewish communities came under pressure to convert in order to survive. Later in his life Ha-Levi ended up in Christian Toledo, where his outlook understandably took a pessimistic turn. The Kitab al Khazari (written circa 1120 to 1140) is a product of that period. It is a defense of the Jewish religion and people, with a unique philosophical underpinning based on Ha-Levi's studies and views.
As for the Khazars, the legend wraps up with them converting to Judaism based on the Rabbi's presentation. This legend has a factual basis: the Khazar state was a Turkic kingdom between the Black and Caspian seas, which existed from the seventh to the tenth century. Judaism was the state religion from about 830 on, and other religions, including Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Turkic Shamanism, and Norse and Slavic paganism were treated with exceptional tolerance. It seems likely that Ha-Levi used the Khazars as a setting for his treatise to show that there was still hope for religious tolerance amidst the Iberian culture wars." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)
Table of Contents:
Publisher's Preface; Part One; Part Two; Part Three; Part Four; Part Five; Conclusion Of The Book
About the Publisher:
Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org
Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.
"Framed as a dialog between the king of the Khazars, a Central Asian kingdom, and a Rabbi, the Khazari is an exposition of late medieval Jewish philosophy. Legend has it that the king of the Khazars held a symposium to decide whether his people should convert to Judaism, Christianity or Islam. This book is a fictional account of the Jewish side of this debate.
Judah Ha-Levi, the author, was born about 1080 [AD]. in Muslim-controlled area of southern Spain. This was a bright spot in the history of Jewish-Muslim relations, when Jewish communities prospered under a tolerant Islamic state, and scholarship flourished. He studied the Talmud and Kabbalah, wrote secular poetry, and was fluent both in Hebrew and Arabic. (This work was originally written in Arabic). Midlife he had an awakening which led him to write on more spiritual themes, and the resulting body of work is considered some of the best post-Biblical Jewish poetry.
Conflict was increasing between the Muslims in the south of Spain and the Christians in the north, with the line moving back and forth. As the Christians advanced, Jewish communities came under pressure to convert in order to survive. Later in his life Ha-Levi ended up in Christian Toledo, where his outlook understandably took a pessimistic turn. The Kitab al Khazari (written circa 1120 to 1140) is a product of that period. It is a defense of the Jewish religion and people, with a unique philosophical underpinning based on Ha-Levi's studies and views.
As for the Khazars, the legend wraps up with them converting to Judaism based on the Rabbi's presentation. This legend has a factual basis: the Khazar state was a Turkic kingdom between the Black and Caspian seas, which existed from the seventh to the tenth century. Judaism was the state religion from about 830 on, and other religions, including Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Turkic Shamanism, and Norse and Slavic paganism were treated with exceptional tolerance. It seems likely that Ha-Levi used the Khazars as a setting for his treatise to show that there was still hope for religious tolerance amidst the Iberian culture wars." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)
Table of Contents:
Publisher's Preface; Part One; Part Two; Part Three; Part Four; Part Five; Conclusion Of The Book
About the Publisher:
Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org
Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
About the Author:
"Yehuda Halevi, in full Yehuda ben Shemuel Ha-Levi, also Judah ha-Levi, or Judah ben Samuel Halevi (c.1075-1141) was a Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet. He was born in Tudela, Navarre, Spain.
Halevi was born either in Tudela or Toledo; he often referred to himself as coming from Christian territory, which would point to Toledo, which was conquered by Alfonso VI from the Muslims in Halevi's childhood (1086). As a youth, he seems to have gone to Granada, the main center of Jewish literary and intellectual life at the time, where he found a mentor in Moses Ibn Ezra. Although it is often said that he studied in the academy at Lucena, there is no evidence to this effect. He did compose a short elegy on the death of Isaac Alfasi, the head of the academy. His aptitude as a poet was recognized early. He was educated in traditional Jewish scholarship, in Arabic literature, and in the Greek sciences and philosophy that were available in Arabic. As an adult he was a physician, apparently of renown, and an active participant in Jewish communal affairs. For at least part of his life he lived in Toledo and may have been connected with the court there as a physician. In Toledo he complains of being too busy with medicine to devote himself to scholarship. At other times he lived in various Muslim cities in the south.
Like all Jewish intellectuals of Muslim Spain, Halevi wrote prose in Arabic and poetry in Hebrew. He was in fact the most prolific of the Hebrew poets of the Hebrew Golden Age and was regarded by some of his contemporaries (and by modern critics as well) as the greatest of all the medieval Hebrew poets. Like all the Hebrew poets of the Hebrew Golden Age, he employed the formal patterns of Arabic poetry, both the classical monorhymed patterns and the recently-invented strophic patterns. His themes embrace all those that were current among Hebrew poets: panegyric odes, funeral odes, poems on the pleasures of life, gnomic epigrams, and riddles. He was also a prolific author of religious verse. As with all the Hebrew poets of his age, strives for a strictly biblical diction, though he unavoidably falls into occasional calques from Arabic. His verse is distinguished by special attention to acoustic effect and wit.
Nothing is known of Halevi's personal life except the report in his poems that he ..." (Quote from wikipedia.org)
"Yehuda Halevi, in full Yehuda ben Shemuel Ha-Levi, also Judah ha-Levi, or Judah ben Samuel Halevi (c.1075-1141) was a Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet. He was born in Tudela, Navarre, Spain.
Halevi was born either in Tudela or Toledo; he often referred to himself as coming from Christian territory, which would point to Toledo, which was conquered by Alfonso VI from the Muslims in Halevi's childhood (1086). As a youth, he seems to have gone to Granada, the main center of Jewish literary and intellectual life at the time, where he found a mentor in Moses Ibn Ezra. Although it is often said that he studied in the academy at Lucena, there is no evidence to this effect. He did compose a short elegy on the death of Isaac Alfasi, the head of the academy. His aptitude as a poet was recognized early. He was educated in traditional Jewish scholarship, in Arabic literature, and in the Greek sciences and philosophy that were available in Arabic. As an adult he was a physician, apparently of renown, and an active participant in Jewish communal affairs. For at least part of his life he lived in Toledo and may have been connected with the court there as a physician. In Toledo he complains of being too busy with medicine to devote himself to scholarship. At other times he lived in various Muslim cities in the south.
Like all Jewish intellectuals of Muslim Spain, Halevi wrote prose in Arabic and poetry in Hebrew. He was in fact the most prolific of the Hebrew poets of the Hebrew Golden Age and was regarded by some of his contemporaries (and by modern critics as well) as the greatest of all the medieval Hebrew poets. Like all the Hebrew poets of the Hebrew Golden Age, he employed the formal patterns of Arabic poetry, both the classical monorhymed patterns and the recently-invented strophic patterns. His themes embrace all those that were current among Hebrew poets: panegyric odes, funeral odes, poems on the pleasures of life, gnomic epigrams, and riddles. He was also a prolific author of religious verse. As with all the Hebrew poets of his age, strives for a strictly biblical diction, though he unavoidably falls into occasional calques from Arabic. His verse is distinguished by special attention to acoustic effect and wit.
Nothing is known of Halevi's personal life except the report in his poems that he ..." (Quote from wikipedia.org)
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherForgotten Books
- Publication date2008
- ISBN 10 1605067547
- ISBN 13 9781605067544
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages184
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Kitab al Khazari (Forgotten Books)
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Forgotten Books
(2008)
ISBN 10: 1605067547
ISBN 13: 9781605067544
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 184 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.45 inches. This item is printed on demand. Seller Inventory # zk1605067547
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