Twórczość liryczna Yehudy ha-Lewiego jako klucz interpretacyjny Księgi Kuzari. Analiza wiersza "Słowa twe niczym mirrą cieknącą skropione"
The Lyrical Works of Yehuda ha-Levi as an Interpretative Key to Understanding The Book of the Kuzari. An Analysis of the Poem "Your words are steeped in flowing myrrh"

Summary/Abstract: The paper uses Yehuda ha-Levi’s lyrical oeuvre as an interpretative key to understand The Book of the Kuzari. A close comparison between these two sources belonging to different literary genres shows that the medieval author did not hesitate to put his own views (assuming that in poetry, he expressed his true opinions and feelings) into the mouth of the king. This implicates that either the king was not meant to represent ha-Levi’s (Karaite) adversary, or ha-Levi assumed some (Karaite) concepts verbalized by this figure. In an attempt to explore the subject more in-depth, I will try to identify specific Karaite influences (e.g., in terms of Bible exegesis and development of polemical motifs) on our Rabbanite author. All these leads to the reconsideration and reassessment of ha-Levi’s purpose in writing The Kuzari as well as the identity of its main characters, the Chazar king and the Jewish sage.

• Details
• Contents