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Abulḥassan, Judah ben Samuel ha-Levi (Ibn Allevi)

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His Youth.

Spanish philosopher and Hebrew poet; born at Toledo, southern Castile, in the last quarter of the eleventh century; died in the Orient after 1140. If his birth is correctly assigned to 1085 or 1086 (Rapoport, in "Kerem Ḥemed," 7:265), it occurred about the time of the eventful conquest of Toledo (May 24, 1085) by the Christian king Alfonso VI. It is probable that Judah's father, Samuel "the Castilian," sent Judah, who was his only son, to Lucena to be educated in the various branches of Jewish learning at the school of Isaac Alfasi. On the death of his master, Judah composed an elegy (Brody, "Diwan des Abul-Ḥasan Jehuda ha-Levi," , No. 14, p. 100). It was probably in Lucena, too, that Judah won the friendship of Alfasi's most prominent pupils, Joseph ibn Migas and Baruch Albalia. Judah chose medicine as his profession; but he early evinced a love for poetry and showed marked poetic talent. He was well acquainted with the productions of the Arabic and the Castilian poets; yet the muse spoke to him in the old and sacred language of the Bible, in which "he sang for all times and places, soon becoming the favorite of the people" (Zunz, "Literaturgesch." p. 203). He became deeply versed in Greco-Arabic philosophy also. The early ripening of his poetic talent aroused the admiration of his friend and senior, the poet Moses ibn Ezra, who accorded him enthusiastic praise (see Luzzatto in "Kerem Ḥemed," 4:86; Dukes, "Moses ibn Ezra," p. 987; Geiger, "Diwan des Castilier's Abu'l-Hassan," pp. 15, 120).

After completing his studies, which he, being in easy circumstances, had been able to pursue deliberately, Judah returned to Toledo, where he soon acquired so large a practise that he complained in a letter to his friend David Narboni (Brody, c. 1:224,225) of a lack of tranquillity and leisure. He married in Toledo; and from allusions in some of his poems it is evident that his only child was a daughter, through whom he had a grandson, also named Judah.

Journey to the Holy Land.

Judah ha-Levi does not seem to have been contented in Toledo; for he removed to the Mohammedan city of Cordova. Even here he did not feel at ease. Though personally he occupied an honored position as a physician, he felt the intolerance of the Almoravid fanatics toward his coreligionists. He had long yearned for a new, or rather for the old, home—for the Holy Land. This yearning was deepened by his intense application to his religio-philosophical work and by his resulting clearer insight into Judaism; and at length he decided to set out on a journey to Palestine. For himself at least, he wished "to do away with the contradiction of daily confessing a longing and of never attemptingto realize it" (Kaufmann, "Jehuda Halevi"); and therefore, on the death of his wife, he bade farewell to daughter, grandson, pupils, friends, rank, and affluence. There was only one image in his heart—Jerusalem:

After a stormy passage he arrived in Alexandria, where he was enthusiastically greeted by friends and admirers. At Damietta he had to struggle against the promptings of his own heart and the pleadings of his friend Ḥalfon ha-Levi that he remain in Egypt, which also was Jewish soil and free from intolerant oppression. He, however, resisted the temptation to remain there, and started on the tedious land route trodden of old by the Israelitish wanderers in the desert. Again he is met with, worn out, with broken heart and whitened hair, in Tyre and Damascus. Here authentic records fail; but Jewish legend has taken up the broken threads of history and woven them further. It is related that as he came near Jerusalem, overpowered by the sight of the Holy City, he sang his most beautiful elegy, the celebrated "Zionide," "Zion ha-lo Tish'ali." At that instant he was ridden down and killed by an Arab, who dashed forth from a gate (Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya, "Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah," ed. Venice, p. 40b).

The life-work of Judah ha-Levi was devoted to poetry and philosophy. His poetry is usually classified under the heads of secular and religious, or, as in Brody's new edition of the "Diwan," under liturgical and non-liturgical. Such a division, however, can be only external; for the essential characteristic of Judah's poems—which are the expression of a deeply religious soul—is the lofty key to which they are attuned. Even in his drinking- and love-songs an attentive reader may hear the vibrations of religion's overtones.

His Secular Poetry.

The first place in his secular or non-liturgical poetry is occupied by poems of friendship and eulogy. Judah must have possessed an attractive personality; for there gathered about him as friends, even in his earliest youth, a large number of illustrious men, like Levi al-Ṭabban of Saragossa, the aged poet Judah ben Abun, Judah ibn Ghayyat of Granada, Moses ibn Ezra and his brothers Judah, Joseph, and Isaac, the vizier Abu al-Ḥasan, Meïr ibn Kamnial, the physician and poet Solomon ben Mu'allam of Seville, and Samuel ha-Nagid of Malaga, besides his schoolmates Joseph ibn Migas and Baruch Albalia. He was associated also with the grammarian Abraham ibn Ezra; but the assertion that the latter was the son-in-law of Judah is one of the fictions of Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya ("Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah," ed. Amsterdam, p. 41a). Equally incorrect is the statement made by the author of "Yuḥasin" (ed. Amsterdam, p 186) that the two were cousins. In Cordova Judah addressed a touching farewell poem to Joseph ibn Ẓaddiḳ, the philosopher and poet (Geiger, "Nachgelassene Schriften," p. 159). In Egypt, where the most celebrated men vied with one another in entertaining him, his reception was a veritable triumph. Here his particular friends were Aaron ben Jeshua Alamani in Alexandria, the nagid Samuel ben Hananiah in Cairo ("Monatsschrift," 417 et seq.), Ḥalfon ha-Levi in Damietta, and an unknown man in Tyre, probably his last friend. In their sorrow and joy, in the creative spirit and all that moved the souls of these men, Judah sympathetically shared; as he says in the beginning of a short poem (Brody, c. , No. 45): "My heart belongs to you, ye noble souls, who draw me to you with bonds of love" (comp. Geiger, c. 3:123).

Especially tender and plaintive is Judah's tone in his elegies (Brody, c. 2:67 et seq.). Many of them are dedicated to friends. Besides those composed on the deaths of the brothers Judah (ib. Nos. 19, 20), Isaac (ib. No. 21), and Moses ibn Ezra (ib. No. 16), R. Baruch (ib. Nos. 23, 28), Meïr ibn Migas (ib. No. 27), his teacher Isaac Aifasi (ib. No. 14), and others, one of the most affecting is that on Solomon ibn Farissol, who was murdered on May 3, 1108. The news of this friend's death suddenly changed Judah's poem of eulogy (Nos. 11, 22) into one of lamentation (ib. Nos. 12, 13, 93 et seq.), which for grandeur and loftiness of tone has been compared to David's lament over Jonathan.

Love-Songs.

Joyous, careless youth, and merry, happy delight in life find their expression in his love-songs (ib. 2:1 et seq.). Many of these are epithalamia, and are characterized by a brilliant Oriental coloring as well as by a chaste reserve (see "Betulat Bet Yehudah," ed. Luzzatto, passim). In Egypt, where the muse of his youth found a glorious Indian summer in the circle of his friends, he wrote his swan-song:

Drinking-songs and enigmas in rime by Judah have also been preserved (Brody, c. 2:189 et seq.).

His Religious Poetry.

If one may speak of religious geniuses Judah ha-Levi must certainly be regarded among the greatest produced by medieval Judaism. No other man, 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 (S. D. Luzzatto, "Diwan," No. 14; Heller, "Die Echten Melodien," p. 227). Without God his soul would wither away; nor is it well with him except he prays (Luzzatto, c. No. 57; Heller, c. p. 135). The thought of God allows him no rest; early and late He is his best beloved, and is his dearest concern (Heller, c. p. 82; "Ṭal Orot," No. 12). 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 (Luzzatto, c. No. 81; Heller, c. p. 229). AlthoughJudah strives to be free from subjection unto many, he rejoices that he is subject to the One, whose servant he gladly designates himself; for he may win the grace of God throughout eternity. Characterized by "noble grandeur and quiet simplicity," the short poem in Luzzatto, c. (No. 28) and in Heller, c. (p. 152) is most effective, and might be entitled "The Higher Peace," after a similar poem by the German poet Heinrich von Kleist. When Judah is ill he hopes to be cured by God's grace rather than by the medicines he himself has prepared (Geiger, c. p. 117). Even during the voyage, amid storms and surrounded by rough sailors, over whom only the pilot has any authority (Brody, c. , No. 16; Geiger, c. p. 164), Judah finds peaceful trust in God; and his poems (Brody, c. 2:168 et seq.), composed on the sea, are among the most beautiful of his religious lyrics. In all situations in life God is the friend to whom his heart turns in the fulness of its longing. If God is with him, all is bright in his "narrow prison," and sorrow's gloom dissolves in gladness.

Patriotism.

Next to God, the poet's people stand 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. No other Jewish poet is so steeped in recollections of the ancient history of Israel when singing of the tokens of God's love to His chosen people. Whenever Judah reflects on his coreligionists, the reproachful question rises, despite his reverence: "Why hast Thou sold us to the oppressors?" (Luzzatto, c. No. 11). "Shall we be captives forever in a strange land?" (Heller, c. p. 101; "Ṭal Orot," No. 2). "How long must our anxious hopes drag on?" (Heller, c. p. 126; Brody, c. No. 70). "When shall the morn of freedom dawn for Israel?" On earth none can or will answer him; yet while "Edom and Ishmael riot in the Holy City" (Heller, c. p. 44; "Ṭal Orot," No. 6) and Israel everywhere is in bondage, his prayers shall wring from heaven the redemption of his people. How he prays for "new life," for "refreshment for the weary flower"—Israel! Through temporary resignation and despair (Heller, c. p. 1; "Ṭal Orot," No. 71) the poet fights his way to confidence and hope; for "the prophet hath foretold all" (ib.). He represents Israel calling upon God with tender persuasion to set him free:

God answers, giving to His people new comfort together with new strength for endurance (Heller, c. p. 77; "Ṭal Orot," No. 8):

Often Judah's poetic fancy finds joy in the radiant thought of the return of his people (Heller, c. p. 226; Brody, "Diwan," No. 6). Then his words seem to be the music of the harp (Geiger, c. p. 145); and he summons Israel, "the dove in a strange land," to jubilant rejoicing over her triumphant return (ib.). The period of political agitation about 1130, when 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 (Geiger, c. p. 154), 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 the poem:

Representative Character of His Poetry.

The remarkable and apparently indissoluble union of religion, nationalism, and patriotism characteristic of post-exilic Judaism reached its acme in Judah ha-Levi and his poetry. Yet this very union in one so consistent as Judah demanded the fulfilment of the supreme politico-religious ideal of medieval Judaism—the return to Jerusalem. Though his impassioned call to his contemporaries to return to Zion might be received with indifference or even with mockery (Luzzatto, c. No. 86), his own decision to go to Jerusalem never wavered. "Can we hope for any other refuge either in the East or in the West where we may dwell in safety?" he exclaims to one of his opponents (ib.). The songs that accompany his pilgrimage (Brody, c. 2:153) sound like one great symphony wherein the "Zionides"—the single motive ever varied—voice the deepest soul-life alike of the Jewish people and of each individual Jew. The most celebrated of these "Zionides," with its remarkable monotony, is found in every Jewish liturgy, and is usually repeated in the synagogue on the Ninth of Ab (Brody, c. 2:155). It has been translated into German by Herder, Mendelssohn, and many other modern writers; into French by Munk; into Dutch by L. Wagenaar ("Isr. Letterbode," 5:18 et seq.); into Italian by Benedetti; into Russian by Harkavy; repeatedly into English; and into other European languages. The following is the English translation by Nina Davis (c. p. 37) of the opening lines:

Censored Page from the First Edition of Judah ha-Levi's "Cuzari," Fano, 1506.
(In the possession of George Alexander Kohut, New York.)

Synagogal Poetry.

The poems of Judah ha-Levi which have been adopted into the liturgy number in all more than 300. Every season, whether of sorrow or of joy, has been enriched by his songs. A summary of them has been given by Zunz (c. pp. 203 et seq.; Appendix, pp. 8-10, 33, 55, and by Landshuth ("'Ammude ha-'Abodah," pp. 70 et seq.). The longest and most comprehensive poem is a "ḳedushshah," which summons all the universe to praise God with rejoicing, and which terminates, curiously enough, in Psalms 103 (Sachs, "Die Religiöse Poesie der Juden in Spanien," pp. 304 et seq.). These poems were carried to all lands, even as far as India (Zunz, "Ritus," p. 57); and they influenced the rituals of the most distant countries. 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 (Zunz, "S. P." p. 231). The following criticism of Judah's synagogal poems is made by Zunz (ib.): "As the perfume and beauty of a rose are within it, and do not come from without, so with Judah word and Bible passage, meter and rime, are one with the soul of the poem; as in true works of art, and always in nature, one is never disturbed by anything external, arbitrary, or extraneous."

Judah by his verses 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:

"The use of foreign (e., Arabic) meters destroys the essence of the Hebrew language, which is based on homophony and results in harmony," is the observation put into the mouth of the rabbi in Judah ha-Levi's "Cuzari" (, § 74), together with other original remarks on the Hebrew language (comp. Friedländer in Kohut Memorial Volume, pp. 139 et seq.). Nevertheless, Judah himself used the most complicated Arabic meters in his poems with much good taste (for further details see H. Brody, "Studien zu den Dichtungen Jehuda ha-Levi's," Berlin, 1895). A later critic, applying a Talmudic witticism to Judah, has said: "It is hard for the dough when the baker himself calls it bad." Although these forms came to him naturally and without effort, unlike the mechanical versifiers of his time (see "Cuzari," 5:16), he would not except himself from the number of those he had blamed. His pupil Solomon Parḥon, who wrote at Salerno in 1160, relates that Judah repented having used the new metrical methods, and had declared he would not again employ them. That Judah felt them to be out of place, and that he opposed their use at the very time when they were in vogue, plainly shows his desire for a national Jewish art independent in form as well as in matter.

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 (see, e.g., Al-Ḥarizi, "Taḥkemoni, "maḳamahs , ). His equal in poetic ability, Heinrich Heine, has paid him a tribute of honor in his "Romancero" (see E. A. Bowring, "The Poems of Heine," p. 476, London, 1859).

MSS.

So far as is known, the first to collect the poems of Judah ha-Levi into a diwan was R. Ḥiyya al-Ma'arabi, probably a younger friend of the poet. R. Jeshua bar Elijah ha-Levi used this diwan as the basis for a new and larger collection, a manuscript of which has been found in Tunis. In his interesting Arabic preface (translated into German in Geiger, c.), Jeshua states that, besides Ḥiyya's collection, he had two others before him, made respectively by David ben Maimon and Abu Sa'id ibn Alkash (?), from which he took some material. Further, he says that he added songs and piyyuṭim which R. Ḥiyya had omitted because in the time of the latter they were generally known and were to be found in every Maḥzor. Jeshua, however, does not imply that all the poems added by him were written by Judah ha-Levi. On the contrary, he lays special emphasis on the need of caution, particularly in cases where there is only an incomplete signature, as "Judah" or "Levi." He divides his diwan of 816 poems into three parts: (1) poems, for the most part secular in tone, having the same meter and rime throughout; (2) strophic poems, mostly religious in character, in which every strophe has a different rime, although the last line of each strophe has the same rime; (3) poems of varied metrical structure, mostly piyyuṭim, and a few letters in rimed prose. Jeshua usually designates in a short superscription the contents and the occasion of the poem. The Bodleian Library contains two manuscript diwans of Judah ha-Levi (Neubauer, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS." No. 1970, 1, with the title "Maḥaneh Yehudah"; a more recent collection, ib. No. 1971, corresponds to the Tunis manuscript, but is more complete).

Editions.

The chief published collections of Judah's poems are: (1) "Betulat Bat Yehudah," ed. S. D. Luzzatto, Prague, 1840; (2) "Diwan," also edited by Luzzatto, Lyck (Meḳiẓe Nirdamim), 1864; (3) "Ṭal Orot," by the same editor, published by Eisig Gräber, Przemysl, 1881; (4) "Ginze Oxford," ed. Edelmann and Dukes, London, 1851; (5) "Rabbi Yehudah ha-Levi," by A. Harkavy, Warsaw ("Aḥiasaf"), 1893-95; (6) "Bet ha-Beḥirah," by Samuel Philipp, Lemberg, 1888 (mainly a reprint of Luzzatto's "Diwan"); (7) "Diwan des Abul-Ḥasan Jehuda ha-Levi," a new and complete edition by H. Brody, Berlin (Meḳiẓe Nirdamim), 1894 et seq.

Translations.

Some of Judah's poems have been translated into European languages. The most prominent translators are:

German: A. Geiger ("Diwan des Castilier's Abu'l-Hassan," etc., Breslau, 1851); Heller ("Die Echten Hebräischen Melodien," ed. D. Kaufmann, Berlin, 1893); Kämpf ("Nichtandalusische Poesie Andalusischer Dichter," Prague, 1858); Sachs ("Die Religiöse Poesie der Juden in Spanien," Berlin, 1845); Steinschneider ("Manna," ib. 1847); Sulzbach ("Dichtungen aus Spanien's Besseren Tagen," Frankfort-on-the-Main 1873); and Zunz ("S. P." Berlin, 1855).

English: M. H. Bresslau (in "Ginze Oxford," London, 1851); Nina Davis ("Songs of Exile," Philadelphia, 1901); Edward G. King (in "J. Q. R." 7:464); J. Jacobs ("Jewish Ideals," London, 1896); E. Lazarus ("Songs of a Semite," New York, 1882); Alice Lucas (in "The Jewish Year," London, 1898); Lady Magnus ("Jewish Portraits," ib. 1897).

French: J. Weill (in "R. E. J." , p.; Italian: S. de Benedetti ("Canzoniere Sacro di Giuda Levita," Pisa, 1871); Russian: S. Frug (in "Voskhod") and A. Harkavy (ib.). Other translations occur in the various Maḥzorim renderings.