The Kuzari: Arguments in Defense of Judaism

"We can still learn much from Judah Halevi... his serene allegiance to history and the long-range forces of destiny, high above the immediate brute realities and implacable forces of nature." --Salo Baron "In defending Judaism... against the philosophers, he was conscious of defending morality itself and therewith the cause, not only of Judaism, but of mankind at large." --Leo Strauss "The Kuzari" is a classic work of Jewish philosophy, written in 1140 by celebrated Jewish poet and philosopher Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi. His goal was to defend Judaism against attacks from philosophers, Christian and Muslim theologians, and Karaites (Jewish sectarians). The book, composed of five sections, takes the form of a dialogue between the pagan king of the Khazars and a Jewish scholar who was invited to instruct him in the tenets of the Jewish religion. It is loosely based on the true story of the conversion of the Khazar royalty and aristocracy to Judaism in the 8th century. Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi wrote his magnum opus in Judeo-Arabic - the Arabic dialect spoken by Jews living in the Arab world, written with Hebrew letters. Judeo-Arabic was used for all types of Jewish religious writings, from before Saadiah Gaon until after Maimonides (approximately the 8th century to the end of the 13th century). This English translation is based on Rabbi Yitzhak Shilat's translation into Hebrew, Sefer Ha-Kuzari: Precise Hebrew Translation in the Style of the Period of Its Composition. This edition includes a brief biography of Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi and a summary of the central arguments of "The Kuzari".