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Article: Yehuda Halevi and the poetry of the Judeo-Arabic Age. (Review Essay).(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Midstream
- Article date:
- July 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Theodor Herzl Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For those of us who are desperately searching the Jewish tradition for a rational, yet reverent past, the recent appearance of several books highlighting the Hebrew poets of the Judeo-Arabic age is an encouraging sign.
Most of the great Hebrew poets of the 10th to the 13th centuries (and the myriad minor poets whose names and works are familiar only to scholars of the period) were neither obscurantists nor enthusiasts of a vague spirituality. Among them were courtiers, diplomats, tax-farmers, businessmen, public administrators, doctors, and perhaps even a military man--a hard-headed lot, proudly, learnedly, and punctiliously Jewish. Their culture was also a ...