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Concept
Kuzari
Summary
The Kuzari, full title Book of Refutation and Proof on Behalf of the Despised Religion (كتاب الحجة والدليل في نصرة الدين الذليل: Kitâb al-ḥujja wa'l-dalîl fi naṣr al-dîn al-dhalîl), also known as the Book of the Khazar (ספר הכוזרי: Sefer ha-Kuzari), is one of the most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher, physician, and poet Judah Halevi, completed in the Hebrew year 4900 (1139-40CE).
Originally written in Arabic, prompted by Halevi's contact with a Spanish Karaite, it was then translated by numerous scholars, including Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon, into Hebrew and other languages, and is regarded as one of the most important apologetic works of Jewish philosophy. Divided into five parts (ma'amarim "articles"), it takes the form of a dialogue between a rabbi and the king of the Khazars, who has invited the former to instruct him in the tenets of Judaism in comparison with those of the other two Abrahamic religions: Christianity and Islam.
Khazars#Judaism
The Kuzari takes place during a conversion of some Khazar nobility to Judaism. The historicity of this event is debated. The Khazar Correspondence, along with other historical documents, are said to indicate a conversion of the Khazar nobility to Judaism. A minority of scholars, among them Moshe Gil and Shaul Stampfer have challenged the documents claim to represent a real historical event. The scale of conversions within the Khazar Khaganate is unknown.
The Kuzari's emphasis on the uniqueness of the Jewish people, the Torah and the land of Israel bears witness to a radical change of direction in Jewish thinking at that juncture in history, which coincided with the Crusades. Setting aside the possible exception of the work of Maimonides, it had a profound impact on the subsequent development of Judaism, and has remained central to Jewish religious tradition.
Given what has been generally regarded as its pronounced anti-philosophical tendencies, a direct line has been drawn, prominently by Gershom Scholem, between it and the rise of the anti-rationalist Kabbalah movement.
Official source
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